I made 2 batches of these cookies.  One with butter, and the other with vegetable oil.

I found this recipe on The Whole Grain Gourmet.  I didn’t change much in the recipe.  I didn’t have any molasses, so I mixed 3/4 cup dark brown sugar with 1/4 cup water.  I used a tablespoon of this mixture in place of the tablespoon of molasses.  I also used pecans instead of walnuts.  And of course I used 1/2 cup butter is the butter recipe instead of the 1/2 cup oil.

Appearance

I was surprised at how similar the two cookies looked after baking.  Going in to the oven I would not have predicted this outcome since the dough in the bowl looked quite different.  There are slight differences in the baked cookie.  The butter cookies were a little thinner and spread a bit more than the oil cookies.  The latter had a bit more height to them in the center.  

Texture

You can tell by looking closely and holding each cookie that the oil cookie is more dense.  At first bite there is more initial crunch to the butter cookie, but that doesn’t last too long.  A few chews into the cookie and they both have the same wheaty, substantial texture.  If I were to be incredibly critical, then I would say that they was more chew to the oil cookie…but not a great deal more.  

Taste

The moment of truth…the taste of the cookies are not very different.  The butter cookie seemed to be sweeter, or so my taste testers say.  Maybe the butter brings out the sweetness?  I don’t know.  The honey is a nice sweetener.  It isn’t too sweet so the raisins really stand out.  I liked the presence of pecans, but the pieces I used were too small.  Next time I wouldn’t chop them quite so small, maybe just cut the pecan halves into fourths.  

These cookies taste healthy.  I like the oats and texture of the wheat flour.  I also like not feeling so guilty about eating these!  If I have a choice, I will opt for an oatmeal cookie with butter, sugar and all-purpose flour.  I guess I just like my cookies sweet and unhealthy.  As a healthy option, these are very good.  I gave some to a 5th grade girl I know, and she liked them.  So, if your kids want cookies, these are a good healthy alternative.  I may try adding dark chocolate chips next time and using half all-purpose and half wheat flour.

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies

Courtesy of The Whole Grain Gourmet

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour (a pinch more depending on the moisture of the mix)
• 1 1/2 cups of Large Flake Rolled Oats (smaller flake is ok too)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp Cinnamon (I actually use about 3 Tbsp–got to love cinnamon)
• 1/2 tsp Nutmeg (optional)

Wet ingredients

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup oil or 1/2 cup unsalted room temperature butter 
• 1 Tablespoon Molasses
• 1 egg (beat with 1 Tbsp Water)
• 1 tsp Vanilla

• 1/2 cup raisins (1 cup for my Dad’s batch)
• 1/2 cup walnuts (more for my Dad’s)!!

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together.
2. In a medium bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together. Hint: when measuring out the honey, spray the measuring cup with oil or baking spray–your honey won’t stick.
3. Mix the wet stuff with the dry stuff. Add the raisins and walnuts and mix. If the mixture seems too wet, add a bit of flour. If it isn’t binding together very well, you may wish to add an egg white.
4. COOL the mix for 20 minutes in the fridge.
5. Preheat the oven to 335 degrees (lower temperature due to the honey in the recipe which will burn more easily).
6. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto your baking sheet 
7. Bake for about 15 – 20 minutes or until golden on the bottom of the cookie. The cookies freeze very well and make a great snack! Enjoy.

The Butter Cookie

Upon mixing the butter with the honey, molasses and egg I was worried by the little nasty chunks of butter.  After adding the dry ingredients the dough came together fine. 

The Oil Cookie

The dough was very sticky and looked runny.  I thought it would run all over the cookie sheet creating one big cookie after baking, but they held up great in the oven.