Papaya Pinapple Delight Cookies/ Dessert Bars

I would like to thank Rachel first for her creative genious in making this amazing blog and second for allowing me to contribute! I feel honored :) I also have to apologize that my photos are not nearly as artistic and beautiful as Rachel's but hopefully they get the point across. So anyway, I thought it was about time for some dessert. I was feeling somewhat inspired after finishing my stats final today (what better way to celebrate than with cookies?!) I made a kanten with the juice for which the cookies are named (papaya pinapple delight) the other day but was feeling that it lacked the pizazz that I was really craving at the time. So I decided to get down to business this afternoon. I am typically not inclined to follow or even use recipes when I bake (or cook for that matter) but for the sake of everyone else I will try to approximate what went into these delightful little treats.

1 cup whole grain pastry flour (or whatever kind of flour you might happen to have at the time)
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup Earth Balance Buttery Spread (You can also easily 1/4 olive or other type of oil. I really don't want to advocate this stuff because it does have palm oil and is probably not the best but if you're really craving some high fat buttery goodness you can't go wrong here and at least it doesn't have hydrogenated oils)
1/2 cup date sugar (or agave nectar, brown rice syrup or some fun combination of all three)
1/2 cup soy, almond, rice or hemp milk (add as you mix- you will have to add more or less depending on the desired consistency- if you remember the concept of titration from chemistry class, they totally stole that concept from bakers)

Optional:
chopped walnuts or other nuts
1 tblsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup kanten (pick a juice of choice, mix 1 tblsp agar-agar for every cup of juice and bring to a boil until agar-agar is dissolved. Mixture will gel as it cools for a delicious jello like treat that can be enjoyed alone or on top of these cookies)

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Cream Earth Balance, vanilla and sweetener in another bowl. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the buttery mixture alternatively with your milk of choice until desired consistency is reached.

Spoon onto baking sheet and if planning to place Kanten on top, create depression on top of each cookie with your thumb. Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes depending on how big you made your cookies!

Variation: Spread into baking pan for delicious dessert bars!

I had a lot of batter and only one baking sheet so thats why what would normally have been the second batch became dessert bars instead. I discovered that, like Rachel, having relocated from an optimally stocked kitchen to a new, remote location, you don't always have the desired ingredient, utensil, or container but I did the best I could. I could have sworn I at least had a wisk here but I made due and mixed with a spatula :-P Cullen just got us a food processor (super sweet!) it was one of the cheaper models but its working awesome so far I used it to chop the walnuts and Cullen made some delicious hummus (also super simple so I'll just throw the recipe up here)

H-Amazimg Hummus
1 16 oz can of chickpeas or garbanzo beans
1/4 cup liquid from can of chickpeas
3-5 tablespoons lemon juice (depending on taste)
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

Mix it all up in a blender or food processor and voila! You can also get creative and add whatever you want like red pepper, kalamata olives, pine nuts, pesto you name it! Yum!

Ok that's all for now! Enjoy! :)