Freeze Dried Fruit Cookies

Name: Freeze Dried Fruit Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 27 min
Yield: 16 (or 8)
Ingredients: 1 cup all-purpose flour (1/2 cup); 1 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats (3/4 cup); 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (3/4 tsp); 1 tsp baking soda (1/2 tsp); pinch salt (smaller pinch); 2 tsp vanilla extract (1 tsp); 3 tbsp honey (1 1/2 tbsp); 1/2 cup no-sugar added applesauce (1/4 cup); 1 cup assorted freeze-dried fruit (1/2 cup); 4 tbsp confectioner's sugar (2 tbsp); 1/2 tsp almond extract (1/4 tsp); almond milk as needed; *amounts in ( ) are for 8 cookies

May 3, 2020 Frank Mastrandrea Comments 0 Comment

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I thought about calling these Quarantine Cookies, as they were created with an eye towards using ingredients that were easy to source while stuck at home. However, while they may have been born of convenience, these healthy, low sugar, fruit filled treats are really a hit in our household and I think will survive long past the days when the world is back in motion.

At just 83 calories per cookie, and relying on freeze-dried fruit (a wonderful, versatile item you should include in your pantry going forward) these Freeze-Dried Fruit Cookies are a great recipe to try if you’re looking for a new sweet treat, an indulgence as part of a weight loss program, or just to kill 30 minutes of quarantine!

Ingredients: Makes 16 (or 8) Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour (1/2 cup)
1 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats (3/4 cup)
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (3/4 tsp)
1 tsp baking soda (1/2 tsp)
pinch salt (smaller pinch)
2 tsp vanilla extract (1 tsp)
3 tbsp honey (1 1/2 tbsp)
1/2 cup no-sugar added applesauce (1/4 cup)
1 cup assorted freeze-dried fruit (1/2 cup)
4 tbsp confectioner’s sugar (2 tbsp)
1/2 tsp almond extract (1/4 tsp)
almond milk as needed

*Amounts needed to make 8 cookies are listed in ( )

Combine the Dry

These cookies are very quick and simple to make.

Combine, with a spoon, the dry ingredients in a large bowl – the flour, oats, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Mix together until well blended.

Add the Wet

Next, add the wet ingredients – the vanilla extract, the honey, and the applesauce. Mix well. You’ll know the consistence of the mixture is just wet enough when the flour from the sides of the bowl is all gone and incorporated into the mix.

If it seems a bit too dry, feel free to add a bit of almond milk (or other milk) a tablespoon at a time until you’re there.

Finish with the Fruit

The freeze-dried fruit is next. As noted above, I’ve given you the recipe in amounts to make either 16 or 8 cookies. Either way, the concept is the same. Take whatever measuring scoop you need for the fruit (1 cup for 16 cookies, ½ cup for 8 cookies) and fill it generously with a mixture of freeze-dried fruit.

I prefer to use an even mixture of freeze-dried blueberries, strawberries and cinnamon apples. In each case, use the blueberries as the target size. Meaning, break up whatever fruit you use into about the same size pieces as the blueberries.

If you want to try a different combination of fruits, or in different ratios, feel free. As long as the total is the same the cookies should work out fine.

Regardless of what you choose, once you’ve got your fruit broken down and measured, add it into your batter and stir until well blended.

Divide and Conquer

These cookies, from a texture perspective will be more chewy than anything else. They won’t rise much either. So it’s essential to get them to the proper dimensions on the cookie sheet for baking.

What I typically do is divide the batter into halves, again and again until I have the number of cookies I need.

Then, I will roll the batter into balls, lay them out on greased cookie sheets and press them down flat into rounded cookie shapes. I find using a piece of wax paper to do the flattening is by far the easiest and cleanest way to do this. A spatula with a bit of cooking spray would work well too, I suppose.

Bake for 10-12 minutes in a 350 degree oven, or until the edges and tops show a light browning, and the bottom is a more even golden.

To Ice is Nice

After they’ve cooled completely, make the icing. It’s a simple combination of the confectionery sugar, almond extract and almond milk. Add the almond extract and then add the almond milk in small amounts and keep stirring JUST until the mix turns to spreadable icing. You want it to be loose like icing (it should drip slowly off the spoon), not be thick like frosting.

Then simply use a knife and ice each of the cookies. It’s easiest to do a conservative icing of each cookie, and then go back and do a second round with the remaining icing to fill in the gaps. That eliminates the chance of running out of icing before the last cookie!

Let the icing air dry and harden (30 minutes or so) and then enjoy. I’ve found they’re good for 2-3 days. Wish I could tell if they’re good beyond that, but they’ve never lasted that long!

Quarantine notes

Since we are living in a world of quarantine, let’s talk about some ways to accommodate issues you might have with missing ingredients. This IS baking…but it’s intentionally very forgiving. Lot’s of replacements will work just fine.

For example, if you don’t have …

Baking soda – try baking powder. As mentioned, there isn’t a huge rise in these, just a bit. So I think you’ll be fine. Normally the rule of thumb for replacing baking soda with baking powder is to use 4x the baking powder, but I’d just go with a 1:1 replacement if need be here.

Cinnamon – You COULD add a pinch of nutmeg if you wanted. Or just ignore the cinnamon. It’ll taste fine without it.

Vanilla extract – Do you have another extract? Almond? Coconut? They’d work fine. They’re just a lot stronger taste than vanilla, so if you do swap out the vanilla, use ¼ the amount of the others.

Honey – Here you might have honey, but perhaps you want to make it vegan. If so, try light Agave Nectar. Same exact ratio.

Freeze-Dried fruit – Believe it or not, I think you could make these freeze-dried fruit cookies without freeze dried fruit! I think fresh fruit would work fine. Just do your best to keep the pieces small and keep the excess liquid out.

Almond extract – replace it with vanilla extract if you want, or leave it out. Flavoring the icing is nice, but not essential.