Two great friends came to stay with us last weekend from Chicagoland for a wedding. They decided to extend their weekend trip a bit and take advantage of the great camping opportunities on the Skyline Drive. With the camping in mind, I decided to make Trail Mix Cookies.
But I wanted to improve on my previous recipe. Those cookies had an awful lot going on… much like Everything Cookies. I wanted to tone it down a bit, so I replaced the peanut butter chips and white chocolate chips with additional semi-sweet chocolate chips. This allowed a little more enjoyment of the dried cranberries, almonds and golden raisins with a hint of chocolate.
Please do read my previous post for some information on agave syrup, what I used in place of sugar. It’s a more natural sweetener, especially good for diabetics. It also makes the cookies soft – you won’t get a crunch using agave.
What will throw you off the most about working with agave is that you’ll think you messed up when combining ingredients. Agave doesn’t blend very well at first with the butter and it seems to separate a lot… but when you add in the dry mixture you’ll see that everything is fine. Just have a little faith!
3/4 cup Nature’s Path Organic Pumpkin Flax Plus Granola with Omega-3
3/4 cup trail mix (a mix of dried cranberries, almonds and golden raisins. I also threw in some sunflower seeds for fun.)
1/2 cup oats (regular, not instant)
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup shredded coconut
7 ounces (slightly more than 3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup agave syrup
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, combine granola, trail mix, oats, semi-sweet, white and peanut butter chips, and coconut. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine.
Beat room temperature butter until smooth. Add agave syrup, vanilla and egg. Beat well (don’t get discouraged when it looks clumpy and like it isn’t holding together… that’s normal!). Fold in flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Then fold in granola, oats, trail mix, chips and coconut.
Use a tablespoon to scoop large balls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Place balls approximately 2 inches apart. Bake approximately 12 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely (these cookies cooled surprisingly fast). Store in an air-tight container.
Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
