Gluten-Free Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I am trying to come up with more baking recipes that do not use eggs as an ingredient. This is not the easiest if you are going to try and keep things simple and unprocessed. I was in NYC over the weekend and what thinking about oatmeal raisin cookies so I decided when I woke up this morning at home that these cookies were asking for existence. I bought some hunza raisins that are high in beneficial iron, minerals and antioxidants that fight against free radicals in your body that may produce cancerous cells. These raisins are my absolute favorite and almost taste like a chewy candy. I also added some regular organic California raisins for color, so you can make these cookies with any raisin or dried fruit for that matter. But, I do encourage you to try new species of a familiar food and enjoy the health benefits from it. Making gluten free, dairy free and egg free cookies can be an adventure by itself, but make it even more of a radical feat by trying a super fruit you have never experienced before. I hope you have fun making these yummy treats as I did, and remember that eating allergy free doesn't mean you will never eat a good cookie again. It just means you are thinking more consciously what you are sticking in your body and in the end you will actually enjoy cookies when they are healthy for you!

Ok, so for starters preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

* Grind 1 1/2 cups of almonds in your coffee grinder,  or you can also buy almond flour at the health store. I like to grind my almonds because it tastes fresher and you can sometimes have a few pieces of almond in the mix that I like to get every now and then.

* Grind 1 cup of Bob's Red Mill gluten-free oats in the coffee grinder

* Add an extra cup of gluten free oats

* 1/2 cup of sucanat

* 1/2 cup of agave

* 1/2 cup of grapeseed oil

* 1 ts of apple cider vinegar

* 1 Tb of spectrum organic palm shortening

* 1 ts. of sea salt

* 1 ts of cinnamon

* 1 ts. of ground nutmeg

* 1/2 ts. of ground cloves

* 1 ts. of pure vanilla

* Mix all together with a fork and notice the sticky-ness that starts to occur. If it is too crumbly add a bit more agave or  grapeseed oil...just a dash at a time.

* Then add 1 cup of raisins, I used the hunza raisins like I said, but half of hunza and half california red raisins.

* Mix well and then spoon out teaspoon sized dolups on a baking sheet with parchment paper.

* Bake 10 - 12 minutes at 350 degrees.

* Let cool before moving from the pan because there will be less crumbling and breaks in the cookies.

* Now my favorite part.... HM, try one hot out of the oven with a cup of tea or save for an afternoon or evening snack. These are so good I might even sneak one for breakfast with my morning smoothie. De-li-cious! And, there is no dairy, eggs and gluten, can you believe it?

Hope you have a beautiful day and enjoy your life as it is and for what it can be.