Our cooking journey started at marriage and we called it Culinary Rhapsodies. We weren't too conscious about sugar until I became pregnant. I cut out all processed sugar from my diet during pregnancy and post-partum. As our child became older, we began swapping out some traditional white sugar with date syrup, maple syrup, dried fruits, apples and bananas.

This oatmeal cookie is the kid-friendly version where I've swapped out the white and brown sugar with maple syrup. It yields one baking sheet of cookies.

Maple Syrup Oatmeal Cookies

½ cup salted butter (if you’re using unsalted, add ½ tsp. salt)

½ tsp. vanilla essence

½ cup maple syrup

¾ cup all purpose flour

1.5 cups rolled oats

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. cinnamon

1 egg (beaten)

½ dark chocolate bar (roughly chopped)

¼ cup walnuts (chopped)

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Melt butter in sauce pan, add vanilla essence once melted.
2. While butter melts, add flour, oats, baking soda and cinnamon in a bowl and mix well.
3. Mix 1 beaten egg into #2, once incorporated throughout , add maple syrup and mix so everything is coated.
4. Add melted butter into #3.
5. Add dark chocolate and walnuts and mix.
6. Take 1 – 2 tbsp of dough (depending on size you want), place on baking sheet and bake 20 – 25 minutes.
7. Cool and devour.