Oatmeal Fudge Cookies

Sometimes, you just want a cookie.  A crunchy, chewy, chocolatey, yummy, cookie.  There's not really anything else that fits that same snacking niche.

Don't those look good?

These make a great snack.  They're dense and satisfying, and there's really nothing in them to feel guilty about.  Call them "energy nuggets" or something, instead of cookies, and eat them for breakfast with my blessing.

The preparation does rely pretty heavily on a tough blender.  You need something that can reliably grind oats into flour without overheating.  My Vitamix does the job in a few seconds.  If you don't have such a blender, you could try substituting a scant cup of prepared oat flour for the first cup of oats and finely chopping the raisins, then blending them aggressively by hand.  I haven't done this, but it should work okay.  Really though, just get an awesome blender.  I love mine and use it for all sorts of things.

So...  recipe:

1 1/4 cups rolled oats, divided
3/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup coconut oil, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.

Put 1 cup oats and the raisins in the blender and grind to a fine, floury texture.  Pour into a small bowl.

Add the cocoa powder, salt, and soda to the oats and raisins, and stir to combine (I like a slight salty aftertaste in this cookie, but if you don't, you can omit the salt).

Blend in the coconut oil, then follow it with the egg and vanilla.  Finally, stir in the reserved 1/4 cup of whole oats.

Place dough on an ungreased cookie sheet in 12 heaping-tablespoon-sized balls.  Flatten slightly, and bake for 10 minutes.  After baking, allow the cookies to cool on the sheet for a few minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.  You can eat them warm, but be forewarned that they'll be very crumbly.  After cooling, the structure is much more sturdy and they should prove lunchbox-worthy.