The history of oatmeal cookies
The oatmeal delicacy appeared at the end of the 17th century, thanks to bakers from Scotland. At that time, wheat was not as popular as it is now, and oats were recognized as the most important grain. To make cookies, the Scots used coarsely ground oat grains, mixed them with water, and occasionally added a little sour cream. The resulting dough was rolled into small flat cakes, which were then baked on hot stones. This is how this oatmeal product, so rich in beneficial properties, appeared. The benefits of oatmeal cookies for the body were already generally recognized then.
Chemical composition of oatmeal cookies
This delicacy contains a fairly large number of useful amino acids, which tend to benefit the brain, muscles, and regulate the nervous system.
Compound | Quantity |
squirrels | 6.20 g |
fats | 18.10 g |
carbohydrates | 68.70 g |
water | 5.70 g |
ash | 1.40 g |
Oat baked goods are rich in fiber and minerals and have beneficial properties for every person:
- phosphorus;
- calcium;
- potassium;
- zinc;
- iron.
How it is used in dietetics and for weight loss
In most cases, diets require the complete exclusion of flour products from the diet. However, a properly selected dessert has a right to exist both for those losing weight and adhering to therapeutic diets. Oatmeal cookies are rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber, making them an ideal product for quickly satisfying hunger.
By adhering to a properly formulated diet, you can safely use it for a snack, without compromising the process of losing weight.
The right sweets are usually welcomed in dietetics, as they allow you to correct your mood and eliminate frequent nervous breakdowns that negatively affect weight.
It is important that it is recommended for consumption only a home-made product, the composition of which cannot be doubted. Preservatives, emulsifiers, trans fats and flavor enhancers in industrial store-bought baked goods do not provide any benefit, but only harm your health and figure.
Therefore, it is always better to give preference to high-quality and proven products that are low in calories and have a good healthy composition.
Oatmeal cookies are acceptable for weight loss. Calorie content 1 pc. allows you to safely introduce it into your diet.
The list of advantages of this delicacy is quite extensive:
- saturates with energy in a short time;
- has a beneficial effect on the digestive system;
- relieve constipation;
- has a positive effect on mood, gives a boost of vigor;
- normalizes complexion, has a positive effect on the health and appearance of hair;
- reduces the amount of cholesterol in the blood.
The main nutrient of this product is carbohydrates, which means it is better to consume it in the first half of the day. Nutritionists strongly do not recommend using it in combination with tea or coffee. Fruits, berries and dairy products are much more suitable for combination with cookies.
Oatmeal cookies, calorie content 1 pc. which makes up approximately 5% of the total daily diet, is not recommended for use by people who are prone to obesity, as well as those with a history of insulin resistance or diabetes mellitus.
Nutritional value and calorie content of oatmeal cookies
100 grams of regular oatmeal cookies contain about 450 kcal. The same amount of dietary baked goods will contain about 300 kcal. Moreover, if dried fruits are added to the product, this will significantly increase its calorie content and benefits for the body.
The table below shows the different types of cookies and their calorie content:
Type of cookies | Calorie content per 100 grams | Calorie content of one cookie |
Normal | 420 kcal | 63 kcal |
With chocolate chips | 460 kcal | 69 kcal |
With seeds | 440 kcal | 66 kcal |
With raisins | 430 kcal | 64.5 kcal |
Dietary | 200 kcal | 30 kcal |
We recommend reading: What are the benefits of raisins: properties and contraindications
The rather high calorie content of the product does not mean that it is absolutely harmful, despite everything, the beneficial properties of an oat dessert are undeniable.
Proteins fats carbohydrates
Product Types | Squirrels | Fats | Carbohydrates |
cookies with chocolate | 5 g | 19 g | 60 g |
with seeds | 7 g | 23 g | 30 g |
with raisins | 7 g | 15 g | 58 g |
with cereals | 7 g | 19 g | 60 g |
with nuts | 6 g | 17 g | 66 g |
homemade | 6 g | 20 g | 46 g |
store-bought | 5.6 g | 15 g | 74 g |
dietary | 3.8 g | 5.5 g | 35 g |
on kefir | 4.6 g | 2.2 g | 24 g |
What are the benefits of oatmeal cookies?
Oat cookies are considered a food product with rich beneficial properties. After all, the confectionery product contains substances that are essential in the human diet. Oatmeal cookies, their health benefits and harms, often become a source of controversy.
Oat flour contains a lot of macro- and microelements that are beneficial when consumed and are not harmful. Its presence in the composition gives the delicacy many beneficial properties:
- benefits for intestinal function, prevention of constipation;
- improving mood, increasing strength, without causing harm, unlike medicines with these properties;
- increases energy level for physical and mental activity;
- benefits the skin;
- Helps get rid of increased irritability and anxiety;
- helps maintain muscle tone;
- promotes blood circulation;
- helps you quickly feel satiated;
- promotes activation of cognitive functions.
Important! Eating oatmeal cookies helps cleanse cholesterol deposits on the vascular walls; not all products can boast of such beneficial properties.
But industrial confectionery products contain too many carbohydrates, so it is not recommended to include them in the diet of diabetics, otherwise, instead of the expected benefit, harm will be caused.
Cookies and benefits are compatible concepts
Why is it recommended to eat it for breakfast, and not shortbread, for example? It's all about utility. Oatmeal, which is part of the cookies, is rich in various vitamins (A, B, PP), microelements and amino acids. Vegetable protein, which is contained in sufficient quantities in oatmeal cookies, is almost completely absorbed by the body, and vegetable fats are extremely important for health. Therefore, a glass of milk with a couple of oatmeal cookies for breakfast is a wonderful morning that begins with self-care.
Despite all the usefulness, you should not overeat these cookies (no more than 2-3 pieces). And it's not just the high calorie content. If you eat store-bought cookies, then along with vitamins and nutrients you get a huge amount of sugar, as well as various preservatives, emulsifiers, flavor enhancers, and so on. On the one hand there is benefit, on the other there is harm. What to do? Of course, cook yourself!
Is it possible to have oatmeal cookies?
Among the confectionery variety, cookies are perhaps one of the most popular. As a rule, this particular product is allowed during therapeutic or other diets.
Pregnant women
During pregnancy, women are advised to refrain from various store-bought confectionery delights so as not to harm the health of the baby. However, oatmeal cookies are allowed even during this period. The fact is that the harm from it is much lower compared to other types of baked goods, and the benefits are significantly higher. Therefore, if a pregnant woman consumes oatmeal baked goods in reasonable quantities, she will receive its beneficial properties and will not cause harm.
When breastfeeding
During lactation, smoked, fried, spicy or salty foods are prohibited, in addition, all types of food that can provoke an allergy in a newborn or cause colic are excluded. But cookies are not included in the list of harmful products, so they are allowed to be eaten in small quantities.
Reference! If you make oatmeal cookies yourself, you can replace sugar with dried fruits, then the harm will be even lower and the beneficial properties will increase.
Oatmeal baked goods are a quick snack product, which is most important for mothers with small children. At the same time, a delicacy made from oatmeal will be beneficial, will not cause harm, can quickly fill you up, and tastes very pleasant.
When losing weight
Fans of various healthy lifestyle diets are invariably worried about the question of whether oatmeal cookies can be consumed while losing weight, and how high the risk of harm to the figure from this delicacy is. This question cannot be answered unambiguously. If we consider the classic recipe for this baked goods, then its calorie content is quite high; in combination with a large amount of carbohydrates and fats, the product does not at all qualify as a dietary product, and may even be harmful. Therefore, a delicacy made from oats can be included in the diet if you need to quickly and usefully get enough, get rid of the feeling of fatigue and increase your emotional mood.
For example, before an exam or an important meeting. Then eating oatmeal cookies will help relieve irritation and nervousness, which will reduce harm to the body. In addition, the brain will be activated and strength will appear. This dish can be an alternative for breakfast when there is no time to prepare a full meal. However, these are all emergency cases; it is not recommended to include oatmeal baked goods as an element of dietary nutrition, since if you have extra pounds, this product can cause more harm than good.
For diabetes
Persons who have diabetes are prohibited from eating rich pastries, cakes, etc., such delicacies cause incredible harm for these people. In such a situation, oatmeal cookies become the best option, provided that they are prepared independently. After all, this is how we can say that the product will not cause harm, but only benefit will be received. Especially considering that the method of preparing a dish with such beneficial properties is simple.
Components:
- vanilla;
- half a glass of oatmeal;
- 100 milliliters of water;
- half a glass of oatmeal;
- a tablespoon of low-fat margarine;
- a tablespoon of fructose.
Cooking method:
The flour is combined with oatmeal flakes. Add soft margarine to the mixture and mix everything thoroughly. During the kneading process, add water. At the moment when the dough becomes homogeneous, add vanillin and fructose. Spoon the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Cook at 200°C until golden brown.
Important! Eating oatmeal cookies with fructose will significantly increase their benefits for diabetics.
What nutritionists say
This product contains many useful microelements and vitamins, and therefore can become an indispensable assistant in the fight against extra pounds.
Since the calorie content of one oatmeal cookie is significantly lower than other sweets, you can indulge yourself a little, thereby reducing the risk of failure, but without risking the results achieved. It's no secret that any flour product contains carbohydrates, but in oatmeal cookies they are long, as nutritionists sometimes call them.
Their main beauty is that they burn rather slowly, due to this the body receives a certain amount of energy, and the feeling of hunger does not occur for a longer time. In addition, there is an opinion that oat dishes can suppress depression. If you prepare such cookies at home, you can control the amount of sugar and also add other ingredients that are very useful for weight loss, such as cocoa, nuts, prunes, dried apricots or other dried fruits.
By the way, in this case, you can completely abandon sweeteners. If you are on a diet with the goal of losing excess weight, then you can safely introduce this delicacy into your diet, but homemade, not store-bought.
This way you can accurately control its calorie content, and also avoid excessive consumption of sugar or its substitutes. And if you figure it out, preparing it is not so difficult. Especially if you have step-by-step recipes at hand.
What is added to oatmeal cookies
- Confectionery fat. Most people are afraid to eat oatmeal dessert because of these ingredients. However, it is impossible to make cookies without them. This ingredient will not do much harm, provided that the person is not afraid for his figure.
- Baking powder. This component helps the dough rise and makes it crumbly.
- Sugar. The classic recipe contains quite a lot of sugar, but today there are a lot of dietary products on the shelves, their benefits are much higher.
- Vegetable oils. Often, manufacturers strive to reduce the cost of production and replace margarine with vegetable ingredients. And if there is no harm from sunflower oil, then with palm oils the situation is much worse.
- Dried fruits, candied fruits and seeds. Products with such fillers become higher in calories, but their benefits are significantly higher.
- Honey. This ingredient is designed to give the cookies a nice dark color. When heat treated, it loses all its beneficial properties, but will not cause any harm.
- Preservatives. Their presence can be easily detected by checking the expiration date. The longer it is, the more preservatives there are and the more harm and less benefit from eating such cookies.
Which is better: cook it yourself or buy it
In most cases, only homemade baked goods are considered the most healthy and dietary. When preparing it, high-calorie ingredients (butter, sugar, etc.) are used to a minimum, and it becomes possible to control the amount of each of them. Store-bought cookies are considered undesirable for consumption during a diet. In its preparation, sugar, vegetable and butter fats are used in large quantities, as well as a variety of sweeteners and flavor enhancers. Such a delicacy is not only detrimental to the figure, but also leads to increased appetite.
Important! Excessive consumption of oat-based products is harmful to health: it leads to intense production of gastric juice secretion and an increase in its acidity. This in the future threatens with a variety of acute and chronic gastroenterological ailments.
If you don’t have time to prepare the dish yourself, you can enjoy store-bought ones. However, you should focus only on the highest quality options made from safe ingredients.
To do this, when choosing cookies you should pay attention to:
- packaging - it must be intact and sealed, and also contain all the information about the components and shelf life;
- composition - ideally, the product should be made exclusively from wheat and oat flour, butter, vanillin, cinnamon and sugar. The presence of various chemical additives indicates the minimum usefulness of the dessert;
- Shelf life - high-quality cookies are stored for no more than 1-2 months. Shelf life - six months or more indicates the presence of synthetic preservatives in the dough;
- the shape of the baked goods - it should be round or oval; a sloppy appearance indicates a violation of the cooking technology;
- product integrity - only one broken cookie is allowed in a 250 g pack. The presence of a so-called “fight” indicates a violation of the standards of preparation and combination of ingredients with each other.
Diet oatmeal cookie recipe
Such dietary oatmeal cookies can sometimes be included in the diet even when losing weight. Thanks to the optimal composition, the beneficial properties of such a delicacy are maximum, and the harm is minimal.
Components:
- 200 g oatmeal;
- 130 ml water;
- 2 tbsp. l. honey
Cooking method:
Oatmeal should be filled with water and left for 10 minutes. At this time, melt the honey in a water bath and pour into the flakes. The mixture should be thoroughly mixed and formed into small balls.
Reference! While sculpting, it is better to wet your hands in cold water.
Bake the balls for 25 minutes at 150 degrees.
Cookie composition
You can buy oatmeal cookies at the store, or you can bake them yourself. The latter option is much preferable because it eliminates the addition of harmful flavors and stabilizers.
The recipe for oatmeal cookies includes two types of flour: oatmeal and wheat. And also granulated sugar. That's probably all. A little butter is added, and vegetable oil is better suited for dietary cookies.
If desired, you can add raisins, pieces of dried apricots, nuts, vanilla or cinnamon.
Oatmeal Cookies Recipe for Kids
For children, it is better to prepare healthy cookies from oatmeal and banana. Children will love this dessert, and its beneficial properties will delight the child’s parents.
Recommended reading: Benefits of bananas
Components:
- 3 small bananas;
- 2 cups oatmeal;
- 100 ml milk;
- 1 tbsp. l. butter;
- 50 g raisins.
Cooking method:
Bananas are crushed in a blender. Oatmeal is added to the fruit puree. Then you need to add milk, butter and raisins, previously soaked in water, to the mixture. Mix everything and place it on a baking sheet in small flat cakes. Bake at 200°C for 20 minutes.
Recipe
Housewives love to please their household with sweets. And, of course, the recipe will differ significantly from the factory one. For example, it could be like this:
- 200 grams of oatmeal flakes;
- 1 glass of low-fat kefir;
- 1 tbsp. spoon of honey;
- 80 grams of peeled sunflower seeds;
- 2 chicken eggs.
In this case, the calorie content of oatmeal cookies will be halved.
How to choose quality oatmeal cookies
When purchasing cookies, it is better to give preference to private bakeries; the beneficial properties of such products will be higher. As a rule, such establishments maintain their reputation and prepare baked goods according to classic recipes.
If we talk about store-bought products, then to obtain beneficial properties, when choosing, you need to:
- Give preference to cookies in transparent packaging.
- Make sure that the product is whole.
- The cookies should be uniform in color and soft to the touch.
- Do not forget that the longer the shelf life, the less benefit from the product and the more harm.
- It is better if it contains eggs rather than egg powder.
Harm of oatmeal baking: pitfalls of a healthy product
The main contraindication to consuming oatmeal cookies is the tendency to become overweight. This product is very high in calories, since the store-bought version is loaded with sugar and can become a serious problem for people with diabetes or skin problems. The way out of the situation is to eat homemade cookies or a product where sucrose is replaced by fructose.
In addition, store-bought baked goods can provoke an allergic reaction in the body to any component of the cookie: preservatives, baking powder, honey or confectionery fats can cause many problems.
All the benefits of cookies are negated due to the excessive enrichment of baked goods with simple sugars and unsaturated fats during the production cycle at the manufacturing plant. You can purchase high-quality cookies based on the price category and appearance of the product:
- Baked goods should be fresh, have a slight crunch on the outside and be soft on the inside;
- The finished product should have a distinctive oatmeal cookie smell;
- The taste of the product should not be too sweet or fatty, and should have a distinct taste of oatmeal;
- The candied fruits or cereals used in cookies should not have excess sugar and be rough in taste;
- When reading the composition, it is recommended to give preference to cookies made from eggs and butter, but not from egg powder, margarine or vegetable oil;
- The long shelf life indicates a huge amount of preservatives.