Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Sandwiches with Whipped Vanilla Honey Cream Cheese
Soft, chewy oatmeal raisin cookies, warmly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, sandwiched around a fluffy whipped filling of cream cheese, raw honey, and vanilla bean. A nourishing, homemade take on the classic oatmeal cream pie.
Yield: About 14 sandwich cookies · Active: 30 min · Total: 1 hour (including chilling) · Year-round · Best eaten: midday or early afternoon
Ingredients
Oatmeal raisin cookies
¾ cup raisins
1½ cups sprouted gluten-free rolled oats
1 cup almond flour
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp Ceylon cinnamon
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
¼ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
8 tbsp grass-fed butter, softened
⅓ cup coconut sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 pasture-raised egg, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
To make them grain-free: Replace the oats with 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes plus ½ cup sliced almonds, pulsed briefly in a food processor until they look like rolled oats.
Whipped vanilla honey cream cheese
8 oz cream cheese, softened
3 tbsp raw honey
Seeds of ½ vanilla bean (or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract)
¼ tsp Ceylon cinnamon
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt
¼ cup raw or grass-fed heavy cream, cold
For rolling the edges (optional): finely chopped toasted walnuts or pecans, or toasted coconut
Method
Plump the raisins. Cover them with hot water for 10 minutes, then drain and pat dry.
Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk the oats, almond flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
Cream the butter. Beat the butter, coconut sugar, and maple syrup until creamy, about 1 minute, then beat in the egg and vanilla.
Make the dough. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until combined, then fold in the raisins. Chill the dough 20 minutes, so the cookies hold their shape.
Shape. Heat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment. Scoop the dough into level tablespoons (about 28 cookies), set them 2 inches apart, and flatten them into even rounds. Evenly sized, flat cookies make the neatest sandwiches.
Bake 10–12 minutes, until golden at the edges but still soft in the center. Cool completely on the pan; they firm up as they cool.
Make the filling. Beat the cream cheese, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt until smooth and fluffy. Add the cold cream and beat 1–2 minutes more, until light and whipped. Chill 15–20 minutes, until thick enough to pipe.
Sandwich. Pipe or spread about 1 tbsp of filling onto the flat side of half the cookies, then top with the remaining cookies and press gently. Roll the edges in chopped nuts or coconut, if you like.
Chill 30 minutes, until the filling is set.
Filling Variations
Maple-cinnamon: Use maple syrup in place of the honey, and add an extra ¼ tsp cinnamon.
Mascarpone: Use mascarpone in place of the cream cheese, for a richer, milder filling.
Orange-vanilla: Add the zest of ½ orange.
Chai spice: Add ¼ tsp each ground ginger and cardamom and a pinch of cloves.
Storage: Filled sandwiches keep refrigerated up to 4 days, or frozen up to 1 month (thaw 15 minutes before serving). Unfilled cookies keep airtight at room temperature up to 4 days.
A note on honey: The raw honey in the filling stays raw, since it's never heated. Raw honey shouldn't be given to babies under 12 months; use maple syrup if little ones will be eating these.
Nourishment Notes
Sprouted oats — fiber, including beta-glucan, plus minerals that are easier to absorb, since sprouting begins to break down phytic acid.
Raisins — potassium, iron, fiber, and natural sweetness.
Almond flour — vitamin E, magnesium, and monounsaturated fats.
Cream cheese and cream — vitamins A and K2 from grass-fed dairy.
Pasture-raised egg — choline and fat-soluble vitamins.
Grass-fed butter — vitamins A and K2, plus butyrate.
Ceylon cinnamon and nutmeg — cinnamon's polyphenols help moderate blood sugar, and nutmeg is traditionally used to support digestion.
Raw honey — enzymes and trace minerals, kept intact in the no-bake filling.
As a circadian treat, these cookies land best at midday or in the early afternoon, when your body handles sweets most gracefully in daylight.
Sourcing
Sprouted rolled oats — organic and certified gluten-free; One Degree Organic Foods makes sprouted rolled oats
Raisins — organic and unsulfured (conventional raisins can carry high pesticide residues)
Almond flour — organic and fresh (keep it in the fridge)
Coconut flakes and sliced almonds (grain-free version) — organic and unsweetened
Grass-fed butter — organic, cultured butter from 100% grass-fed cows
Eggs — organic and pasture-raised
Cream cheese — organic, full-fat, cultured cream cheese from grass-fed cows, with no gums or stabilizers
Heavy cream — raw from a farmer you know and trust, or organic, grass-fed cream (Kalona SuperNatural)
Raw honey — organic, local, and unfiltered
Coconut sugar and maple syrup — organic coconut sugar; organic Grade A dark maple syrup
Walnuts or pecans — organic, kept in the fridge
Spices — organic and non-irradiated Ceylon cinnamon and whole nutmeg, freshly grated
Baking soda — aluminum-free
Vanilla — organic vanilla beans or pure vanilla extract
Baja Gold sea salt
— Anna aka Food Marshall