Kimba's Cookies

These are the favorite cookies of Team Ashmeadow and Kimba's Kitchen's biggest fan Miss Queen. Hopefully you too will be hooked!

1 batch ~ 14-20 depending on size

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup (2 sticks butter/margarine/non dairy substitute like EarthBalance)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup Splenda **
1/2 cup brown sugar **
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup natural peanut butter (I like Smuckers creamy or crunchy!) ##
2 cups flour

Steps:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat
3. Add oats and stir until all oats are covered in butter
4. Let cook 10 minutes, stirring gently every 2-3 minutes (be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan as you stir but don't grind the oats into a pulp you want the oats to stay whole not look like oatmeal)
5. In a separate bowl, combine Splenda, sugar, vanilla, applesauce, peanut butter and mix together
6. When the oats are golden brown color (or you can start to smell the nutty 'brown butter' scent from the pan) mix oats into the bowl with other ingredients and stir to thoroughly combine
7. Add 1 cup of flour and mix it in. Then slowly add the second cup a little at a time each time stirring the batter to incorporate (you may not have to use the full second cup of flour). You want the batter to just barely hold its shape if you move it in the bowl, yet you do not want it to be runny or really soft
8. Spray a cookie sheet with Pam or some other cooking spray
9. Scoop cookie dough into balls (slightly larger then a golf ball) and place on cookie sheet approximately 5 across and 4 down no need to flatten)
10. Bake for 17 minutes, rotating cookie sheet half way through
11. Remove cookies when finished. Remove cookies from baking sheet and place on wire rack to cool for storage
12. ENJOY!!! Fresh and warm from the oven, cooled, frozen, as a topper to ice cream!

**Splenda can be omitted and in which case you would use total of 1.5 cups brown sugar

##Instead of peanut butter try using: butterscotch chips, cinnamon chips, dark chocolate, raisins, white chocolate, or combinations like: dark chocolate with dried cherries, cranberry pecan, white chocolate with dried cranberries, dried apricots with walnuts, chocolate and cashew - the creation possibilities are ENDLESS! :)

Nutritional breakdown (with Butter & natural peanut butter) if you make 20 cookies
per 1 cookie:
239 calories, 14 grams fat (3 grams saturated fat), 4 grams protein, 2 grams fiber