Orange Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

After seeing the documentary 'Food Inc.'...I have embraced the 'how much are you willing to invest in the food you eat?' mentality preached by Michael Pollan.

I must admit we're fairly good healthy eaters in our house...even making our own baked french fries...but there were a few things here and there that could always be improved.

I ditched the freezer of the hot dogs and dumplings [the crap] and just decided that once I threw it out, that would be the last of it.

Like cookies...now I've just made it my mantra that if I don't bake them then I don't eat them.

It's a lifestyle choice that I want to pass down to my kids.

And this Spring...come May 8...it's buying from the local Farmer's Market whenever I can.

Here is a fab recipe...that I modified [adding the orange puree and omitting quite a bit of sugar and the salt] and my kids love. All they know that there's chocolate chips in them...they don't need to know the rest.

Healthy Orange Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

* 1/3 cup butter or margarine
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 1/2 cup - 1 cup tangerine/clementine puree (about 5-6 tangerines) ...
* 1 egg
* 1 tsp. vanilla extract
* 1 cup white or whole wheat flour
* 1 tsp. baking soda
* 2-3 tbsp ground flax seed
* 1 tsp. cinnamon
* 1 cup quick cooking oats
* 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat butter/margarine and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, salt, flax seed and cinnamon. Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture until well combined. Add orange puree. Stir in oats, then chocolate chips.

Place gobs of the cookie dough on the baking sheets approximately 2 inches apart [I line my cookie sheets with parchment paper].
Bake 10-12 minutes.

Makes 20-30 cookies [depending on the size of the gobs of cookie dough you put on the cookie sheet].