Who doesn’t love cookies? I’m a big fan of the cookie and here’s a cookie that’s been around for almost one hundred years: Mother’s brand Oatmeal Cookies. Well the cookie itself hasn’t been around that long, (though with preservatives these days…) I digress. Mother’s brand cookies have been a staple on supermarket shelves for nearly one hundred years, yet their ingredients are anything but wholesome.
The recognizable packaging and the picture of sweet little lady on the corner of the package lull us into a false sense of food security. Yet these icons of baked goods are anything but innocent. These little sweet memories of days-gone-by actually contain TBHQ (a form of Butane), white flour stripped of it’s nutrients, and artificial flavors. Let’s take a moment to talk about enriched flour, an ingredient we should all become knowledgeable of. Because of it’s longer shelf life, white flour has been a popular choice in processed/packaged food products. But “enriching” white flour does not make it healthy. During the processing to make white flour, the whole grain is stripped of it’s nutrients, and then the minimal dietary requirements are added back into the flour. What’s left is a starch, which your body is required to process as a starch (sugar) rather than as a whole grain. Take a moment to read the following article which gives a more thorough description of Enriched Flour. GLOBAL HEALING CENTER – ENRICHED FLOUR
This week’s comparison will be between Mother’s Oatmeal Cookies and Out of the Box Food’s Not Your “Mother’s” Oatmeal Cookies. The Out of the Box Food cookie bakes up crisp and sweet, yet is chock full of oatmeal, oat bran and whole wheat flour. Want to add a little chocolate kick? You can even throw in a few 70% cacao chips for added deliciousness and nutrition. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ THE COMPARISON: Mother’s Oatmeal Cookies vs. Out of the Box Food’s Not Your “Mother’s” Oatmeal Cookies (All ingredients followed by an * can be referenced at www.wikipedia.org by clicking on the ingredient)
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Mother’s Cookies Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients:
- enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate [vitamin b1], riboflavin [vitamin b2], folic acid),
- sugar
- vegetable oil (soybean and palm oil* with TBHQ for freshness)
- whole grain oats
- raisin paste
Contains two percent or less of:
- baking soda
- salt
- artificial flavor*
- cinnamon
- whey
- soy lecithin*
- eggs
**All listed product ingredients are taken from product’s package label. Though Out of the Box Food makes every effort to provide complete ingredient information, please check the package for the most current information. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Out of the Box Food Not your “Mother’s” Oatmeal CookiesSM
Special Equipment: baking sheets, parchment paper, cooling rack, mixing bowls
Time: Prep – 8 minutes Cook – 15-18 minutes per batch
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour (See Perfect Pantry Staples)
- 1/2 C rolled oats
- 3/4 C oat bran
- 2 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 3/4 C butter, very soft
- 3/4 C packed brown sugar
- 1/4 C organic granulated sugar (or raw sugar)
- 4 tbsp water
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 C 70% Cacao Chocolate Chips (optional) AND/OR 1/2 C raisins (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oatmeal, oat bran, baking soda and sea salt.
- In a larger mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugars, water and vanilla.
- Add dry ingredients to wet and stir until combined. Stir in raisins or chocolate chips if using.
- Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto parchment lined baking sheet. Leave approximately 3″ of space between balls of dough (cookies will spread considerably when baked).
- Bake at 325 for 15-18 minutes or until browned. Cool on wire rack.
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Hope all you moms had a very happy “Mother’s” Day!! Until next week…
