LIGHT & LOCAL
Oatcakes offer a healthy yet festive baked holiday treat

By Carol Devenot

Some ingredients here may be new to you, but try them; they're found in health-food stores and are more wholesome than common ingredients.

I like using whole-wheat pastry flour because it offers more fiber than white; it also produces a fluffier dough than regular whole-wheat flour. On the advice of my friend Nelson, I used date sugar because it, too, offers more nutrients and is more slowly digested than white sugar. I also chose a non-aluminum baking soda: fewer metals for the body.

Trying to figure out what fat to use, I checked the labels for the lowest fat butter substitutes. Smart Balance Light and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter were the lowest in fat at 5 grams per tablespoon. Beating the egg whites helps add air to the structure and creates a relatively light texture.

The orange juice pulls it all together.

For that Christmas magic, plump the cranberries and raisins in rum (soak briefly in just enough rum to cover).

Add more apple pie spice if you like. Walnuts and flax seed add crunch. To release the healthful flax-seed oils, grind up the seeds using a mortar and pestle. Give these away for presents at Christmastime, and your family and friends will definitely have a Mele Kalikimaka!

Yummy Rummy Oatcakes

• 1/2 cup cranberries, soaked in rum
• 1/2 cup raisins, soaked in rum
• 1/3 cup rum
• 2 1/2 cups whole-wheat pasty flour
• 2 cups rolled oats (regular oatmeal)
• 1 cup date sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon nonaluminum baking soda
• 1 tablespoon of apple pie seasoning
• 8 tablespoons of Smart Balance, Light, very cold
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla
• 1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup flax seed, ground
• 2 egg whites, stiffly beaten
• 4 tablespoons soy milk
• 2 tablespoons date sugar

Place the cranberries and raisins in a bowl and cover with the rum. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Heat the oven to 425 degrees.

In a food processor, mix flour, rolled oats (regular oatmeal), date sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and apple pie seasoning. Cut in the Smart Balance to make a mealy mixture. Place orange juice and vanilla in a bowl, stir, and add this to the flour mixture. Add the soaked cranberries and raisins, walnuts and flax seed. Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.

Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead for a few minutes. Roll out or pat to a thickness of 1/2-inch. Use a 2 3/4-inch diameter biscuit cutter and cut into 12 rounds. Place on lined cookie sheet and brush with 3 to 4 tablespoons soymilk; sprinkle with 1 to 2 tablespoons of date sugar. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until browned. Serves 12.

Per serving: 289 calories, 8 grams protein, 6 grams fat, 52 grams carbohydrates, 6 grams dietary fiber, 247 milligrams sodium.

Want a local recipe lightened up? Write: Light & Local, Taste Section, The Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802; or taste@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Carol Devenot is a Kaimuki-raised kama'aina, teacher and recipe consultant, and author of "Island Light Cuisine" (Blue Sea Publishing, 2003). Learn more at www.islandlightcuisine.com.