Chewy & Crispy Oat Cookies (and they are oil-free!)

I seems I have acquired a bit of an aquafaba (aka chickpea water) obsession!

If you’ve seen my granola and chocolate cake recipes… you’ll know ;-)

I think it’s such a wonderful ingredient for two big reasons:

1. It’s the brine from a can of chickpeas (or other white beans) and a staple ingredient we all have in our cupboards and one that usually gets drained down the plughole. (So in effect is zero cost too!)

2. It whips up all white and frothy and can create a beautiful light moist cake crumb and even better can replace most or all of the oil in a recipe whilst still giving a crispy and chewy texture the way oil typically would.

A few days ago I really fancied a flapjack but the classic recipes typically have a lot of oil and sugar, and the recipes without oil are more like healthy soft granola bars (still great but just not what I craved!)

So I decided to put the aquafaba I had sitting in the fridge to the test!

Instead of bars I dolloped the mix into cookies instead as I wanted more crispy ‘edge’ texture, but a regular flapjack slab baked and sliced should totally work too.

It was such a success, crispy when fresh out the oven during the first day then gorgeously chewy for the following few days (not that they lasted very long!)

Such a versatile recipe too… I have noted some swaps below.

I used Boost Your Bowl Toppers but if you don’t have any of your own- swap with chopped dried fruit and some chopped coconut chips (coconut is optional but I find gives extra chewiness).

If you make these, please tag @eatboostyourbowl on Instagram, I always love to see your creations!

Recipe: Chewy & Crispy Oat Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup whipped up aquafaba (aka chickpea water)

• 1/4 cup peanut butter (or any nut butter) - this is optional

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 cups porridge oats

• 1/2 cup flour of choice (or ground up oats - just to help bind the mix so it doens’t fall apart)

• 1 cup chopped nuts/seeds of choice

• 1/2 cup Boost Your Bowl Toppers of your choice (or chopped dried fruit)

• 1/3 cup coconut sugar (or any sugar)

• large handful of dark chocolate chunks for extra indulgence - optional but highly recommended!

• 1/2 heaped tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp sea salt

Method:

Whip up the aqua faba until it’s nice and frothy then add the nut butter and vanilla extract and blend into the aquafaba.

In a separate large bowl, mix all the remaining dry ingredients together. Pour in the aquafaba mix and stir well to coat the mix well.

I kind of used my hands and a spoon to place semi-compacted dollops of the mix on to a lined baking sheet.

Bake at 180ºC for approx 15 mins until golden. Cool fully and store ina airtight container for 3-4 days (possibly longer but mine all got eaten by day 3!) I haven’t yet tried freezing them.

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