Granola Cookies

What’s a granola cookie? Just a fancy way of saying oatmeal cookie! Ha! Don’t be fooled though, this is not your average oatmeal cookie.

This cookie starts with a homemade quick granola. Quick cooking oats, chopped slivered almonds and dates get baked until toasty and golden before getting mixed into the most delicious cookie dough.

The cookie gets baked and the little chunks of dates are unexpected little bursts of sweetness. When my daughters tried these cookies, they had no idea what dates tasted like and now they are big fans of dates, I like to call them “honey fruit” because they do have a honey like taste, so sweet and so delicious.

Another beautiful thing about this cookie is you can add/switch pretty much all the goodies you include in your granola. Coconut flakes, walnuts, raisins, craisins, you name it! As long as you keep the oatmeal to dried fruit ratio of 1 cup of oats to 3/4 cup sweet dried fruit and 1/2 cup chocolate chip, any combination should be magic!

This is how I made these Granola Cookies:

Preheat the oven to 350º.

In a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper, arrange the oats, chopped almonds and little bits of dates in a flat single layer spread out as evenly as you can.

Tip! Use the oats to help separate the date bits from one another. The dates will have the tendency to stick together and clump up. The oats will release a little “oat dust” that will help separate the date clusters therefore allowing you to spread the dates evenly with the other toppings while they toast in the oven.

Bake the granola for 10 minutes, shimming the baking sheet half way through the cooking time to allow steam to escape and also to help even the toasting process throughout the entire batch.

Tip! Set a timer to remind you of the 5 minute mark. Nuts and dried fruit can burn quickly, it’s good to keep a close eye on them.

After the granola has been baked and toasted let it cool down and come to room temperature.

On to the cookie dough:

Using a stand up mixer, beat the softened butter for a minute.

Tip! Scrape up the sides of the bowl every time before adding any other ingredient to the mix.

Add the brown sugar and the regular sugar. Beat the mixture for 2-3 minutes.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Combine and add the chocolate chips to the flour mixture.

Tip! By adding the chocolate chips to the flour mixture, they will not sink to the bottom of the cookie.

Scrape the sides of the electric mixer’s bowl. Add the egg and the vanilla. Mix well.

Add the flour mixture and mix on slow until just combined.

Add the cooled granola mixture and mix until just incorporated.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Spray each sheet with nonstick spray.

Using a medium size ice-cream scooper, scoop out about 8-9 cookies per pan.

For softer, chewier cookies, bake the cookies for 12-13 minutes, one pan at a time.

For crunchier denser cookies bake for 15 minutes.

Tip! Play with the timing of these cookies. If they bake closer to the 14 minute mark, they will result in a crispier cookie, if you bake them closer to the 12 minute mark they will be chewier. I personally prefer a chewy soft cookie.

The softer less baked cookie will appear almost under cooked but the edges will be golden.

Tip! Above, you can see the difference between a softer cookie (on the left) and a crunchier one (on the right).

Allow the cookies to cool down a bit (this will be the hardest part because the smell in your kitchen will be so insanely good).

Enjoy!