Granola Cookies

I got the idea for these cookies from my friend Natalie, who I used to work with at Anthropologie.  Since breaks at Anthro. were few and far between, I always found myself hungry and in need of some good snacking.  One night when I was closing and on my way to the bathroom, I saw a delicious looking, albeit partially eaten, cookie laying on a napkin that said something along the lines of, "for Megan from N@."  Well, Megan was already gone, so that cookie was fair game, right?

Anyway, I broke off a little piece of the not too thoroughly baked confection (i.e. still gooey in the middle) and it was great.  It tasted like oats and brown sugar and butter with flecks of dried cranberries.  It reminded me of granola, but in cookie form.  I knew I wanted to re-create it, and perhaps healthify it a bit too.  So here's my attempt.  Not as buttery-ooey-goeey as Natalie's but pretty much spot on with flavor.  I like 'em a lot and hopefully you will too.

Granola Cookies
Loosely adapted from Better With Butter and Whole Grain Gourmet

Ingredients
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
1/2 cup dried fruit of choice [I used a mix of cranberries, blueberries, and golden raisins]
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 1/2 tablespoons almond butter [I used Trader Joes' Roasted Almond Butter with Sea Salt]

Preparation
In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together.  Add the dried fruit into this mixture.  Then, in a medium bowl cream the butter and brown sugar and then mix in the egg, maple syrup, and almond butter.

Mix the wet ingredients with the dry.  If you want a thicker cookie, cool the dough in the fridge for 20 minutes before placing it on a cookie sheets.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Drop by teaspoonfuls on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 15 - 20 minutes or until lightly golden.