CHOCOLATE POMEGRANATE "EVERYTHING" COOKIES

I’m a big fan of the Hidden Ponies blog by sisters Anna and Chelsea. Their recent recipe for Chocolate Pomegranate Oatmeal Cookies caught my eye and I went straight to the Supermarket to buy a pomegranate so I could try this recipe!


You’ll find the original recipe here. I made a few adjustments. Why? Just because I can.

*No quick cooking oats in the house, so I used old-fashioned rolled oats (from Bob’s Red Mill)

*I used coconut oil in place of butter. A suggestion I found online was to use 3/4 cup coconut oil in place of 1 cup of butter. Because of the rolled oats, I decided a bit more moisture might be useful so I used the same amount of coconut oil as was required for the butter.

*I happened to have about 4 ounces of Scharffen Berger Bittersweet Chocolate leftover from another recipe. Just the amount I needed.

*Pomegranate seeds have a slight crunch when you bite into them. I decided to add to the crunch by including some toasted chopped walnuts.

*Lastly, as long as there is coconut oil, there might as well be coconut.




I’ve only had pomegranate once before and found it fairly easy to open and take out the seeds. I found a YouTube video which gives an easy example of How to cut open a pomegranate. Save leftover pomegranates as toppers for ice cream or cereal!


Ingredients...

1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup brown sugar (lightly packed)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cup all-purpose flour (I used unbleached)
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chunks (about 4 ounces)
1 cup pomegranate arils (about 1 pomegranate)
1/2 cup sweetened coconut (take from bag, measure and chop into smaller pieces)
1/2 cup toasted walnuts





Directions...

I like to gather, measure and prepare all my ingredients before preheating the oven or mixing anything. That includes seeding the pomegranate, toasting the walnuts and chopping up the chocolate. Next time I may look for bags of pre-chunked chocolate.

1. Preheat oven to 375-degrees Fahrenheit. Cut pieces of parchment paper to fit your baking sheet(s).
2. Cream butter and sugar until smooth and light colored.
3. Mix in egg and vanilla extract.
4. Whisk together in separate bowl: flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
5. Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing just until incorporated.
6. Stir in chocolate, pomegranate arils, sweetened coconut and walnuts. At this point, I found it easier to stick my hands in the mix!
7. Drop tablespoons of dough onto the lined baking sheet--about 12 to a sheet.
8. Bake 12-13 minutes until golden brown.
9. Let cool on baking sheet for a couple of minutes before removing to racks to cool completely.





I used a heaping tablespoon for each cookie. Depending on what size you use, you can get as many as three to four dozen cookies. Experiment with the size ~ from bite size to huge!

By the way, if you use the brand chocolate I did and otherwise follow the recipe, you have a dairy-free cookie!


Again, a great big, yummy thank you to Anna and Chelsea for their recipe. Be sure to check out Hidden Ponies for ideas on how to make lots more delicious goodies.





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