Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I've spent a lot of time trying to create the best oatmeal raisin cookie. One of the important things for me was that they be as healthy as possible without sacrificing taste. It's an ongoing process, but here is the best I've come up with so far. Notes: There is a large amount of spices in these cookies, because I've found that using applesauce instead of butter tends to smother the flavors of baked goods. You may wish to adjust the spices to taste by adding less or more. I've also added ground cloves to the cookies in the past. Don't be afraid to experiment with different spices. The orange juice is a strange ingredient, but many people seem to dislike the taste of wheat flour. Orange juice seems to have a special property to smother the taste of wheat, making it taste like regular flour. The dry milk powdered is used in conjunction with the baking soda to help the cookies rise. This is used when cooking with Splenda. If you don't use Splenda then cut the powdered milk. This is a flexible recipe. You can add different spices to suit your taste, as well as different ingredients, such as replacing the raisins with, semi-sweet chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or white chocolate chips. Alternatively, you may just wish to add a greater amount of cinnamon and other spices, cutting out the raisins and such entirely. You can also use different types of extract. The combination of whole wheat and oats make them rather fulfilling treats and snacks. Finally, you just can't beat having delicious cookies that are so low in calories.

• Ready In: 25 mins
• Serves: 24

Ingredients

• 1⁄4 cup Splenda granular
• 1⁄4 cup  orange juice
• 1  egg white
• 1  tablespoon  nonfat dry milk powder
• 1⁄2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1  tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1  teaspoon allspice
• 1⁄4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1⁄2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1⁄2 cup raisins

Directions

1. Preheat Oven to 375°F
2. Add together the splenda, orange juice, egg white, dry milk powder, applesauce and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Then mix well.
3. Add in salt, baking soda, ground cinnamon and all-spice. Then mix well.
4. Gradually add in the flour about one half cup at a time, mixing well each time.
5. Add in old fashioned oat gradually, mixing well.
6. Add in raisins to the mixture, ensuring that they are spread throughout evenly.
7. Add in chocolate chips, almonds, or other added ingredients while making sure that they spread evenly throughout the mixture. (Optional.).
8. With a teaspoon, spoon out mixture onto a non-stick cookie sheet about the size of a quarter.
9. Place in pre-heated oven and bake 8 to 10 minutes or until slightly brown on the bottom.