Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with Coconut Sugar
Figuring out what to bake is sometimes a difficult process. But, luckily, there are other times where I get a strong craving for a specific baked good and that makes my decision for me. This is one of those times. I hadn’t had a good oatmeal chocolate chip cookie in quite some time and wanted to make one using a natural sweetener. For this recipe, I adapted the oatmeal raisin cookie recipe from the Naturally Sweet cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen. I swapped out the raisins for chocolate chips and the nutmeg for vanilla extract. The recipe from America’s Test Kitchen also used Sucanat but provided an option for using coconut sugar so I went with coconut sugar but either natural sweetener would work well - it’s up to you!
For those who may not be familiar with coconut sugar, it is the dehydrated and boiled sap of the coconut palm flower. Because coconut sugar goes through minimal processing, it retains many of its inherent antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals - especially in comparison to the standard granulated white or brown sugars, which are heavily processed. For those of you who may not be a big fan of coconut, I just want to note that the coconut sugar does not have a noticeable coconut flavor. Instead, it just adds a nice light nutty almost brown sugar-ish flavor to this cookie and other baked goods.
I hope you enjoy!
Makes about 3 dozen cookies
Ingredients
180 g (1 and 1/2 cups) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
200 g (1 and 1/2 cups) coconut sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
280 g (3 cups) old fashioned rolled oats
150 g (1 cup) chocolate chips
Directions
In a stand mixer, cream together the coconut sugar and butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract.
In a small bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add this to the stand mixer and mix just until combined. Then add oats and chocolate chips and again mix until combined.
Cover bowl and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. [Note: don’t skip this step - it helps to make the cookies more moist]
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat liners. Using a cookie scoop, scoop tablespoonfuls of dough and place onto the prepared sheets. Press dough down to flatten each cookie.
Bake cookies for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned on the edges.