Is there anything better than the smell of fresh-baked cookies? Aside from eating them of course! The aroma of baked nuts, melting chocolate, vanilla and sweet maple syrup combine to create the perfect harmony for the senses.  Once the oven door opens, the aroma fills the house and it won’t be long before my kids and husband start sauntering over to the kitchen.

Everyone loves cookies!

This school year is the first time I’ve had to send my child to school with a packed lunch.  While it may seem a simple task, it can actually be quite a challenge if you want to provide your child with healthy and yummy homemade food.   I take special care to send food that will provide the nutritional requirements that my son’s little body and mind need to learn and grow. 

I try to limit wheat and refined sugars and I can’t include nuts as they are a big no-no in our schools due to allergenic concerns.   At home, my children eat homemade nut butters and many of our homemade treats are made with an almond & coconut flour base but most of these items are off limits at school.

School approved items that I enjoy sending for my son (and feel good about) are:

• Whole grain rice cake with organic cream cheese
• Sliced grapes
• Half a banana, with a few slices cut at the top of the peel for easy peeling
• Dried mulberries, raisins or natural dried cranberries
• Natural Greek yogurt (with a drizzle of honey added so I can control the amount)
• Hard boiled egg
• Chopped up prunes (he loves them!)
• Diced apples
• Thinly chopped veggies with homemade hummus
• Cheese slices

Lastly, I love to include a healthy treat! And oh yes, that includes fresh baked healthy cookies.

I’d like to introduce Chocolate Chip Oat Cookies! Deliciousness in cookie form.  For this recipe I used a base of gluten-free oats instead of my usual almond flour base for cookies.  These cookies are nut free and contain a very low amount of refined sugar (The only refined sugar will come from the chocolate chips you choose to use) which make them a great school option.  For refined sugar free cookies substitute raisins or natural dried fruit for the chocolate. 

I used “oat flour” by adding regular oats into my blender and blitzing for a few seconds.  There really is no need to go out and purchase expensive pre-made oat flour for a lot of homemade treats.  It’s a good feeling to know that a little thing like processing your own flour can contribute to extra savings.  I like to allocate any money saved in the kitchen to my kids’ extracurricular activities – currently swimming and soccer!

Chocolate Chip Oat Cookies

Yield: 12 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quick oats, (blitz in blender)
• ¼ cup quick oats
• 1 tbsp coconut flour
• ¼ cup dark chocolate chips
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2.5 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 3 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 2.5 tbsp milk alternative of choice ( I used Rude Health’s Almond Drink!)
• Pinch of salt
• Additional chocolate chips to top (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350f
2. Place all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and combine well
3. Place all the wet ingredients into a medium mixing bowl and combine well
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until combined
5. Stir in the chocolate chips
6. Using a tablespoon or 1 tbsp cookie scooper place small balls of cookie dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet
7. Bake cookies for 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
   

It always warms my heart to see a big smile on my son’s face when I tell him I’ve packed him a treat. Homemade cookies seem to get the biggest smiles!

I bought these cute divided lunch containers , along with these Crocodile Creek Sandwich boxes (I put everything in them!) and this soft lunch pail.  Everything comes together to create the perfect packed school lunch.

Ps. These cookies are great for adults too.

Enjoy,

Simply Hollie