Gluten-free Oatmeal Cookies with Raspberry Philadelphia Cheese, Vanilla Pods & Agave Syrup

My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw the small-print caution etched on the label of my favourite cereal biscuits: may contain traces of nuts, milk, eggs, soya and sesame seeds! Otherwise, they seemed a healthy option at the time- 11% fibre, 34% flaked oats, wholewheat flour (34%), unprocessed sea salt (0.5%). Maybe  it's just another case of buzz wording that the makers are bound to put on the label, however I found that unsettling. I have been thinking to myself for a while that we can never be completely certain that what we buy in good faith and trust to be sustainable or eco-friendly, it is actually not. I wouldn't want to accuse anybody of deceit, but I feel that some not-so-good and make believe bio products might slip through the cracks.

I always have oatmeal under my turf, so why not use it? :) To bake this small treat, I more or less followed the ingredients on the label, bar the artificial flavourings & other agents. The result: my own delicious oatmeal cookies.

Gluten-free Oatmeal Cookies with Raspberry Philadelphia Cheese, Vanilla Pods & Agave Syrup

Because this is the first time I have ever made cookies, and especially gluten-free cookies, I was a bit nervous, as  you can imagine. But fortunately everything turned out to taste so delicious! 

Ingredients

2 cups of freshly ground oatmeal (porridge) 

4 tbs of coconut flakes

2 tbs of freshly ground cinnamon

1 sachet of baking powder

a pinch of salt

2 free-range eggs

4 tbs of brown sugar 

20 gr of  soft butter

1 pinch of Bourbon vanilla powder

a big handful of jumbo golden raisins

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1 box of light Philadelphia cheese

1 tsp of condensed milk

2 tbs of regular 3.5% fat milk

2 tsp of light agave syrup

1 pinch of Bourbon vanilla powder

dehydrated raspberries (for decoration)

Preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius

Method

1. Grind the oatmeal partly coarsely, partly finely to achieve different textures. Combine the oat flour with the cinnamon, the coconut flakes, the baking powder and the pinch of salt and run your fingers through them to help them blend.

2. Break the eggs and beat the yolks and the whites separately with brown sugar and the vanilla powder until fluffy. Microwave the butter for 20 seconds and pour the butter over eggs.

3. Pour the batter over the oat flour mixture (step 1), add a handful of golden raisins and blend until they are well mixed together.

The mixture will be a little sticky, so you might need to add some extra oatmeal flour or coconut flakes (just in case).

Use your hands to make small balls, flatten them, and put them on a baking sheet. I washed my hands after every future oatmeal cookie as my palms would get sticky.

Bake for approx 10 minutes at 180 degrees until they become golden. Set them aside to cool down.

Light Philadelphia Cheese Cream with Vanilla, Milk & Light Agave Syrup

Mix the cream with 2 tbs of regular milk (as the cheese is hard by itself), condensed milk and sweeten with agave syrup and finally work in a pinch of vanilla powder.

When the cookies cooled down and I took a bite, I found them not very sweet. Maybe I should have put in more sugar...BUT when I made this delicious oatmeal sandwich, the sweetness of the cheese cream balanced the taste beautifully.

It was a very nice combination of flavours and textures: the cheese cream was sweet and moist, the cookies were crumbly, slightly salty and cinnamon-y, the dehydrated raspberries were delicately sour.

I love these dry raspberries. I use them often in the morning with cereals or muesli, or to decorate beautiful deserts, such as Cheesecake a mi manera: Raspberry Ricotta Cheesecake w Rose Water, White Tea & Sesame or Totally Decadent Raspberry Chocolate Cake with Milk Tapioca Pudding. A small 40 gr bag of dehydrated raspberries costs around 4.50 euros, but they will go a long way as you only eat a few at a time. 

la vie en rose