Today was a rainy, dark and miserable kind of day. Rainy days always make me feel sluggish and lazy, so we spent the day inside.

After the girls finished their schoolwork, we had not much at all to do for the day. In the afternoon I was feeling really bored, so I decided to bake! Baking makes even the most miserable days happy! 🙂

I called the girls down to have some cookies and they decided to make a birthday party for their baby cabbage patch doll Amber. Amber was my cabbage patch so she is pretty old and missing one arm. Still, she is Autumn’s favorite doll. She comes everywhere with us. Grocery shopping, the beach, you name it. She is very special.

All the dolls came to the party and had the cookies that I baked. I thought that it was rather cute. Autumn asked to borrow my camera to take pictures too.

(Kesa ate hers with a fork, as she does most of her food.)

I have tried many different approaches to coming up with a soft oatmeal raisin cookie, but until today I could never seem to get it just right. I love oatmeal and I love oatmeal cookies. This cookie is a soft cookie made with whole wheat flour and sweetened naturally using brown rice syrup. I especially love the combination of spices in this cookie.

Soft Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups quick oats
• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 1/3 cup raisins
• 2/3 cup brown rice syrup
• 1 cup sunflower oil
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium mixing bowl combine the oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Add the raisins. In a smaller mixing bowl whisk together the brown rice syrup, sunflower oil, applesauce and vanilla. Add this mixture to the oat/raisin mixture in the medium mixing bowl and mix until combined. Drop the cookie dough by teaspoon sized balls onto the baking sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until very lightly browned. Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan. Makes 24 cookies.

I am really enjoying using brown rice syrup as a sweetener these days! I like the taste and it does very well to hold the cookies together. I also have a recipe to post yet for a granola bar recipe that I made using brown rice syrup too when I get around to it.

Cookies make any day better! 🙂