Remember those oatmeal cookie sandwiches with the creamy, sweet filling that you used to swipe from vending machines and beg your parents for in the grocery store? Well, these are those, only a million times healthier. A cause for healthful indulgence? We think, yes.
These oatmeal cookie sandwiches are almost 100% vegan and made with healthful ingredients like rolled oats, grated carrots, whole wheat flour and banana. Though the inspiration for the recipe was pre-packaged oatmeal cream pies, these little guys take the treat to a whole new level and are even better than the original (we think).
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By Janis Jibrin, M.S., RD, TheBestLife.com Lead Nutritionist
When you see “whole grain,” “low fat,” and other health buzzwords on a food label, you might assume you’re picking up a more nutritious choice. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Some products don’t offer much of an advantage compared to the original or, even worse, aren’t inherently healthy at all. Let me share a few examples.
Health Food Fake Out: Neufchatel (cream cheese with 1/3 less fat)
It’s true that this product has about a third fewer calories and saturated fat grams than regular. But still, just 2 tablespoons (an ounce) contains 3 grams of saturated fat—that’s a sixth of your daily limit on an 1,800-calorie diet. And the 33 milligrams of calcium it provides aren’t worth it.
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Full disclosure: I’m a terrible baker. My husband warns people not to eat anything I bake.
That said, I get the itch to bake periodically and it always has to be scratched. Quiet, uneventful Sunday afternoons get the better of me and my well-stocked pantry. Once I’ve made up my mind, the oven’s on and the flour’s flying. 
This past Sunday, I was already in cooking mode, with Chef Devin’s turkey meatballs and homemade marinara simmering on the stove (see the Biggest Loser Family cookbook). When I pulled the oats out of the cabinet to combine with the turkey, I immediately thought “cookies!”. I also had mini chocolate chips left over from a birthday party the previous weekend. A couple of tiny cookies would be the perfect end to our dinner and weekend.
I started reading through the ingredients listed on the oatmeal container and pulling each out of the cupboard and refrigerator. It called for butter. I froze. No butter. Then I remembered the healthier baking swaps article we did last year, and recalled Marisa Churchill’s suggestion for replacing butter with cream cheese. An entire brick of neufchâtel cheese sat in my fridge. Ball dodged.
Then it called for granulated sugar. Completely out. So I Googled “honey replacement for sugar” and found several suggestions for a 1:1 swap. Completely doable.
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