Raspberry Cheesecake Oatmeal Cookies

 
On our first full day in Muskegon for the #FreshCoastRetreat, Liz arranged for us to eat lunch at a restaurant in town. After driving over in a trolley that looked as if it came straight off the streets of San Francisco, bright red with a wooden interior and all, we walked into the Lake House Waterfront Grill and sat down at a long table with place settings for sixteen.  

We took our time perusing the menu, slowly reading every option, and those descriptions nearly tempted us to order one of everything! Instead, we split a couple of appetizers with the whole group; then everyone ordered their own entrée. That made life a little easier for those of us indecisive people!

When we finished photographing and eating our dishes (yes, the entire restaurant stared at us at our server set down our plates… because we spent at least 5 minutes walking around the table and snapping pictures of the gorgeous food before picking up our forks!), our waitress offered to bring us a few of her favorite desserts from the menu, and we immediately agreed. You know me—I can never turn down dessert!
 

 
Shortly after, she set down a pile of spoons along with four treats: a salted caramel cookie sundae, a blackberry-topped crème brûlée, a waffle sundae with Nutella and candied pecans, and a slice of blueberry cheesecake. (You can see photos of them in this blog post of mine!)

Even with fifteen others to share with, self-control almost went straight out the window, and I wanted to eat bite after bite of each dessert, especially the waffle sundae and cheesecake! Did you see those photos?? Would you have been tempted to do the same thing??
 

 
Since I continued to think about those last two desserts for the rest of the trip, including the flight home where I started going through and editing my pictures, I knew I needed to bake something sweet to satisfy those cravings when I returned home. These Raspberry Cheesecake Oatmeal Cookies were the result! The have a similar sweet flavor as that restaurant’s cheesecake, albeit with a different type of berries mixed in, and even better… They have built-in portion control and just 91 calories!

This is the next recipe in my series of clean-eating oatmeal cookies. Have you tried any of the others yet? They’re the most popular recipes on my blog—and for a good reason! All of these cookies are soft, chewy, and taste “normal,” not healthy at all… But they contain no butter, refined flour or sugar!
 

 
Just like the other recipes, this one starts with whole wheat flour and instant oats. No, instant oats are not the ones sold in those individual brown paper packets! They’re also known as “quick cooking” or “one-minute” oats, and they’re smaller than traditional old-fashioned oats. You can find instant oats at the grocery store in canisters right next to the old-fashioned oats.

It’s incredibly important to measure both the flour and oats correctly, using either the spoon-and-level method or a kitchen scale. The oats act like little sponges and soak up moisture from your cookie dough, so if you add too many, your cookies will turn out bready or cakey instead of chewy.

Therefore, I highly recommend a kitchen scale for measuring! This is the inexpensive one that I own, and I use it every single day. It’s the best $20 I’ve ever spent! I use it when measuring ingredients for all of the recipes that I publish on this blog, and it ensures that they turn out with the perfect taste and texture every time.
 

 
Instead of refined sugar, you’ll use pure maple syrup to sweeten these cookies. Be sure to use the good stuff! Skip the pancake syrups or sugar-free syrups; both of those contain corn syrup or artificial ingredients, which we’re avoiding in this healthier recipe. Pure maple syrup typically comes in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs, and you can often find it near the oats at the grocery store. (I’ve also bought it online!)

Just before chilling the cookie dough, you’ll fold in fresh raspberries. When cutting the berries, aim to make them about the size of miniature chocolate chips. This smaller size ensures that the cookies bake more evenly!
 

 
Now it’s time for the cheesecake part! That flavor comes from the sweet cream cheese drizzle on top. You’ll use Greek yogurt cream cheese to make it healthier. I found mine at Safeway (their own Lucerne brand), and many Walmart stores sell this brand as well. In a pinch, you can also substitute well-softened Neufchâtel (⅓-less fat) cream cheese.

The drizzle is sweetened with vanilla crème stevia, one of my favorite ingredients. Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that’s clean eating friendly, and it’s very concentrated. You only need a few drops for the drizzle! This is the kind that I buy because I love its warm vanilla flavor. You can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, as well as online. (And you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
 

 
Cookie time!! And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it with me on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking. I’d love to see your cookies!

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♥   Raspberry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
♥   Peach Pie Oatmeal Cookies