Recipe Box - Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

In the spirit of the holidays, I tried out a recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/ and edited it to adhere to my level of crunchiness and based on what ingredients I had around the house. Feel free to make your own version!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup applesauce 
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
• 2 organic, cage-free eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups spelt flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• handful dark chocolate chips

The substitutions I made were:

-Switched out half the butter for applesauce

-Switched out white sugar for organic cane sugar

-Switched out regular eggs for organic, cage-free eggs (I promise, you will notice a difference in taste with "clean" eggs!)

-Switched out white flour for spelt which has more protein, less carbohydrates in it

-Switched out semi-sweet chocolate chips with dark chocolate chips (Semi-sweet chocolate has from 40% to 60% cocoa; dark chocolate has from 60% to 90% cocoa. The greater the amount of cocoa and the less processed it is, the greater the effects from your health, physical and mental.)
-Switched the quick-cook oats to rolled oats. (An added benefit for nursing moms since rolled oats helps keep your milk supply up!)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, applesauce, and cane sugar until smooth. Beat in organic eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine the spelt flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the quick oats, walnuts, and dark chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. For an added holiday effect, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Enjoy and happy holidays!