Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Miracle Cookie

Add the peanut butter, sweetener, vanilla, and stir to combine.

Add the oats, crispy rice cereal, cinnamon, baking soda, and stir to incorporate. The dough should be similar in consistency to regular cookie dough; sticky but not sloppy, nor should it be crumbly or dry. If it’s too wet, add more oats. If it’s too dry, add a small squirt more sweetener or more peanut butter.

Fold in the chocolate chips (or try cinnamon/white chocolate/peanut butter chips) and the raisins (or try craisins/dried apricots/cranberries/blueberries) and stir to incorporate.

Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping 2-tablespoon mounds (I made 15). Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds halfway, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.

Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat mat, parchment, or spray with cooking spray.

Place flattened mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet). Bake for about 15 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to show signs of very pale golden color. Cookies will firm up as they cool. Rotate trays midway though baking. **

Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.

Store cookies airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.