These days I have rekindled my love for all things oaty. Oats are one of my favorite foods, along with coconut, apricots, bananas, berries, spouted grain bread, pecans, tomatoes, peppers, and greens. I also love anything with a lot of garlic and onion when cooking! Oh, and of course all herbs and spices are what make the world go round. (Okay, I have a lot of favorites!)

We had some cinnamon oatmeal raisin cookies in the freezer that I got into last week and when I ran out I new that I had to make something new with oats–and soon!

On my search in the grocery store for some dried apricots to make Coconut Apricot Cookie Granola, I came across dried blueberries. I have never had dried blueberries before in my life and I immediately thought of throwing them into an oatmeal cookie recipe. Scanning the baking aisle shelves for pecans, I knew already in my mind that I had just invented an awesome recipe.

I have an obsession with my Trail Mix cookies. I could eat them all the time. They make a nice filling meal for me too at times, which I deem permissible because they are loaded with oats and so many other good things. That goodness keeps me satisfied and energized for hours to take care of my little ones, clean and do my exercise.

My new favorite cookie now has to be these Blueberry Pecan & Apricot Oat cookies. I made them with organic spelt flour, which I find is less dense than wheat and makes them nice and soft, and sweetened them with pure maple syrup. I also added ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves to make them extra awesome. And that they are.

(This is my kitchen when my mind is on recipes. Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, 2 batches of cookies and Taco Casserole on the go. When you are making a mess, you may as well go all out right?)

The first batch I made I used 2 cups of oats and realized that they were not as oaty as I would like them to be, though they were delicious and the perfect cookie: soft, sweet, and beautifully spiced. I, however, love healthy tastes and the extra cup of oats I added to the second batch made the cookies more healthy tasting and hearty, which was what I was going for to satisfy my love for oats.

(Batch number one – 2 cups of oats)

(Batch number two – 3 cups of oats)

If you prefer a more traditional cookie that is more soft and sweet, I would suggest making the first version of this recipe, with 2 cups of oats. If you like a more hearty and healthy cookie, then making these with 3 cups of oats is for you. For the second version of this recipe, I also added ground cloves because I love the flavor cloves impart. You could also add cloves to the first version, if you like.

Blueberry Pecan & Apricot Oat Cookies

A soft and chewy spelt and oat cookie, loaded with the natural sweetness of dried blueberries & apricots and crunchy pecans. The addition of ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves make these cookies nothing short of perfect.

Makes 20 cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups organic quick oats
• 2 cups organic spelt flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup natural pecan pieces, or whole pecans, broken into halves (I like chunkier pecans in my cookies)
• 1 cup dried blueberries*
• 1 cup dried apricots, chopped (about 21 whole dried apricots)
• 2/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 2/3 cup sunflower oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

*Look for larger dried blueberries for this recipe, as smaller ones make the cookies harder to shape. I learned this the hard way after buying some more dried blueberries to make this recipe again and the cookie dough was pretty crumbly and hard to form into balls.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Combine the oats, flour, baking soda, sea salt, ginger, cardamom, and cinnamon together in a medium mixing bowl.
3. Add the pecans, blueberries and apricots.
4. Stir in the maple syrup, sunflower oil and vanilla.
5. Roll into tablespoon-size balls and place onto a baking sheet, pressing the cookie down slightly.
6. Repeat to make 20 cookies.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until very lightly golden brown.
8. Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan.

Blueberry Pecan & Apricot Oat Cookies {Extra Oaty)

Makes 20 cookies

Ingredients

• 3 cups organic quick oats
• 2 cups organic spelt flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup natural pecan pieces, or whole pecans, broken into halves (I like chunkier pecans in my cookies)
• 1 cup dried blueberries*
• 1 cup dried apricots, chopped (about 21 whole dried apricots)
• 2/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 2/3 cup sunflower oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

*Look for larger dried blueberries for this recipe, as smaller ones make the cookies harder to shape. I learned this the hard way after buying some more dried blueberries to make this recipe again and the cookie dough was pretty crumbly and hard to form into balls.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Combine the oats, flour, baking soda, sea salt, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves together in a medium mixing bowl.
3. Add the pecans, blueberries and apricots.
4. Stir in the maple syrup, sunflower oil and vanilla.
5. Press into tablespoon-size balls with your hands and place onto a baking sheet, pressing the cookie down slightly to flatten a little.
6. Repeat to make 20 cookies.
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until very lightly golden brown.
8. Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan.

I hope that you enjoy this recipe! Let me know if you do try it by leaving a comment below! 🙂

Much Love!