Toasted Oat, Plum, and Pecan Cookies

I made a variation of these cookies for an awesome wedding that we recently went to.  I had a special request for a diabetic-friendly cookie, and my mom sent me a few potential recipes to try out.  I'm going to share something with you now that I never thought I would:  I actually like dried plums.  I imagine that some of the food purists out there are saying, rightly so, "Did she just call a prune a dried plum?"  Yes, I am completely guilty of trying to make one of the ingredients in these cookies sound more appealing. 

Prunes tend to have a bad reputation, so I like to call them dried plums.  Since you now know that I'm a fan, I can tell you that I specifically picked out the dried plum recipe from all of the recipes my mom sent because of that one ingredient. 

The variation I made for the wedding was fine, but I kept thinking about how it had the potential to be even better.  A few weeks later, while aimlessly perusing the April 2012 issue of Martha Stewart Living Magazine in a hotel room in West Virginia, I came across a recipe that included rolled oats toasted in butter.  At that moment, I knew I had my answer for how to take the dried plum cookies to the next level.  The hard part was waiting a few days until I was back at home with my oven and butter supply. 

 

Luckily, these cookies are now everything they are supposed to be - soft, yet crispy, sweet and nutty, but not sugary.  They're the kind of cookies that when you walk past the cookie jar, you might just find yourself sneaking another and another and another until they are suddenly all gone. 

Notes:
The recipe I'm sharing with you is different than the one I brought to the wedding.  This one is not quite as healthy, but I think it tastes better.  If you want the variation that is more diabetic-friendly, send me an e-mail, and I will share it with you.  If you don't have regular whole wheat flour, you can use white whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour.  Although there are a few prep steps for these cookies, they come together quite quickly once you have everything ready.  Don't forget that you are using half of the butter (4 tablespoons) to toast the oats and the other half (4 tablespoons) to cream with the sugar.  I used my mini food processor to blend the rehydrated and drained plums with the egg.  I haven't tried it, but you could probably substitute another dried fruit for the plums. 

Adapted from the Taste of Home's Down-Home Diabetic Cookbook and Martha Stewart Living, April 2012, Number 221

Ingredients:
1 cup water
½ cup (~10-12) dried pitted plums
1 cup rolled oats
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided use
¾ cup whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
⅛ teaspoon salt
¼ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
¾ cup chopped pecans

Yields approximately 2 dozen cookies, depending on the size

Boil, Steep, Melt, Toast, Cool:
In a small saucepan, bring the water to a rapid boil.  Once the water is boiling, remove the pan from the heat, and add the dried plums.  Set the pan aside for 10 minutes so the plums can soften in the water.  Once 10 minutes have passed, drain the plums, discard the water, and set the plums aside to cool.  In the meantime, melt half of the butter (4 tablespoons) in a large skillet over medium heat.  Once the butter is melted, add all of the oats and cook, stirring regularly, until the oats are a light golden color and are fragrant, about 5-10 minutes.  Transfer the oats to a large plate so they do not continue to cook in the hot pan and are able to cool.

Cream, Puree, Beat, Scoop, Bake:
Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat to 350ºF.  Line two cookie sheets with Silpat mats or parchment paper.  In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.  In a separate bowl, cream the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter with the brown and granulated sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Add the vanilla, and beat until combined.  Place the cooled and drained plums in a food processor with the egg, and process until the plums are finely chopped/pureed.  You should still see bits of plum, but the plum chunks should be smaller than raisins.  Scrape the mixture into the butter mixture, and beat until the plum and egg mixture is fully incorporated.  Add the flour mixture all at once, and beat until no more flour streaks remain.  Add the cooled toasted oats and chopped pecans, and beat until they are incorporated. 

Use a cookie scoop or two spoons to shape the dough into tablespoon-sized balls.  Place each ball on the prepared cookie sheets with two-inch spacing.  Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown, rotating the sheets halfway through.  Remove the sheet from the oven and transfer the cookies to cooling racks.  Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. Pin It