Berry Stella Cookies

I wasn’t sure what to call this recipe. I don’t usually go for gimmicky names; I much prefer to call out the predominant or unique characteristics of a recipe and work that into the name. But these oatmeal cookies have a lot of good things I just can’t squeeze into the name. First, they’re about the healthiest cookie you can make before it really stops tasting like a cookie. I used a little maple syrup in place of cane sugar and a good dose of coconut oil, macadamias, flaxseed and berries. So these cookies pack in a lot of goodness; protein from the nuts, fibre from the oats and flaxseed, lauric acid from the coconut oil, and phytonutrients in the berries. Whoa!


Then there’s the wonderful crunchiness thanks to the medley of oats, desiccated coconut, macadamias and flaxseed. And finally, each cookie is bejeweled with a small handful of raspberries and black currants, giving them a lip-smackingly good berry tang. Trust me – they are as good as I’m making them sound.


So what should I call them? Macadamia Berry Oatmeal Cookies? Coconut Macadamia Berry Oatmeal Cookies? You get the idea… It just won’t all fit. So I settled on Berry Stella Cookies. I think it has a nice ring to it and seems to sum up both the flavor and the health(ier) factor.


Berry Stella Cookies Recipe
My cookie cutters didn’t cut through the oats very well and made the edges crumble a little so I ended up pressing the dough into each cutter and working it into the desired shape. It is a little time consuming but gives a much better shape. If you don’t have OCD you could simply roll them into balls, flatten them a little, and be done with the cutters altogether.

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or zentrofan fine wheat flour or all-purpose flour)
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup rolled oats
½ cup macadamias
¼ cup flax seeds, ground
½ teaspoon fine ground sea salt
¾ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup maple syrup
½ cup virgin coconut oil
½ cup black currants and/or raspberries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat oven to 350°F/ 180°C. Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Pulse the macadamias in a food processor until they resemble coarse breadcrumbs. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, desiccated coconut, oats, macadamias, flaxseed, salt and baking soda.

Add the vanilla extract, coconut oil, and maple syrup and mix until well combined. If using cookie cutters scoop 2 tablespoons of the dough into each cutter following the instructions above. Otherwise simply roll the scooped dough into balls and flatten them a little.

Lightly press and small handful of frozen berries onto each cookie and bake in the upper third of oven for 13-15 minutes, or until golden on top and bottom.

Makes about 20-25 cookies.