Whole wheat and Oats Dates Cookies...

A cookie that was a perfect shot when craving for a mid-night snack. Last week I had this crazy intent to bake something in the middle of the night... yes really ... am not joking. Hubby was busy with some office call and I couldnt catch up sleep .... so went downstairs and planned to watch something on tv. There was interesting to watch so I just turned it off and sat down thinking what next. Went to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of milk when I glanced upon a big packet of oats sitting in the cupboard. One of my friends gave it to me as she bought it by mistake and did not want to use it. It was sitting right in the corner of the shelf for almost a month now. I thought of making some bread but then thought that it would almost morning by the time I am with the proofing and baking... so the next thought was to make some cookies

I wanted to make something simple and quick but yet satisfying. Started picking up ingredients and pulled them together real quick. Baked it and it turned out awesome. A cookie with a nice crunch on the outside  and a slightly soft center is what was the end of the crazy bake that day. A really satisfying cookie that tasted perfect with a glass of warm milk

The recipe is really simple and I tried to use healthy stuff to have guilt-free bites

Makes... 10 cookies

Serve option... Room Temp

This is what u'll need...

Instant Oats - 1/2 cup
Whole Wheat Flour / Atta -  1/2 cup
Oil - 1/4 cup
Pure cane sugar / Naatu sakkarai - 1/4 cup (loosely packed)
Vanilla essence - few drops
Chopped dates - 1/4 cup
Baking soda - 1/8 tspn
Baking powder - 1/4 tspn
Milk - 2 tbspn (if needed)

Here is the stir.... 

• Pour 1/4 th cup of oil into a wide bowl. I used regular sunflower oil but you can use any flavourless oil

• Add 1/4 th cup of pure cane sugar / nattu sakkarai to the bowl. I always have a stock of it as I encourage using this instead of sugar whenever possible. If you dont have then never mind... go ahead and use regular white sugar. If you like more sugar then add couple more tablespoons... for us it was perfect as the bite of dates here and there made a good balance in taste

• Add a few drops of vanilla essence to this

• Remove the seeds from dates and chop them roughly into small pieces. I used about 1/4th cup of soft skinned dates

• Use a fork and give a quick stir. They wont blend well but just trying a little to pull the wet ingredients in

• Measure in 1/4th cup of oats into a blender jar and give couple of quick pulses to make a coarse powder

• Add the coarsely ground oats to the bowl

• Measure in 1/4th cup of whole wheat flour 

• Add 1/4 tspn of baking powder and 1/8 tspn of baking soda

• Give it a quick mix until all the dry ingredients blend with the wet ones. Dont sweat too hard here as you just dont want to see dry flour

• If you feel the dough is too crumbly and will not bind together, add a couple of tablespoons of milk. Add only a tspn at a time

• Pinch out small portions of dough and make flat cookies

• Place these on a baking tray leaving a little space between them

• Bake this in a 180 degrees preheated oven for about 15-18 minutes

• Once done leave it on a wire rack to cool 

• When the cookies come down to room temperature transfer them to an airtight container 

• Serve with a glass of warm milk and enjoy

Note:

• Use white sugar if you dont have cane sugar
• Add more sugar if needed
• The cookies should be slightly soft when they come out. Once they cool they will be be crunchy on the outside