Clean Eating No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie Bites

The behind the scenes stats for the blog have been showing me that a lot of people are arriving to my blog looking for a no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookie.  I didn't have a recipe for one and I felt bad. (keyword searches will do that sometimes)  So, I surfed around the web looking for one to try.  All the recipes I saw were chock-full of sugar and butter ~ way too much for me to even consider.  I started to think about what I could replace the butter/sugar with & decided to try pureed prunes and honey.  I thought I might as well throw in some cocoa powder in place of the chocolate while I was at it, too.  I know it might sound strange, but pureed prunes and cocoa powder are a fantastic combo...

So, here is my little 'no-bake' cookie experiment.  Since I'm a self proclaimed challenged baker, I figured this was right up my alley.  I think this is a healthier, lower fat, clean eating version of a traditional no-bake oatmeal cookie.  This cookie won't be for everybody ~ it will probably be too dark chocolate tasting for the kids and others might prefer their cookies with more sweetness and made with butter.  Since I was going for a more natural spin on this cookie (I'm still feeling a bit Crunchy today), I really tried to rein in the use of sweeteners (honey & prunes), so the cocoa powder's dark chocolate flavor could be front and center.  It sorta has a raw food truffle-ish cookie feeling to me.  I know this will be a nice little treat to have with my afternoon cuppa tea later today.  I like 'em, hope you do too. Enjoy!    

No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookie Bites

makes 24 cookie bites

Ingredients

• 6 Sunsweet pitted prunes/dried plums
• 1/3 cup water (plus 1 Tbsp or  more, if needed)
• 1/4 cup soy butter (or your favorite nut butter)
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp good quality unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch salt
• 1 1/2 cups quick oatmeal

• optional add-ins ~ shredded coconut, chopped walnuts, carob chips, cocoa powder for dusting

Directions
In mini food processor combine first 8 ingredients (prunes - salt) until smooth and creamy.  Microwave on high for 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds.  Allow to cool one minute then pour over quick oats (add any add-ins now, if using) and combine until cocoa mixture is completely absorbed.  Adding an additional tablespoon or more of water if needed.  (mixture will be on the dry/stiff side)  Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball, then flatten a bit and place on a wax paper covered plate or cookie sheet. (dust with cocoa powder now, if using)  Wet hands if necessary to keep dough from sticking when rolling into balls.  Let cookies firm up in fridge for an hour.  Serve cookies chilled or room temp & store in a covered container in the fridge.