Nutty Oatmeal Cookies

Nuts, chopped dried apples or other fruit, coconut or a combination help oats produce a great cookie. Choose the first options throughout this recipe ingredient list, and you’ve got a surprisingly good vegan cookie; go for the last options for a more traditional take. And if you’re feeling decadent, this recipe can handle an extra ½ cup of bits of semisweet or dark chocolate.

To make the spice flavors more prominent, bump up the amount of cinnamon to a teaspoon, and add ½ teaspoon of ground ginger and ¼ teaspoon each ground allspice and nutmeg. Sometimes I make these cookies bite-size, since they’re fully loaded with good stuff and quite satisfying in small portions. But small cookies will bake much more quickly, so keep an eye on them. (Then tuck half away in the freezer for a rainy day.)

½ cup peanut oil or vegetable oil, or 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup applesauce, or 2 eggs

1½ cups all-purpose flour

2 cups rolled oats (not instant)

1 cup (about 3 ounces) chopped dried apples, or other fruit

½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ cup almond milk, rice milk, or oat milk, or cow’s milk

½ teaspoon vanilla or almond extract

1 Heat the oven to 375°F. Use an electric mixer to cream the oil or butter and the sugars together; add the applesauce or eggs and beat until well blended.

2 Combine the flour, oats, fruit, nuts, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. Alternating with the milk, add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture by hand, a little at a time, stirring to blend. Stir in the vanilla.

3 Put teaspoon-size mounds of dough about 3 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake until lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool for about 2 minutes on the sheets, then use a spatula to transfer the cookies to a rack to finish cooling. Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature for no more than a day or two.