The Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

[Dia Minha]

I am going to post the original recipe and then how I changed it to make it healthier. I thought this way you would be able to see what you could do with your favorite recipes to make them a little healthier.

Original

1 cup shortening
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

The way I make them.

Just under 1 cup canola oil
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups rolled oats
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream oil, sugar and eggs and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Combine baking soda, salt and flour and stir into creamed mixture.

Add oatmeal and chocolate chips and stir until well blended.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.



Usually you can cut your fat in any recipe by substituting half with applesauce. However, that made this recipe very cake like and my family did not like it. It also had hydronated (sp?) fat in the shortening. So I just replaced the shortening with a healthier oil and because it is not a solid you get away with using a little bit less.

A lot of cookies, cakes, and sweets recipes you can just cut back on the sugar. I tried that with this one and it just didn't taste right. So instead of trying to take out the not so good for you stuff I just doubled up on the good for you stuff, like the oatmeal. Any time you can substitute a whole grain, like oatmeal, for a simplified or processed grain, like flour, it will add more fiber and more nutrients. Because of the extra oats these cookies are harder to roll in balls, but it still can be done. You just have to work with it a little.

You can cut some more sugar and fat by using half the chocolate chips. The first time I did this I laughed when my kids came to me and told me they were the best yet, because they had so much chocolate in them. If you use the mini chips then you can use less and they spread throughout the cookie better. I still just use the regular sized one, because they are cheaper.

Hope you enjoy.

[5ft Diva]

Yummy! This sounds good! Thanks for sharing. I haven't had a chance to look at the other recipe but it sounds good!

[Dia Minha]

The last couple of times I made these, I cut back the oil to about 3/4 cup and added an extra egg. I also had some quick oats that needed to be rotated so I used quick instead and the cookies came together easier and turned out more like the way my husband likes them. I like using the whole oats because they are healthier, (I can explain later if your interested, but I find myself sidetracking again.) but they are cookies, and I am making them for him so I compromised and still add all four cups, which he doesn't like as much, but used the quick oats. It helps if you spray your hands with a little cooking spray before shaping the balls. This way the dough doesn't stick to your fingers as much.