Canola Oil Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies [vegan]

    Even after cutting out dairy, baking didn’t become really tricky until the first time I ran out of coconut oil.

   I prefer to use coconut oil in most cases, and did so often even before I stopped eating dairy. But I always had butter to fall back on in emergencies, and the first time I found myself with no coconut oil and no prospect of getting any in the near future I felt rather hurt—one of the bigger perks of being an adult is never being denied access to cookies, and being robbed of this right felt like a betrayal by the universe in general.

    The up side of this dearth of coconut oil was that I couldn’t bake for weeks and so my sugar intake dropped dramatically, but we won’t dwell on that little detail. Coconut oil drought round two found me especially desperate, and something occurred to me: why couldn’t I just use canola oil? That I had plenty of. 

   Naturally I headed for the computer, and in about three minutes the internet had convinced me it was possible, so using my tried-and-true, most favorite oatmeal cookie recipe, I gave it a try.

    The results? Fantastic. The same as ever, in fact. I certainly didn’t notice any difference. If anything, let this recipe serve as a warning: I’m going to putting canola oil in everything. I love some cold-pressed organic coconut oil as much as the next person, but to those of us who think Ebeneezer Scrooge presents a great financial model don’t love having to go out and buy it, and I fully intend to hold off till I can get a tub of it from Costco with my mom or any Costco-frequenting friends of mine. So it’s canola oil all the way until then. 

    Besides being economical and easy, these cookies—full of oats, raisins, flax, and whole wheat—pack a fibrous punch. Down a few of these and congrats, you’ve had a nice healthy serving of whole grains. And chocolate. Chocolate is good too.

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies

(made with canola oil!)

1/4 + 1/8 cup canola oil

½ cup brown sugar, not packed

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 flax egg

¾ cup whole wheat flour

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp Saigon cinnamon

1 ½ c oatmeal, dry

¼ tsp salt

½ cup dried coconut—I use this

½ cup raisins

¾ cup dark chocolate chips

   Blend oil, sugar, vanilla, and flax egg together. Depending on the gelatinousness of your flax egg, this mixture may become quite stiff. If this is the case, you may need to add a tablespoon or two of water or almond milk after the dry ingredients are combined.

    Add the rest of ingredients except chocolate chips, coconut, and raisins and combine. After the dough has formed, mix in the rest. The dough will be a bit crumbly, that’s okay. Form into balls and place on baking sheet.

   Bake at 350 for ten minutes, until slightly browned.