Oatmeal Cookies

I don't usually read Woman's Day magazine but it was a long wait in the chiropractor's office today. This recipe caught my eye. It interested me because there were no eggs in it. They also used a technique of dissolving the baking soda in boiling water and then adding it to the batter. That was intriguing. I assume that this activates the baking soda but I'm not sure why it needs to be activated in this way? If anyone knows why, please post in the comments section because I would like to know.

Oatmeal Cookies (Adapted from Woman's Day)

1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c flour
1/4 sugar
1/4 brown sugar, packed
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1 c oatmeal (not instant)
1 c unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 c raisins
1/2 c dried cranberries
1/4 c pepitas
1/2 c butter
3 T flour
1 t vanilla
1/2 t baking soda
3 T boiling water

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugars, cinnamon, and salt.  Add oatmeal, dried fruits, and pepitas. Set aside. In a small saucepan melt butter and honey.  Remove from heat and add vanilla. In small bowl place soda and add boiling water. Mix until dissolved (it will fizz a little). Add to butter mixture.  Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add butter mixture.

Dry Ingredients

Using an ice cream scoop and a rubber spatula, pack cookie dough into the scoop. Scoop onto baking sheet lined with parchment or a silpat.  It will be about 10 cookies. With wet hands, gently flatten mounds down to about 1/2" thick. Bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes. Cool on baking sheet.

Scooped

Flattened

The original recipe called for a 1/2 c chopped walnuts. I'm not a huge fan of nuts in cookies so I left them out. It also used all regular sugar.  I just can't imagine using oatmeal as an ingredient without the brown sugar so I used some of that instead. My brother is the oatmeal cookie expert but he wouldn't try these because they had coconut in them (he doesn't know what he missed).  These cookies are rather large I must admit but making them so big keeps them nice and soft and gooey.