I’ve never been a huge sweets person, but this is a cookie I can get behind. More specifically, a raw vegan oatmeal cookie. If someone had said this to me a few years ago, I would have said, “Oh, you mean cardboard?” Little did I know the luscious tastes and flavors that raw and whole foods contain. Something about eating a cookie that is good for you totally changes the experience, in my opinion. I ate these cookies and my body was like, nutrients! Vitamins! Minerals! Let’s goooo!

It’s a bit weird for me to be so enthusiastic about a dessert food, but I’ve been experimenting a lot with raw vegan foods lately and it’s been so rewarding. A huge part of this has been seeing so many ingredients in raw foods come up in popularity in the grocery stores – I got the medjool dates for this recipe at Stop and Shop. Stop and Shop. This is huge, people. No longer are raw vegan foods expensive, “fringe” ingredients. They are becoming less expensive and more accessible to all Americans and that is fantastic.

I don’t follow a raw foods diet, but it is true that some nutrients are lost through cooking certain foods. When it comes to fruits and vegetables, I try to eat them raw as often as possible, but sometimes I’ll enjoy some steamed broccoli or potato wedges. And of course, there’s rices and pastas and breads, which I just couldn’t live without! For me, it’s all about balance. I eat as many raw foods as possible, supplemented with healthy whole cooked foods.

However, it’s really important to acknowledge my privilege in being able to make these food choices for myself, when so many people in the world go hungry, or live in food deserts without access to healthy food. Hopefully by raising awareness of these issues, they can be fully addressed and worked on by our society. But in terms of making a personal difference, choosing a vegan diet is the most humane lifestyle – not only towards the animals, but towards the world.  I’ve spoken about this before, but the crops and grain that are used to feed livestock could feed millions of hungry children worldwide. For more information, I’d highly recommend this very informative infographic.

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Really Good Raw Vegan Oatmeal Cookies

You won’t believe these decadent cookies are raw and vegan, topped with a creamy vanilla frosting and sprinkled with cinnamon.

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 hours hours

Total Time 2 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Servings 14 -16 Cookies

Ingredients

Cookies

• 1 Cup Gluten-Free Rolled Oats ground
• 1 Cup Gluten-Free Rolled Oats whole
• 2/3 Cup Raw Coconut Sugar
• 2 Tsp Cinnamon
• 2 Tsp Ground Ginger
• 1 Cup Pecans
• 12 Medjool Dates pitted
• 1/2 Cup Coconut Oil
• Up to 6 Tbs Water if needed

Frosting

• 1 Cup Cashews soaked overnight
• 2/3 Cup Almond Milk or other plant milk
• 1/2 Tsp Vanilla
• 2 Tbs Coconut Oil
• 2 Tbs Coconut Nectar

Instructions

Cookies

• Start by grounding the first cup of oats into flour using a blender. Once a rough flour is formed, add to a bowl with whole oats, coconut sugar, ginger, and cinnamon.
• In a food processor, process pecans, dates, and coconut oil until a smooth-ish “dough” is formed – the dough should ball up in the food processor.
• Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients in a bowl until a sticky dough is formed. I found it best to mix dough with your hands!
• If the dough doesn’t clump together, add up until 3 Tbs of water until it sticks. If dough is too thin, add a little more oat flour incrementally.
• Using an ice cream scoop, form little dough balls and flatten with hands into cookies.
• On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, dehydrate cookies in your oven at its lowest setting for two hours, checking halfway for doneness. When done, cookies should hold their shape but still be a bit soft in the middle.

Frosting

• Start by draining the cashews from the water they soaked in. Add drained cashews to a blender with almond (or other plant) milk, vanilla, coconut oil, and coconut nectar. (If you haven’t any coconut nectar, maple syrup can be used as well.)
• Blend frosting until it’s smooth and creamy. Scoop a dollop of frosting on each cookie, and top with a little bit of cinnamon.
• Enjoy!

Notes

Note that not all coconut sugar is raw. However Coconut Secrets has fantastic raw coconut crystals, which are linked to in the recipe. Other coconut sugars may not be raw but they will still work in this recipe!

Song of the Day:

One Day – Matisyahu

P.S.

If you make this recipe and post it on Instagram, be sure to tag me @wellandfull and #wellandfull so I can see! I love seeing your takes on my recipes :)