Raw Vegan Lemon Cranberry Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

• 2 cups organic oat groats (or rolled oats if not strictly raw)
• 1 cup raw pecans
• 1/2 cup firmly packed grated fresh apple (about 2 medium apples)
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup dried raisins
• 1/2 cup pitted dates roughly chopped
• 4 Tbsp organic unrefined coconut oil
• 3 - 4 Tbsp raw agave nectar depending on taste 
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp alcohol free vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp regular extract
• 1 - 1 1/2 Tbsp freshly grated lemon zest (1 medium lemon) depending on taste
• a pinch of Celtic sea salt or Himalayan salt

1. Pulse the raw pecans a few times until roughly chopped. Empty them into a mixing bowl.
2. Place the oats in the food processor with the cinnamon, ginger, vanilla and sea salt and pulse a few times until well combined.
3. Add in the dates, apple, lemon zest, coconut oil and pulse again.
4. Transfer this mixture to a large bowl and fold through the remaining ingredients until a thick clustered "dough" forms.
5. Tweak the flavours to taste. You might want more agave, cinnamon or lemon zest.
6. Form this dough into medium sized cookies and place on mesh dehydrator sheets.
7. Dehydrate cookies in your Excalibur dehydrator at 100 degrees for 12 - 15 hours or more depending on your preference.
8. This recipe yields 12 medium sized dense chewy cookies. Alternatively, you could make 24 smaller cookies.

**Please note: For those of you without Excalibur dehydrators, you can try making these oatmeal cookies in a conventional oven by preheating your oven to 300 F, placing the cookies in, closing the oven door, turning the oven off and allowing it to cool with the cookies inside. The cookies should have a nice chewy texture.