Happy Father's Day!

Even though I am a day late, I hope all the dads out there enjoyed their Father's day! For holidays such as these, I often bake my dad's and my future father-in-law's favorite cookies to supplement their gifts. I even do it for birthdays or Easter. Desserts are a great way to say you've been thinking about someone and homemade treats say you took the time to create something they love.

Both my dad and Greg love my signature oatmeal cookies: Oatmeal Lace Cookies. I've made them for several years now and even mentioned them in one of my podcasts I did on healthy cookies. Yep! HEALTHY cookies. This amazing recipe is actually a Weight Watchers Recipe! For those of you following the program, two cookies are three points. It's also very easy; I just need a bowl and a spoon. My mixer doesn't have to get dirty for this!

Oatmeal Pecan and Lace Cookies, Weight Watcher Website

1 ¼ cup(s) rolled oats

½ cup(s) dark brown sugar, packed

1 tsp baking powder

½ cup chopped pecans, finely chopped (or walnuts, or almonds, or whatever nut you choose)

1/8 tsp table salt

1/3 cup(s) regular butter, melted

1 large egg, beaten

½ tsp vanilla extract

1.     Preheat oven to 350 F and cover 2 cookies sheets with parchment paper or foil. I don't have parchment paper and, therefore, use foil for everything. I would suggest spraying the foil with a nonstick spray; the first time I made these I didn't spray and they were GLUED to the paper and fell apart. No matter what you use, spray!!

2.     Chop the pecans or walnuts. To do this, I simply put them in a plastic bag and go to town with a rolling pin. I always use walnuts for this recipe because I always have them on hand. This recipe works well with walnuts and pecans, no matter what you choose. You can even do them both--this will alter the points value though. Then, mix oats, sugar, baking powder, pecans and salt together in a large bowl until well incorporated.

3.     Add butter, egg and vanilla to oat mixture; mix well. As you can see in the picture below, the mixture just looks wet and does not seem to stick together very well. Just make sure you get it as wet as you can as you mix it up.

4.     Slide teaspoonfuls of batter onto prepared cookie sheets and flatten each out, leaving at least 2 inches between each cookie. Yes; I mean SLIDE. Scoop up the batter with the spoon and slowly push it onto the cookie sheet. Make sure they aren't in a ball form; you want them to be flatter so they come out like "lace."

5.     Bake cookies until edges turn golden, about 8 to 12 minutes. Let cookies stand on cookie sheets for 2 minutes before removing to cooling rack.

 

    There is not much of a physical difference between when you put the cookies in the oven and when you pull them out. However, the bottoms get golden brown and look like crystalized sugar, as you can see in the bottom photo. A word of caution: don't get discouraged if they fall to pieces on you. It took me quite a few times of making these to keep them whole and prevent them from falling apart. However, they are nutty, vanilla-y, and full of flavor, which makes them great to eat as a cookie or to eat in pieces in a bowl of milk or cereal to act as granola. 

   The best part? They are Weight Watchers approved! Two cookies for three points? Most of the time you cannot touch one cookie for under four. These are sweet and fulfilling--definitely guilty free. The best part? Making them for your dad is not going to hurt his diet. It's giving him a healthy alternative that he will love and completely enjoy. Just see how long those cookies last. :D