Agave Oatmeal Cookies

what was the first vegan recipe i tried? COOKIES (i'm such a dessert kind of girl!) Well, not quite all the way vegan, but it's a start! They are crispy and taste like cinnamon raisin swirl toast (even a buttery taste to it even though there is no butter in it)! I think they would be yummy crumbled up as a cereal. They are not super sweet like you would expect a cookie to be, but the raisins really add a nice touch of natural sweetness.

I cheated a bit because I already had some ingredients on hand and wanted to go ahead and use those up first. I really wanted to try this out because when I was at the Co-op, I saw a ton of different flours (probably about 15 different kinds). This recipe called for a couple I had remembered seeing. So why is it so much better than processed white flour? The flour used in this recipe (white rice and spelt) are all natural, gluten free, organic, and rich in whole grains. Processed flour has been stripped of nutrients. Same goes for the agave used instead of sugar. Less is needed to sweeten the cookie dough, and processed granulated sugar isn't used at all!

Vegan Agave Oatmeal Cookies (almost)

::ingredients::
1c organic rolled oats (had a ton of Quaker already, so I just used these)
1c spelt (or whole wheat or oat flour)
1c rice flour (or ground almonds)
1/2c shredded coconut (optional, so I did not do this)
1/2tsp salt (used regular table salt)
1/4c raisins (got organic red flame raisins)
1/4c dried cranberries (optional, did not do- just added double raisins)
1/2c agave nectar (or pure maple syrup)
1/2c coconut oil (or canola oil)
1/2tsp vanilla (had pure vanilla from Nicaragua- Bonus!)
1.5tsp cinnamon (already had reg, so I did not use organic)
::recipe::
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients together. Mix all wet ingredients. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Form 1" balls and place on an oiled cookie sheet, pressing balls down with your fingers. Bake for 12 minutes or until crispy.
zach loved them. i loved them. shared some with friends. i'd say for my first attempt, they were a hit!