Iced Oatmeal Cookies

I gotta start off with a dessert. I LOVE sweets. There will be a lot of them in this blog. Before I became a vegetarian, I was 40 lbs overweight and it was very obvious that I like sweets. I've lost almost 25 lbs and I'm getting closer to my goal weight everyday....and I still enjoy my sweets! Many of them are healthier than what you would buy in the store. This one has flax seed instead of egg and applesauce instead of oil. Check your applesauce! Many brands have high fructose corn syrup, which is evil in disguise. I buy Mott's Natural.

If you don't have oat flour, just whiz some oats through the blender and store the extra in a baggie.

You'll want to start these cookies early, since the dough needs to chill in the fridge for a little while.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp ground flax seed
1 cup oat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp margarine, softened (I use Earth Balance, it's the *best* vegan margarine!)
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

For the icing:

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice

Stir together the flax seed and 3 tbsp of water in a small bowl, set aside. Whisk together the oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl, set aside. Beat margarine, brown sugar, and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add applesauce, vanilla, and flax seed mixture and beat until smooth. Stir in oat flour, then add oats and raisins and mix well. Cover and chill in the fridge 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350* and spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Roll cookie dough into golf ball sized balls and place them 1/2" apart. Flatten them with the back of a spatula. Bake 10-12 minutes. Whisk together the confectioner's sugar and lemon juice until smooth. It should be thick but spreadable. Gently brush icing onto hot cookies. Let cool 5 minutes.

Aren't they beautiful?! These stayed nice and soft for at least 24 hours. They are a little larger and don't make 2 dozen like many cookie recipes do. I got 8 out of half the recipe, so I'm guessing 16-18 for a full batch, unless you roll them smaller.

So the funny story behind this? When you store your leftover oat flour in a baggie in the cupboard, make sure it isn't sitting next to the heavily seasoned italian bread crumbs. Flavors leach right through the plastic, leaving your next batch of cookies tasting like pizza dough!

Recipe credit goes to Vegetarian Times.