Help me adapt this recipe for delicious oatmean raisin cookies, please. (Need answer fast-ish.)

Cafe Society
1

So I have this recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies. It’s a great recipe, but it’s also not the healthiest thing around. I’d like to substitute whole wheat flour (true whole wheat, not unbleached flour), bananas for at least some of the butter, and if possible, reduce the amount of sugar.

Here is the original recipe:

How can I make these changes so the cookies are still moist and delicious and not hockey pucks?

2

Here’s a page giving advice on the subject: How to Replace Butter With Banana in Baking

3

I think you could probably change 1/5 -1/4 of the recipe with it barely being noticeable (e.g.
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup wholemeal + 1 1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup banana + 3/4 cup butter)

and you could change up to half and still get good results. The more you change, the heavier and gluggier things get.

I haven’t tried using banana as a fat replacer, and the idea makes me a little wary, especially in cookies. (I usually use applesauce.) Speaking from total inexperience, I wouldn’t get rid of any egg, because eggs help give structure (the advice about eggs in Nemo’s link confuses me)

A lot depends on who you are baking for, and what they are used to, and how tolerant they are. When you are used to the taste of wholemeal, then it seems normal, even in a cookie. If you aren’t, the cookies are not going to taste right.

4

The more I think about this, the more I think that replacing the butter with banana (or applesauce) is going to lead to mushy, cakey cookies.

5

I usually use applesauce too but if you want it not to be mushy you might use finely chopped apple instead? I bet that would help lighten the wheat flour. On the other hand these are cookies. My way of dealing with the unhealthiness of the recipe would be to make it as written and then just eat only one cookie. But that’s not helpful to the OP; sorry.

6

Looks pretty good to me, although it seems like a lot of brown sugar. Next time my wife lets me on the other computer, I’ll check my recipe.

7

Okay:

Dry ingredients (whisk together):
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon (or mix cinnamon, cardamom, anise, nutmeg, etc.

Wet (cream together):
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla

Stir wet and dry together.

Add:

3 cups oats
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup walnut pieces

I would refrigerate this mix overnight, but it’s not critical. I often add other dried fruits like apricots. Drop by spoonfuls on a parchment paper on a baking sheet; mash down a bit, and bake at 350 for 10-13 minutes.

8

The cookies have been made. I substituted whole wheat for half the white flour, half a cup of mashed banana for half the butter, and cut half a cup of the brown sugar. Airman, who has never met a cookie he didn’t like, taste-tested them. The sprog also tasted them and deemed them acceptable.

Overall, the texture was OK. The cookies turned out light and fluffy, not like hockey pucks. So that worked out. I need to add about a quarter cup of brown sugar or Splenda because Airman thought the cookies weren’t sweet enough, and salt because the recipe doesn’t call for it and it needs it.

Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions and I’ll keep tinkering.

9

I’m glad they turned out ok and I might try the banana trick myself.

And I did want to say I love the typo in the thread title! My idea of oatmean is that stuff they put in a bowl at breakfast. Ugh. Not delicious.

10

If you use my recipe and then refrigerate the dough (wrapped in plastic wrap) for a day, you’ll get crispy edges and soft middles. I make cookies that are about 4" in diameter and they come out great.

11

I don’t have that kind of patience. There’s a good chance there won’t be any dough left to bake! :smiley:

The sprog loves loves loves oatmeal raisin cookies and I’d feel like a shitty mother if I fed him something that was loaded with fat and sugar. So I boosted the fiber content and reduced the fat and sugar, and while I wouldn’t feed these to him as a steady diet, I’d be OK if he had one or two for breakfast or as an afternoon snack.

12

I hear you. Mine are always in the oven as soon as the dough is mixed, because otherwise I get the sad dog eyes from the Ms.

13

Good to know about the banana substitution working. I’ll have to give that a try next time.

14

My sister does a lot of baking (she recently had her kitchen certified for a home business), and does quite a bit of tinkering herself. I’ll sound her out on this.