I almost didn’t share this recipe with you. I tasted it about 15 minutes after it came out of the oven and I wasn’t crazy about it or its appearance. My kids liked it; my daughter even went so far as to say she preferred it to regular oatmeal scotchies, but she prefers “wholesome snacks”, so I don’t always trust her opinion on desserts. However, I tried it after it had completely cooled and decided it was quite tasty, even though I still think it is fairly unattractive for a bar cookie:
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Regular oatmeal scotchies call for 1 cup of butter. Now I like butter as much as the next person, perhaps more, but I have a lactose intolerant child and I live at altitude. My son is alright with small amounts of dairy, but I try to avoid it if I can. And if you have tried baking at altitude you know how items with butter, especially cookies often fall during baking. I often replace butter with applesauce, but a whole cup of applesauce would greatly alter the taste, so I used a combination of flax seed meal, applesauce, and shortening (I like Spectrum Organic Shortening. It is non-hydrogenated, pressed palm oil). I also replaced half of the sugar with brown rice syrup and increased the cinnamon to provide a cover for the weird ingredients. 🙂
Slightly Healthier Oatmeal Scotchies Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used gluten free all-purpose flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon (reduce to 1 t. if using conventional ingredients)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 3/4 cup flax seed meal
- 1/4 cup shortening (the applesauce, flax seed meal and shortening could be replaced with 1 cup of butter, if you wanted)
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 brown rice syrup (or 3/4 cup sugar)
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 – 11 oz bag of butterscotch chips
Directions:
- In a large bowl, mix shortening, applesauce, flax seed meal, brown sugar, brown rice syrup, eggs, and vanilla.
- Stir in oats, dry flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and butterscotch chips.
- Spread dough in a 13 x 9 greased pan.
- Bake for 20 – 25 minutes at 375 degrees or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. When cool, cut into bars.
Printable Recipe for Slightly Healthier Oatmeal Scotchies
Slightly Healthier Oatmeal Scotchies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour I used gluten free all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon reduce to 1 t. if using conventional ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 3/4 cup flax seed meal
- 1/4 cup shortening the applesauce, flax seed meal and shortening could be replaced with 1 cup of butter, if you wanted
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 brown rice syrup or 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 11 oz bag of butterscotch chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix shortening, applesauce, flax seed meal, brown sugar, brown rice syrup, eggs, and vanilla.
- Stir in oats, dry flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and butterscotch chips.
- Spread dough in a 13 x 9 greased pan.
- Bake for 20 – 25 minutes at 375 degrees or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. When cool, cut into bars.
Notes
Nutrition
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Michael Lee West says
I've got a whole box of Scottish oatmeal that is just waiting for your recipe. Speaking of attractive, Bandwidth made fried rice and wouldn't let me take a picture of it because it was too ugly (his opinion). It was the best rice ever, hand's down, and I was so hoping he'd share it on Foodie Friday. Like my mama always says, it's about taste, not gilding and garnishing.
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Iris says
They look pretty good to me. And lots of healthy ingredients mixed in there.