Minus the Trans-Fat

Reading through Celine's post, I was directed to Where's the Revolution. Wow, vegan Samoas eh? Growing up, I was never a big fan of coconut, but Samoas were the exception. I probably had my first Samoa in high school when my sister couldn't turn down a friendly young solicitor. This of course was way before I knew anything about nutrition, other than limit junk food - chocolate, fried foods, sugar/cookies, etc. This was also probably before the short-lived Oreo trans-fat scare. Thinking back, I am surprised to remember a brief snippet regarding this included in mainstream media. But Nabisco probably run more of their commercials on Nickelodean. Back to the cookies...although Samoas do seem to be without eggs, they are loaded with trans-fat! How do I know?? Check out what's listed second on the ingredient listing. Also, the FDA does not require food manufacturers to specify "natural & artificial flavors". Although these girl scout cookies tasted great, they contributed very little nutritional value to my body.
Long story short, I've been looking for a decent Samoa recipe for quite some time & this definitely hit the sweet spot.
After baking up a batch, I'd have to say these taste pretty good. Not only that, they're pretty high on our list of nutritional ingredients. Although not gluten-free wheat-free, they'll have to do until we find the "perfect-ideal" mostly brown rice cookie. When putting these cookies together, I did find it odd that the recipe didn't include vanilla extract, so I added an extra teaspoon. I have very little to complain about these cookies other than mine were a little lacking in flavor. (**Celine made a good point - I omitted the pecans & I believe pecans would add an extra layer of flavor complexity.) With the remaining batch, I added some cinnamon & dried cranberries. The cookies were chewy & had a natural peanut-buttery flavor. They remind me of a chewy granola bar. Next time, I would like to substitute 1/4 cup brown rice flour.

~*~

Trans-Fat Free Samoas
1 cup brown rice syrup (brown rice syrup, maple syrup, agave nectar, 2 tblspn molasses)
1/2 cup virgin coconut oil, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup oat flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup chocolate chips (white & carob)
dried cranberries, handful

• Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Mix together wet sweetners + coconut oil + vanilla on low speed on stand-mixer.
• In large bowl, combine flours, salt, cinnamon & baking powder. Mix around to completely combine. Add & stir in rolled oats, coconut, chips & cranberries.
• Slowly poor dry ingredients into wet ingredients with mixer on low. Mix until just combined, do not overmix.
• Bake for 14 - 17 minutes, depending on size of cookies. Underbake for chewy cookies.
  
• Makes 18 - 20 large cookies.

**Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature, as coco oil with solidify below 78F. Do not overbake & do not overmix. My cookies didn't spread too much, so I rolled them into balls and flattened them a bit before baking.
**DAY 2: These are sooo yummy & chewy, no lack in flavor today, super plus with rice/almond milk. These vaguely remind me of Uncle Eddie's.