Healthy Cowboy Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup great northern bean, cooked and cooled
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 small eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 1/4 cups pecans, chopped

Directions

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 325.

2. 2

   Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl.

3. 3

   In a separate bowl, beat the beans until mashed.

4. 4

   Add the melted butter, brown and white sugars, eggs, and vanilla to the beans one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

5. 5

   Gradually stir in the flour mixture until just combined.

6. 6

   Stir in the chocolate chips, oats, coconut and pecans.

7. 7

   Drop cookies by spoonfuls onto ungreated baking sheet, and bake for 9-10 minutes. Even if the cookies do not look quite done, take them out and let them cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet, during which time they should finish cooking. (I am not talking about really undone cookies, just ones that look like they need a minute or two more to bake).

8. 8

   Tip: I can never eat an entire batch of cookies before they go bad, so I bake up what I want right away, form the rest of the dough into cookie-sized balls, and freeze them in a container between layers of waxed paper. You only have to add a minute or two more to the baking time for frozen cookie dough.