Oatmeal Chocolate chip Cookies with Coconut Oil

06/05/2014

I received this recipe from a Kindergarten mom a while back and I am now referring to the recipe as my “After Cookies”  After Dinner, After School, After Swimming, After-Noon – the all round yummy ‘after’ snack!  I had been hearing for the last few years all  of the amazing benefits and uses for coconut oil.  I hadn’t ever used it, but decided to see if my local Costco had it, and sure enough they did – a family size peanut butter type container was filled with solid coconut oil.  It resembles a tub of Crisco, just a bit less solid.  I also doesn’t have an overpowering taste when you cook with it.

Before I bought it, I did some quick google searches just to see what all I could do with a vat of coconut oil.  I found this link with 80 different uses for coconut oil.  Here are my top picks for mom’s of babies or kids!

• Eye cream – apply under the eyes to reduce puffiness, bags, and wrinkles. Use on the lids in the evening.
• Hair Conditioner/Deep Treatment – use as a leave in hair conditioner by applying a teaspoon of coconut oil to your ends and then running your fingers through your hair to distribute the rest! For a deeper treatment, rub in a tablespoon of coconut oil onto your dry scalp and gently work through to the ends. Put a shower cap on to prevent transfer onto bed linens and leave on overnight.
• Massage Oil – pretty simple; grab some and rub!
• Stretch Mark Cream – coconut oil is great at nourishing damaged skin. It may not be the magic stretch mark cure but it will help.
• Nipple Cream – works great to nourish cracked, sore, or dry nipples. Apply to a cotton ball and leave on your nipples between feedings.
• Diaper salve – very comforting on a rashy bum with no harsh chemicals. Also safe for cloth diapers.
• Cradle cap – having issues with dry skin on your baby’s scalp? Coconut oil will not only nourish your baby’s skin, it also helps eliminate cradle cap. Just rub a teaspoon onto scalp daily.
• Bug Bites – when applied directly to a bug bite, coconut oil can stop the itching and burning sensation as well as hasten the healing process.
• Stress Relief – relieve mental fatigue by applying coconut oil to the head in a circular, massaging motion. The natural aroma of coconuts is extremely soothing thus helping to lower your stress level.
• Fitness – coconut oil has been proven to stimulate your metabolism, improve thyroid function, and escalate energy levels, all of which help decrease your unwanted fat, while increasing muscle.
• For breastfeeding moms, consuming 3 ½ tablespoons of coconut oil daily will enrich your milk supply. Also helps ease and treat Thrush
• Use 1 cup to 1 cup ratio when replacing other oils/butter in recipes with coconut oil.
• Replacement for butter/lard/Crisco/PAM in it’s solid form – greasing pans, pie crusts, etc.
• Replacement for various oils in liquid form – baking, cooking, sautéing, etc.
• nsect repellent – mix coconut oil with peppermint oil extract and rub it all over exposed skin. Keeps insects off better than anything with Deet! Tons safer too.
• Goo Gone – just mix equal parts coconut oil and baking soda into a paste. Apply to the “sticky” area and let it set for a minute. Then scrub off with an old toothbrush or the scrubby side of a sponge.
• Chewing Gum in Hair Remover – just rub some coconut oil over the stuck chewing gum, leave in for about 30 minutes, then roll the gum between your fingertip. Voila! It’s out

And now, here is my “After Cookies” recipe – I have been making half of this recipe lately and it makes 14 palm sized cookies.

Blend first 4 ingredients in. Slowly add dry ingredients and stir in chocolate chips. Form into balls a bit smaller than a golf ball and plate on lightly greased (with Coconut oil, perhaps!?)  Bake in 350F oven for 10 minutes.

Happy Coconut Oil Adventures!