Stevia Oatmeal Chocolate Chip/Raisin Cookies

Lately I've been hearing a great deal about stevia, an extract from the tropical sweetleaf plant. I'm usually hesitant to try different sweeteners because I'm a huge sugar fan, but I'm trying to cut back on it for the rest of the Fall Fitness Challenge. Stevia has up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar, so keep in mind that you do not need very much to make it sweet, therefore it cuts back not only on the sugar content, but the calories as well. Medical research as shown the possible benefits of stevia in treating high blood pressure and obesity, as well as being a natural sweetner for people who are keeping an eye on their blood sugar.

I decided to go with a simple oatmeal cookie recipe and test it out with the addition of raisins, then dark chocolate chips and then a few with both.

What you'll need:
1 cup Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp Stevia Powder
2 cups Oats
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 cup Hot Water
1/2 cup Oil
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, mix flour, cinnamon and stevia.

In a large bowl, mix oats and baking soda.

Pour hot water over oat mixture and mix well.

Add oil and vanilla to mixture and mix well.

Add flour mixture to oat mixture and mix well. Now you can add the chocolate chips or raisins, whichever you prefer. I made a third of mine with raisins, another third with with dark chocolate chips and then the last few with both (my favorite!).

Make little balls of dough, place on the cookie sheet and flatten a bit.
Bake for 13-15 minutes.

For some of the cookies, I just pressed the chocolate chips into the tops, but later I did some with them mixed in and I prefer that. They seemed to melt more when they are in the dough.

Makes approx 40 cookies

Verdict: They weren't bad, but I think I'd rather of one really good normal cookie than a few of these not so great, but better for you cookies. I'm still going to continue testing recipes using the stevia powder by putting it in muffins, breads, etc, but for now I'm going to let my cookies be sugar-laden.

Have you ever baked with stevia?

What were your results? Any recipes to share?

I'd love to hear about your experiences!

Printable Version
Nutritional Information (Raisin Version)

Nutritional Information (Chocolate Chip Version)