Flax, Pecan, and Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

I am overjoyed and relieved to be able to report that my bone scan results were normal! The scan was investigating possible bone cancer, so I am grateful beyond words to know this fear has been removed from the list of my possible diagnoses. Perhaps this is why I arrived home from work at 6PM last night, having arisen at 4AM as usual, still feeling filled with energy and vivaciousness. (Trust me, as much as I truly love my job, this is still not my typical post-work-day state.) Amidst the idyllic weather I channeled my energies into mowing the lawn, yet even after the grass was evenly carpeted and order had been returned to our front and back yards, I still felt the urge to bounce up and down like a toddler after an afternoon nap. Most of all, I felt like baking!

Since I'd already planned on baking a welcome-home treat for our next-door neighbor-friend and her two young sons, who all return home from her long business trip tomorrow, I seized the impulse and decided it was officially cookie-baking time! I also had a large bag of flax-seed that longed for a higher purpose in life beyond being sprinkled on morning cereal, so into the mixing bowl went some flax seed, along with oats, a variety of whole-grain flours, and some hand-chopped chunks of extra-dark, 80% cacao chocolate. I was so enthused about the recipe emerging in the bowl before me that I decided to live dangerously and double the recipe in order to save some cookie dough in the fridge for baking when Zach arrives home on Friday, despite not yet being assured of the cookies' success... As I often do with new cookie recipes, I sampled a wee pinch of dough as I was rolling the cookies into balls - I always have an inner struggle with the biology-oriented side of my brain that informs me of the dangers of raw egg every time I nibble uncooked dough, but I dare not risk baking an entire batch of cookies without first ensuring that they taste like actual cookies instead of, possibly, a train-wreak in dough form. These particular cookies were so delectable in their pre-baked state that the utmost willpower was required to keep me from nibbling a much larger second piece of dough... I couldn't resist sampling a cookie when they emerged from the oven, though - after all, I felt it was my duty to ensure the delectable-ness of the cookies before gifting them to friends...

Oh My Goodness. Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, with a texture simultaneously light yet hearty, the nutty flax and oats complimenting the bold richness of the dark chocolate... Healthful, nutritious, and utterly seductive...

Flax, Pecan, and Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

4 tablespoons light, nonhydrogenated vegan marg
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup raw turbinado sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick cook or old-fashioned rolled oats
1/8 cup ground flax seed
1/8 cup whole wheat graham flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
6 oz 80% cacao dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chopped pecans

~ Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

~ In a large bowl, whisk together the vegan marg and oil until completely blended.~ Beat the sugar, egg, vanilla and salt into the oil-marg mixture, and set the wet ingredients aside.

~ In a second large bowl, combine the oats, flax seed, graham flour, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, and baking powder.

~ Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and stir to combine. The dough will be a bit thick and sticky.

~ Fold the dark chocolate and pecans into the dough.

~ Using damp hands, roll the dough into circles slightly smaller than golf balls, and place them on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until lightly golden brown - approx 15 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on wire racks - or serve warm!