Plum Nutties

The New Year is a time when  people often choose to refocus on health. This makes it a good time to think about recipes that have health benefits like fibre, protein and other nutritional requirements that, as a Dietitian, I like to see in more foods, including snacks. With that in mind, for this blog post, I decided to bring on the cookies!

One of the ingredients may seem an unlikely candidate – what my family calls dried plums, or what many others call prunes. My kids enjoy these as a snack. With their versatility and natural sweetness, we find them a great addition to many recipes.

For this post I have collaborated with @cadriedplumboard to create a recipe that gives you a new, interesting way to incorporate dried plums, I used California Prunes in this recipe.

These cookies can be a great after-school snack with some fruit or vegetables on the side. Most people have heard of the digestive benefits of prunes – yes, they make you poop! But, now prunes are beginning to be seen as the “whole package.” Kids and adults alike love the naturally sweet taste, and they are a great way to add some fibre to the day. A recent study, done with a grant from the California Dried Plum Board, showed that eating 50g (or about 5-6 prunes) can be helpful in preventing bone loss in older, osteopenic, postmenopausal women (1). This is exciting research, and I would like to see more investigation of this topic.


Plum Nutties

This recipe is inspired and adapted from the Oh She Glows Turtle Cookie recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup        Walnuts
¾ cup        Pecans
2 cups        Rolled oats, gluten free if necessary
¾ cup        Gluten free all purpose flour (I used Cloud 9)
½ cup        Brown sugar
1 tsp         Baking soda
1 tsp         Cinnamon
½ tsp        Ginger
2 Tbsp      Carob powder
½ tsp        Salt
½ cup        Maple syrup
4 Tbsp       Coconut oil
12              Prunes (dried plums), blended into a paste with about 5 Tbsp water

1. Using a food processor, process 1 cup oats into a flour.
2. Put walnuts and pecans into a food processor and process into crumbs, but NOT powder.
3. Mix the nut/oat mixture with the rest of the oats, flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, carob powder and salt.
4. Add dried plums into the food processor with water and blend until a paste forms. Scrape sides and add more water as necessary to get a liquid paste.
5. Add in the maple syrup, melted coconut oil and plum paste into dry ingredients. Mix.
6. Wet hands and roll 1-2 tablespoon amounts between your hands. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and press down slightly.
7. Bake at 350F for 12 minutes.
8. Let sit on cookie sheet to cool for 5 minutes, before moving to cooling rack.

*Be sure to check ingredients if you need a gluten free recipe.


For a link to the study go here: http://bit.ly/CaliforniaPrunes

DISCLAIMER: This post was sponsored by the California Dried Plum Board. All opinions are genuine.

Nurture The Future wishes you all the best for a happy and healthy New Year. Looking for more recipe ideas? Contact Jill, Nurture The Future’s Registered Dietitian at nf.nutrition@gmail.com


References:

1. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00198-016-3524-8

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