High Fiber Low Fat Cookies, don't knock em 'til you try em

Hello again :)

I have been quite busy as of late with no real time to blog.  It's a good thing I have very few followers  lol

Most of you know that I am a Custom Cake Artist by trade. I would say the vast majority of my business is wedding cakes, so this time of year is craziness. Thankfully I usually get a break in August and this year is no exception.  It is typically too hot and sticky in southern VA to get married in August, though this year has been unusually, gloriously mild.

Being a cake artist means that most people think we live on cake ;)  No seriously, you would not believe how many people think we must eat massive amounts of cake.  Not true. We try our best to eat well in our home. We cook most things from scratch using whole ingredients. Very little if any processed foods and HFCS is to be avoided at all times. Even in my business life these basic principles hold true. Scratch made everything, real ingredients.

When we crave a sweet treat in our house I frequently try and tweek it to make it a bit healthier for my kiddles. Last night was a craving night. Rhiannon made homemade pizza with whole wheat crust and sauce made with the organically grown heirloom tomatoes from our garden. It was supremely delicious!! Afterwards though, I was dying for something sweet. High Fiber reduced fat cookies were just what I wanted :)  Don't make that face......I can see you scrunching up your nose in disappointment and disgust....High Fiber....Reduced fat....gag.  NOT SO I SAY, They are fantastic and hit that sweet tooth spot perfectly without quite so much guilt.

Let's talk about ingredients.  Now I need you to keep an open mind....can you do that??  Most of these ingredients will be very familiar, just in adjusted ratios.  Just hold onto the familiar :)  Ok i'm just going to rip off the bandaid here and list them all (even the oddball)


This recipe is quite large for our large family. Half would be a standard recipe amount

1 3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 white sugar
1 cup butter (soft not melted)
1 15 ounce can Cannellini beans, drained
4 eggs (you can use 8 egg whites but this will lead to a slightly more dry cookie)
1/4 cup milk
4 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups unbleached ap flour ( See previous post for why you should ALWAYS use unbleached)
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
5 cups quick or old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup chopped almonds
1 cup shredded coconut
3/4 cup pitted dried dates, chopped
1 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips


Did you see it?  The oddball ingredient? Beans?  Hang with me people, you won't even taste them :)

So lets talk about the other modifications I made that make this a healthier option.  This recipe has a greatly reduced sugar load ( less than half of the base recipe I started with). It also has half the fat.  The beans , almonds, coconut and dates all add large amounts of fiber and protein.  As cookies go, this is a pretty healthy treat.

First you will want to drain off one can of Cannellini beans (If you can find organic beans that is always better. I was unable to find them at kroger this trip).

Place the drained beans and your milk in a food processor and puree until smooth. Set aside. 

Combine your sugar and butter and cream in mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Add eggs and beat for 3 minutes.

Add your pureed beans into the butter, sugar and egg mixture. It will look a bit less beautiful (slightly grainy) once mixed but that's fine :)

Now add your flour, baking soda, salt and oats. Stir until just combined (once that flour is in there you don't want to over mix it and you still have other things to add)

Add the remaining nuts, dates, coconut and chocolate chips

You can substitute raisins for the dates.  They don't have same nutritional punch but they would work well flavor wise. 

Stir until well distributed.

You can let the dough rest or even refrigerate it over night at this point. I made them right away because I was impatient and craving remember ;)

I used a small cookie scoop for mine.  Using this scoop and half the dough (remember I make large amounts) yielded sixty small cookies. 

Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 12- 15 minutes. They will still be soft when you take them out and just slightly golden. As they cool they firm up but stay soft enough to be lovely.

My entire family loved them ....ENJOY!!!