If you've read the older posts, you know that I was recently asked by a customer to make some lactation cookies. I felt they were a little heavy on the cookie, and a little light on the nutritional boost needed to support a healthy mama. Well, they sold very well at the store, but I kind of had to gauge the audience a bit before giving them a name. I was calling them a "more healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie" or a "nutritional cookie" for most folks. Mothers with younger children heard "lactation cookie," but I avoided that for the most part. It's a bit of a marketing nightmare to sell lactation cookies to middle-aged men. Yet, many of my customers are health-conscious men. And they ask questions about recipes, and what's in things, and such. For some reason, the "nutritional cookie" label wasn't cutting it. Fessing up to the fact that they were lactation cookies lead to one gentleman actually asking with a little concern if they make you lactate. No, they do not. Don't worry. They're just to support nutrition!
Well, I've moved away from the original recipe and opened things up a bit. I now offer Chocolate-Oatmeal Health Bars, a gluten-free, vegan breakfast bar that's appropriate for everyone! I replaced the white flour with GF oat flour and the oats with GF oats, the butter with oil, the white and brown sugar with organic molasses and maple syrup (and cut the total sugar content by half), and the chocolate chips with vegan dark chocolate chunks. I removed the eggs, since there was already flax seed meal dissolved in water (and that makes them appropriate for vegans). I doubled the flax seed meal and brewer's yeast nutritional boost. I can safely say that these really are very nutritional, with much less sugar. And they have been universally loved! They look like brownies, too, which always helps. These are great for breakfast on the go (or in the store), healthy snacking, or lunchbox treats. I think they'd work well with nuts, dried fruit, seeds, or any number of variations as well.
Comments