I’ve been thinking about an excuse to eat cookie dough for a while now. It all started when I “accidentally” watched Paula’s Best Dishes the other day.
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I love that lady, but her reckless use of butter scares me a little. Not to eat so much as to cook with it. I don’t mind it if I can’t see it, but when I witness someone put a whole stick of butter in something I hesitate to follow suit.
So, I had two choices:
1. Make Paula Deen’s Loaded Oatmeal Cookie Recipe here.
2. Make my own healthy version by substituting apple sauce for butter in hopes that years of neglect have worn my taste buds into submission and they won’t realize.
I didn’t actually use her recipe at all (and only looked it up now to link to it). I made up my own (like I always do) using oats, apple sauce, brown sugar, cinnamon and copious amounts of amazing Candied Pecans and raisins. I had high hopes that the pecans would save these cookies.
I shoved my impromptu Nut So Sweet Oatmeal Cookies in the oven…
I was hopeful they would come out amazing…
I was also hopeful that if they did in fact come out amazing, Paula’s son would leave his mom’s kitchen for my own 
Unfortunately they were a flop. 
They’re not horrible, but they’re not good either. And why bother eating so-so cookies?!?!
So now I’m stuck going to the local bakery for a good cookie. At least I don’t have to explain to Ben why Jamie Deen is in our kitchen eating oatmeal cookies…
Great post, very informative. I think a lot of people will find this very useful.Keep post in coming future as well!!!
Thanks 🙂
Oh man, I know! Today I made apple bread but subbed applesauce for a lot of the sugar and butter. I was soooo scared it wouldn’t turn out, but it actually did! I added some NuNaturals Stevia to the batter though, I think that helped!! I’m still trying to decide if it’s healthier to eat real sugar or substitute with stevia…i really don’t know!
ok..got a quick easy cookie kinda recipe for ya…
2 Tbs milk
2 Tbs PB
hand full of chocolate chips
3/4 c of oats…
milk, pb and chips in a sauce pan until chips melt…then add oats…mix until the oats are covered. Place on some wax paper on a cookie sheet and wait like 20-30 min..then eat…no baking needed..and they are SO good!!! Try them..you’ll love them! Promise…or I owe you an iced coffee in May:)
after you put them on the cookie sheet…put them in the fridge…I forgot that part..lol..opps
I love your hopeful face. I’m sorry they were not a winner, but I love the idea of using candied pecans in cookies!
sorry they were a flop! subbing applesauce in cookies NEVER turns out well for me D:
I like butter, but not a stick at a time. LOL.
I love, love, love the idea of baking with applesauce but nothing I ever make turns out quite right. I’m not giving up though! Do you use the same ratio as you would to butter or shortening?
I use the same ratio, but I think it might be better to use half butter half apple sauce instead.
Good to know, that sounds like a compromise I can life with.
What a bummer they were a flop. But what’s funny is I have found that I actually prefer using applesauce over butter or oil in any baked good. They just come out so much more moist!
I try to avoid butter when I bake because it makes such a mess! Ew, once a bowl has held melted butter I feel like it’s never going to be clean again. Sorry to hear your cookies didn’t turn out, but at least you won’t get heart disease from eating Paula’s 🙂 Butter AND shortening? That’s intense!
Yeah – butter AND shortening! Go Big or go home I guess.
Have you tried the pecan, cranberry, rosemary mix from TJ’s? Oh my gosh it’s good! Who ever thought rosemary would compliment sweet and salty so well.
I guess they can’t all be winners.
I love those pecans.
HA! Sorry your cookies didn’t turn out so well, but I commend you for trying to healthify a Paula Deen recipe! Lordy knows, they could use it! Hey, but all that butter is probably what makes her such a happy lady!
Haha, it really can be shocking watching her cook. She has such reckless abandon!
OMG, Paula Deen! Once I was watching her cook something..something that didn’t even call for butter. There she was cooking away when she turned around to look for a cooking utensil and saw a stick of innocent butter just sitting on the counter. She just threw the whole stick into whatever the heck she was cooking. Sorry I cannot remember what it was she was cooking. She said something like…butter makes everything better! While that statement is probably true when it comes to taste, I could hear nutritionist all across America scream a collective NO!!!