Pear & Pomegranate Peel Cookies
Why do we fear fat?
A long time ago I was out with my friends and ordered mushroom soup - a favourite of mine - and enjoyed it as I chatted with friends. As I dig my spoon into the mushroom soup, I realised that I started feeling a bit nauseous. I checked on the soup and realised that there was literally a layer of fat skimming through the top of my soup, as if the chef poured in a whole jug of cream and made it. It was more like a "Puddle of cream with mushroom" and not the classic mushroom soup with a dash of cream. The soup tasted good, no doubt. But that whole day, I was so nauseous and dizzy, I couldn't even sit straight on the way home in my car without wanting to vomit. I realised then that cream was not my friend.
Then 2014 came along and coconut oil and cream was all the rage. Eating fried foods is suddenly no longer a problem anymore, because it's fried in coconut oil. Healthy cookies started bombarding the internet and shops, each of them proudly labeled as "A Healthy Snack made with Coconut Oil!". Coconut oil was on the rise, and like all people, I can't wait to get my hands on them.
"What's the deal with coconut oil anyway?" We use it on our hair as conditioner, on our face as moisturiser, as a scrub to exfoliate and hydrate our body and even in our cookies and cakes as a butter replacement. It seems that day that eating a cookie is ok, as long as it's made with coconut oil and not butter. So I decided o make one for myself.
It was what I called back then a 'healthy' chocolate cookie, and a really good one I must say, made with 1) coconut oil 2) coconut sugar- although sugar is sugar afterall 3) oat flour 4) hazelnut meal and 5) cocoa powder. I had 3 of those and I got another headache (Ok, I might've had a bit of the batter too..) - It was the kind of headache just like the one I got after the puddle of cream mushroom soup. I didn't get it - "I thought I ate a healthy cookie?" "I thought coconut oil was gut healing and anti-inflammatory and all that?" - thoughts like that crammed my mind as I curled unto my pillow, pressing down on my own cramped head while trying not to vomit from all the nausea. Indeed, they were made with whole, unrefined ingredients - but does it make it ok to treat ourself extra helpings of cookie just because it claims to be unprocessed?'A cookie is a cookie after all, a serving of cookie means a serving of cookie. There and then I learnt that there are no such thing as a healthy cookie (except maybe banana cookies like this, which technically no pastry chef would ever call a cookie). Healthy eating is really about getting in the greens and not about eating a coconut cookies - those are still treats for after your carrots.
Coconut oil solidifies when the temperature drops, and liquifies when it's hot - just like butter. It's a perfect replacement for the creamed butter method in cookies. From a chemical perspective, both are a form of saturated fat. But why is one better than the other? Well, that's another topic for another whole other post.
Every single body is different. If fat suits you, then good for you and all the coconut creams you can have. I, on the other hand, am not best friends with fat, especially saturated fat. Be it animal fat, plant fat or even just an extra dollop of chocolate coconut butter on my oatmeal can set a whole day into a crappy roller coaster ride to nausea town. The sugar + fat combo is even worse. I would still feel sick the day after a a fatty + sugary meal even after a whole good night sleep. That's if I get a good night sleep. Most days too much refined sugar would keep me awake all night.
At least to me, that's why I fear fat - and why I limit sugar.
Thus I came up with this cookie recipe. Not much oil, no cups and cups of sugar, just fruits and a bit of honey. What's important to me is that it tastes good and it makes me feel good. I wouldn't want to eat foods that are not going to make me feel good, and vice versa - I don't want to eat food that doesn't taste good. It'll just make me go back to craving cookie dough ice creams and matcha soft serve on waffles.
What's worst is that sugar is the ultimate enemy for your skin. It binds to the protein molecule on the surface of your skin, damages the collagen and leads to wrinkly, saggy and brittle skin. This cookie has just the right amount of sweetness and pomegranate peel added in for an extra skin boost, perfect for a quick breakfast bite and won't leave your skin wrinkly and patchy after a dozen cookie.
Chewy Pear & Pomegranate Peel Cookie
Makes 15 2-inch cookies
Ingredients
150 grams rolled oats
2 sweet pears (around 450 grams, grates)
3 ripe bananas
4 tbsp coconut sugar
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
5 strawberries (or dried fruits such as raisins or cranberries)
Directions
Preheat oven to 200C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mash the ripe bananas and combine with cinnamon, pomegranate peel, vanilla, coconut sugar and rolled oats.
Then grate the pears and pour into the mashed banana mixture.
Slice the strawberries into thin pieces and set aside.
Scoop a tablespoon each of cookie batter into the tray and top with strawberry slices in the center. Continue until the batter is finish. This will make about 15 cookies.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and let cool on a wire rack before serving.
