Tasty and packed with healthy ingredients, Soul-Stirring Oatmeal Cookies are a nutritious treat that you can feel great about baking and sharing. This flexible recipe allows for add-ins to make good use of odds and ends you may find languishing in your pantry.

Soul-Stirring Oatmeal Cookies arranged on a wooden plate.

Movie Break

Lately I have been feeling scattered. I keep digging through my life, my story, trying to work the pieces into the jigsaw puzzle of who I am. Sometimes the pieces don’t seem to fit. I get frustrated with the ones that don’t match up quickly, the ones that are hard to place.

To take a break from myself and my own little problems I decided to watch a movie. I put on Stranger Than Fiction, popped a bag of popcorn and settled in front of the screen. I hoped to lose myself in this entertaining little comedy about an IRS auditor named Harold Crick and the odd situation he finds himself in.

As the story unfolds we learn that Harold is hearing a voice in his head. Soon he realizes that it is the voice of a writer. She is narrating the tale of his life as she works out the plot for her latest novel. As she works out the ending Harold comes to understand that his life hangs in the balance.

Some Interesting Characters and Inspiring Cookies

Along the way we meet a number of interesting characters. There is a Professor of Literature who helps Harold understand what is going on. There is a neurotic Author, who is searching for the best way to end Harold’s life. And then there is Ana, who runs a coffee shop, bakes amazing cookies and with whom Harold falls in love.

When I first heard about this movie, I didn’t think I would like it. I am not a huge Will Ferrell fan. But this film seemed to ask great questions in approachable ways. How can we be real, authentic human beings? How do we avoid the path of least resistance and caving in to expectations that have been written for us?

Will Ferrell as Harold ends up doing a fabulous job of fleshing out that struggle in a gentle, sweet, and believable way. His character manages to stretch himself in ways that are absolutely right and necessary for who Harold is. Harold has integrity and begins to make good choices that let him understand his life and begin to truly live it.

Several Oatmeal Cookies arranged on an oval dessert plate.

Fiction meets Real Life

I soon found that I could identify with Harold. After all, I was once an auditor too. The comfort and predictability of numbers and the desire to live a safe and orderly life is something I can relate to. That said, I also understand the desire to break free of what is predictable and to take chances on life in focused and meaningful ways.

As an author I appreciate the novelist who is confident in her method and true to her subject. I aspire to be a writer who takes in every detail and understands the nuance of what she is writing about, even if it means sitting on a rock, smoking in the pouring rain.

Maybe, as a mother, I can even picture myself as the assistant holding an umbrella while waiting in the rain trying to help someone who doesn’t want or maybe even need my help. And, as a food writer, I can certainly relate to the Professor who strongly believes in pancakes!

And then there is Ana, spunky and caring and fabulously real. I think I must have had the dream of being a baking diva at some point in my life. Maybe I still do. There is strong magic in kitchen chemistry. To bake magical, soul-stirring cookies is a mythic and wholesome pursuit. It seems almost edgy these days. Ana has an intuitively passionate and earthy approach to the art of baking. She also wields her skill and conviction in the face of all obstacles.

Oatmeal Cookie Therapy

In the end I really enjoyed watching Stranger Than Fiction. It was a happy surprise, a very fun movie! The story had just the right amount of serious for my mood. It was deep enough to make me smile while kicking around in the water but not deep enough to risk drowning in!

And watching it does seem to have reset my mood. Instead of focusing on organizing my life and making it predictable I am reminded of the need to focus on living it. Instead of sorting, defining and archiving my past I think of how much more might be accomplished in baking a batch of Soul-Stirring Oatmeal Cookies to nurture family and friends.

Like the movie said, “When we loose ourselves in fear and despair, in routine and constancy, in hopelessness and tragedy, we can thank God for Oatmeal Cookies!”

Well maybe it said Bavarian Sugar Cookies. Still, I assure you, these Oatmeal Cookies are something to be thankful for too! Tasty and packed with healthy ingredients, they are a nutritious treat that you can feel great about baking and sharing.

A Soul-Stirring Oatmeal Cookie dipped in a glass of milk and dripping milk back into the glass.

Choosing the Best Ingredients

These oatmeal cookies are made from an old-fashioned health conscious recipe I clipped from the Dallas Morning News many years ago. I have adapted it over the years in a variety of ways. Still the basic ingredients remain the same:

Oil – Use a neutral flavored vegetable oil for these cookies. As opinions about oils have changed so has the oil I use in this recipe. I have probably used canola oil most often. Today I used avocado oil. Corn oil, peanut oil or a vegetable oil blend would also work here.

Flour – The original recipe just called for 1 cup “flour”. I prefer to use a combination of 3/4 cup wheat flour and 1/4 cup almond, coconut, soy, or other specialty flour. A cup of white or whole wheat flour will also work just fine.

Sugar – I have recently reduced the amount of sugar I use in this recipe. The original recipe called for 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 cup of white sugar. Reducing the amount of sugar to a total of 1 1/2 cups better fits my current cookie cravings.

Nuts – the original recipe uses pecans. I prefer walnuts in my cookies. Either works fine and adds protein and nutty goodness to this nutritious recipe.

Oatmeal – I use old fashioned rolled oats.

Add-ins – I enjoy a little chocolate in my oatmeal cookies. I add mini m&ms if they are available, or mini chocolate chips if they aren’t. Today I used a mixture of both. Shredded coconut also makes a good addition. Sunflower seeds or sesame seeds are another possible add-in. Seeds boost the protein content of the cookies and are a great way to use up small amounts you may have left over from other recipes. Which add-ins you choose is totally up to you.