Oregon Trail Cookies

Last week-end we hiked the St. Perpetua trail located at Cape Perpetua Oregon. It is a fairly steep climb down and then back up, about 3 miles total. From the top we could see the rocky beaches and the pacific ocean. There were wild flowers decorating the sides of the hill at the summit.

During the walk down old trees draped in moss kept the sun at bay

and Olive found herself a very nice stick.

The day before I baked these Oregon trail cookies to take with us. I added wheat germ and substituted walnuts for the almonds otherwise kept true to the recipe. The base of the cookie is made with flour, oats and peanut butter. We enjoyed them very much.

This recipe has been slightly adapted from a recipe on Bob's Red Mill Website

1 ¼ cups whole wheat flour
¾ cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons wheat germ
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup butter (softened)
¾ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 egg (beaten first, then added)
½ cup walnuts (chopped)
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
½ cup dried cranberries

To prepare:

Preheat oven to 350

Grease baking sheet or line with parchment paper or a silpat.

In a medium-sized bowl add and whisk together flour, oats, wheat germ, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside.

In a large bowl, combine butter, peanut butter, brown sugar and honey. Then add in egg and vanilla and mix together. Combine and add flour mixture, one half at a time. Now gently mix in walnuts, pumpkin seeds and cranberries.

Roll dough into balls, (I used a ¼ cup measuring tool to keep them all the same size). Flatten tops with a fork and bake until golden brown about 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool in pan about 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 12 cookies