Granola Cookies
These cookies are an absolutely brilliant invention – you take a relatively “plain” cookie base and then throw in chunks of granola, nuts, dried fruit and coconut. It’s one, big, cookie-sized hunk of granola that you can walk around and eat. Genius, we tell you. We have always been a huge fan of granola but didn’t start really going crazy over it until we came up with our hands-down, favorite from-scratch recipe earlier this year. Now we're a certified granola junkie. (Tip: that granola recipes makes a kick-butt car trip snack. We munched away on it all the way from Pittsburgh to Florida!) So when we saw a cookie that was wholly based on granola as the main ingredient and then threw in all sorts of other rich add-ins, we knew we were in for an memorable treat.
Dare we say you could even eat these babies for breakfast. We mean, it might be a stretch, but not by much. Loads of granola and they have a lighter dose of wheat germ in there which, hello! That totally makes these a wholesome meal, snack, whatever. In moderation, of course ;-) we think a standby thing about these is how versatile the recipe is. Once you have your granola ready to go, you can switch up the other ingredients for different flavor combinations to suit your tastes. In place of raisins use your favorite dried fruit, substitute another nut for the peanuts or almonds, whatever you’d like! This is one of those “endless possibility” recipes, and those are always our favorite.
When you make these be sure to keep an eye on them, you never know when a cookie monster will move in for the grab!
One year ago: Cashew Chicken
Two years ago: Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Muffins
Granola Cookies
Yield: 24 cookies Rich granola cookies that are reliable for snacking- 3 cups (366 g) granola, without the fruit or nuts
- ¾ cup (108.75 g) raisins, regular or golden
- ½ cup (73 g) peanuts
- ½ cup (54 g) slivered almonds
- ½ cup (45 g) sweetened shredded coconut
- ⅓ cup (38.33 g) wheat germ
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, (7 ounces )
- ¾ cup (165 g) packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) salt
- 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats; set aside.
- Put the granola in a large bowl and break up any clumps with your fingers. Add the raisins, peanuts, almonds, coconut and wheat germ and mix together.
- With an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until creamy. Add the egg and salt and beat until well blended. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it is incorporated, then steadily add the granola mixture. Stop the mixer when most of the granola mixture is blended into the batter and finish the job with a sturdy rubber spatula, making sure to get up any bits of dry ingredients left in the bottom of the bowl.
- Scoop out about two tablespoonfuls of dough, pack the scoops between your palms and arrange the mounds on the baking sheets. Flatten the mounds lightly with your fingertips.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. The cookies should be golden brown but not firm. Allow them to rest on the sheets for 1 to 2 minutes before transferring them to racks to cool to room temperature. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
- Yield: 24 cookies
- Prep: 10 minutes
- Cook: 12 minutes
- Total: 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 3 cups ( 366 g ) granola, without the fruit or nuts
- ¾ cup ( 108.75 g ) raisins, regular or golden
- ½ cup ( 73 g ) peanuts
- ½ cup ( 54 g ) slivered almonds
- ½ cup ( 45 g ) sweetened shredded coconut
- ⅓ cup ( 38.33 g ) wheat germ
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, (7 ounces )
- ¾ cup ( 165 g ) packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup ( 50 g ) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ teaspoon ( 0.25 teaspoon ) salt
- 1 cup ( 125 g ) all-purpose flour
Method
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats; set aside.
- Put the granola in a large bowl and break up any clumps with your fingers. Add the raisins, peanuts, almonds, coconut and wheat germ and mix together.
- With an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until creamy. Add the egg and salt and beat until well blended. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it is incorporated, then steadily add the granola mixture. Stop the mixer when most of the granola mixture is blended into the batter and finish the job with a sturdy rubber spatula, making sure to get up any bits of dry ingredients left in the bottom of the bowl.
- Scoop out about two tablespoonfuls of dough, pack the scoops between your palms and arrange the mounds on the baking sheets. Flatten the mounds lightly with your fingertips.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. The cookies should be golden brown but not firm. Allow them to rest on the sheets for 1 to 2 minutes before transferring them to racks to cool to room temperature. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
