Granola Grabbers (TWD)

This week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe, Granola Grabbers, was selected by Michele of Bad Girl Baking. At first glance, I was all excited about making a great healthy cookie recipe as it is chock full of grains, dried fruit and nuts. I guess I overlooked the the 14 tablespoons of butter, which eliminates the word "healthy" from this recipe. It's a cookie Linda, so get over it!

This recipe definitely begs to be played with, looking the wide variety of ingredients listed! I decided to make use of what was available in my pantry. I used Trader Joe's vanilla almond granola, and my substitutions included: flaxseed meal (instead of wheat germ), and a combination of dried apples and dried cherries (instead of raisins). As many of the bakers commented that the cookie was a bit sweet, I dialed back the amount of sugar, reducing the brown sugar to 1/2 cup and granulated sugar to 1/8 cup.
The resulting dough was really crumbly and dry. I would recommend that you press flat the balls of dough on the baking sheet (as Dorie instructs), as the dough does not spread much when baking in the oven (the cookies pictured here were pressed flat before baking).

What the cookie lacks in eye appeal definitely makes up for itself in taste and texture. I really enjoyed the crunch of the nuts and the chewy texture of the dried fruit. In many ways, this reminded me of an amped up oatmeal cookie.

Well, I'm going to stop writing now, as I need to enjoy more of these delicious gems with a cold glass of milk...nom, nom, nom, nom....

If you'd like to try this recipe out, it is available on Michelle's blog. To see how my fellow bakers fared, check out the Tuesday's With Dorie blogroll.