Guiltless cookies from scratch...part 1!!!!!

I love healthy and nutritiously inspired cooking! Recently I've been experimenting with meal replacement trail mix cookie recipes. I haven't figured out the exact measurements yet, but will this week and will be doing a great follow up blog to this one with pictures. I've been eating these cookies like crazy the past two weeks ( I have a bad habit of skipping meals, it's been killing my metabolism) and so far I have lost 6 pounds, so I'm really excited to share these recipes(I'll probably be doing a new one every week, I have an idea for a dark chocolate cherry cookie). I've come up with a couple of different variations, but have discovered something really cool! In place of butter in these recipes I've been using pureed fruit! It's so awesome! I like putting cinnamon in the cookies (1-2 tablespoons depending on tastes) because it helps to balance blood sugar, so I started with fruits that would be complementary to the cinnamon. So far I have used applesauce, pumpkin(I used 1 can), and pureed bananas! Just pick your puree and put about 2 cps (like I said all the measurements in this first blog are ball park figures) It has worked out so well, they are soft chewy and super satisfying. I've been using about four scoops of vanilla whey protein and only 2/3 cup artificial sweetener (it doesn't take much because of the pureed fruit and protein powder) to do huge batches of these cookies! There's absolutely no white flour, I use solid stone ground whole wheat flour(wonderful flavor and I'm in love with the texture), just 1 1/2  tsp salt and 1 1/2 tsp baking powder. I put about 11/2 cups oats and 6 eggs, this does make a huge batch about 40 to 50 cookies, but my husband and I have been eating these so fast we have to make that many at a time. About 2 cups of your choice of trail mix, more or less depending on personal taste. I just buy dried apricots, plums, cranberries, almonds, and walnuts in bulk (below I have posted some examples of dried fruits and nuts I have used and really worked well)and make my own trail mix, in the long run it comes out alot cheaper for how often I have to make these, but for just one batch you should probably be able to find a nice 16 oz bag to suit your tastes. I also liked one batch that I threw about a cup of coconut in, yum! Also about 1 tablespoon of vanilla. I would ball park the flour at 3-4 cups at this point. I have been just adding the flour until I get a workable cookie dough texture. Just mix it all together starting with wet ingredients, (puree, vanilla, eggs) then add dry ingredients mix well and add trail mix, coconut, etc last and mix through. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees f and make sure you spray some cooking oil on the pans because you have to keep in mind there is no butter or oil in these cookies so you want to do something to make them not stick to the pan. Do rounded tablespoons and bake for about 10 to 15 minutes, usually you'll notice some browning of the peaks and tips of the cookies and this will let you know that you are pretty close to done. Set out to cool and enjoy! I've really enjoyed them and feel great, remember the balance of life...its all about fiber and protein!