Leftover Oatmeal Cookies ... Just trust me on this, okay?

Yes...I'm posting a recipe with picturesss! :-) Aren't you excited?! I know I am. One drawback: I don't have a fancy schmancy camera. I'm working with a dumbphone. So not even Instagram #nofilter worthy photographs. Let me pass--I wouldn't know how to work a DSLR camera if I had one [insert plug/plea for camera and lessons].

Moving on...

About my leftover oatmeal. It's been in my fridge a few days and I had very high hopes for it. Quick oats, dried apricots, hulled sunflower seeds, chia seeds, vanilla bean paste, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, agave and a sprinkle of sea salt--the first 4 ingredients and agave all courtesy of my local food co-op's bulk foods section #SupportLocal. Anywho, it smelled like a peach/apricot cobbler/pie of sorts! GAHHH! I would presume this breakfast manifesto to be DEE-LISH, right? Well...yeah, (dah) but the oatmeal was SO rich. Almost cloying. I couldn't eat it all and opted for yogurt and fruit instead. Saddened along with the burning desire to not waste food, I turned to Google...because, that's where people go to find solutions, right?

My query? 'leftover oatmeal...' Google provides me with options: Do you want to search for 'leftover oatmeal cookies' or 'leftover oatmeal cake?' No-brainer; cookies won out. Here's the recipe as adapted from Cooks.com. Skip breakfast on purpose to make these for dinner friends.

mmm...coooookiiiieeesssss

Leftover Oatmeal Cookies
adapted from Cooks.com

1 c. sifted flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. ginger
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. coconut oil (mine was mostly melted, because it's September in Texas)
1 egg
3/4 c. cooked oatmeal (with or without your fixin's from the previous morning)*

1/3-1/2 c. chopped dried apricots

1/3 c. hulled sunflower seeds

1-2 tsp. chia seeds

my attempt at 'food styling' ...yea

Sift (or whisk) together flour, baking powder, soda, salt and all spices. Mash in brown sugar until all incorporated. Add extract, oil and egg and beat until creamy (about 2 minutes -- this was from the original recipe. I used a rubber spatula and a whisk to mix my ingredients...you know how stuff should look when it's mixed; I believe in you). Stir in oatmeal and fold in fruit and seeds. Drop from teaspoon onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Yield: 2 dozen. If you're anything like me and end up with 1/8 cup drops of dough, you may yield about 11-12 cookies. That's okay, because bigger cookies are better cookies ;-)

*Note: Be sure to dial back flavorings and mix-ins per your taste depending on how much you flavored your oatmeal before.

These cookies were not too sweet. Very pleasant with a nice warm, spicy flavor. Mine were a bit cakey because I accidentally put a bit too much leavening in the batter and had a heaping 3/4 cup of oatmeal. Good, nonetheless :-) Enjoy with yogurt and a banana (because it's breakfast in cookie form and kinda healthy). Or, you can sandwich ice cream between two warm cookies and lick the drippings that run down your arm...I won't judge you ;-)