Living In The Raw Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

I can fail at keeping a recipe raw like none other, but this one takes the cake… the baked cake.  I had already soaked my ingredients for Living in the Raw‘s Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies (page 62) and begun preparing the recipe, when I read to the bottom and realized this was a dehydrator recipe.  How did I miss that?! I almost always read all the way through a recipe before I begin, but I must have read a different recipe.  Anyway, I couldn’t let this batter go to waste; besides being against wasting food, raw recipes aren’t exactly cheap.  I hopped online to research using my oven as a dehydrator, but the lowest temperature mine can be set to is 170 degrees, and even if that were appropriate, there is no way I could justify letting my oven run for 20 hours to dehydrate a batch of raw vegan cookies!  So I just decided to forget about the raw and worry about turning that yummy looking batter into something delicious.  I cranked the oven to 350, spooned out the dough onto the baking sheet, and stuck them in the oven for 8 minutes.  I then pulled out the baking sheet, flipped the cookies, and returned to the oven for 4 minutes.  I was sorry I failed the raw, but they turned out great!  These cookies made my kitchen smell amazing while baking.  They’re firm, chewy, and slightly softer on the inside, with a texture and flavor that reminds me of an oatmeal bar.  My little man loves these cookies; they’re going to make grab and go snacks for the road.  Since the recipe made so many, I saved out a few and stuck the rest in the freezer for in the future. I’m sharing with you the original recipe, so if you have a dehydrator you can keep it raw.

Raw Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients:

• 2 cups oat groats, soaked 2 hours
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup pitted dates, soaked 1 hour
• 2 apples, cored and grated
• 1 cup dried cranberries, soaked 1 hour
• 1 cup walnuts, soaked 1 hour and chopped
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon Celtic salt
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Combine the oat groats, water, and dates in a food processor fitted with the S blade, or in a blender, and process until thoroughly blended.  Transfer to a bowl, and stir in the apples, cranberries, walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, vanilla extract, salt, and nutmeg.  Mix well.  Spoon the dough onto a dehydrator tray with a Teflex sheet, and form into small cookies, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick.  Dehydrate at 105 degrees for 6 hours.  Turn the cookies over and remove the Teflex sheet.  Continue dehydrating for 12-14 hours, or until the cookies are dry on the outside and slightly moist on the inside.

Do you ever fail at keeping raw recipes raw?