Healthy Cowboy Cookies - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1/2 cup dates, pitted
1/4 cup hot water
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup great northern bean, cooked and cooled
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup white sugar
2 small eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup flaked coconut
2 cups pecans, chopped

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325.
Let the dates soak in the hot water until softened, about ten minutes.
Meanwhile, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl.
In a separate bowl, beat the beans until mashed.
Blend or food process the dates until a thick paste is formed. An immersion blender is helpful for this step.
Add the melted butter, date paste, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla to the beans one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Gradually stir in the flour mixture until just combined.
Stir in the chocolate chips, oats, coconut and pecans.
Drop cookies by spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet and flatten some because they will not spread out naturally, and bake for 9-10 minutes. Even if the cookies do not look quite done, take them out and let them cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet, during which time they should finish cooking. (I am not talking about really undone cookies, just ones that look like they need a minute or two more to bake).
Tip: I can never eat an entire batch of cookies before they go bad, so I bake up what I want right away, form the rest of the dough into cookie-sized balls or discs, and freeze them in a container between layers of waxed paper. You only have to add a minute or two more to the baking time for frozen cookie dough.