Happy 2014 to everyone! I hope you all had a relaxing holiday season filled with love, food and lots of time with family and friends.

With the new year comes many resolutions. Usually resolutions revolve around eating better and working out. And they usually end a few weeks into the new year.

I’m hoping that 2014 will be a year of better health for me – less visits to the doctor, less stomach issues, and no more running injuries. I’m not going to deprive myself of foods that I love (cookies!) or force myself to run through an injury. I made many changes in 2013 that I think will lead to a much happier 2014 – I left a stressful job and started a new adventure in a city that I adore. I started doing yoga to reduce running injuries. I went dairy-free to make my body happy.

I hope in 2014 I can continue to cultivate my dairy-free cooking skills. I am so thankful for the dairy-free bloggers out there that have provided me with endless recipes to try out and make my transition into the dairy-free world a little bit easier. I’ve added a dozen vegan/dairy-free/special diet blogs to my blog reader and once in a while a stumble across a recipe that really catches me.

This time, it was Angela over at Oh She Glows and her vegan turtle cookies. I saw the cookies on her blog and they were baking away in my oven not 24 hours later.

I am obsessed with them. My family is also obsessed. I honestly cannot get enough of these cookies. I was a bit disappointed at first because they didn’t seem “turtle-y” at all. But I quickly got over that because these cookies are just downright delicious. So I think in this case turtle = really freakin’ awesome. So I guess in my house I’ll call these the “really freakin’ awesome vegan oatmeal cookies”.

1 3/4 cups pecan halves
2 cups rolled oats, divided
3/4 cup + 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup unpacked dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
3 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
2 tablespoons almond milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup pitted dates
1/4 cup vegan mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place pecans onto a lined baking sheet and toast for 8 – 10 minutes, or until lightly toasted and fragrant. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.
2. Place toasted pecans into a food processor with 1 cup of the rolled oats and process until coarsley chopped, being careful not to over process into a fine powder.
3. Pour the pecan/oat mixture into a large bowl and add in the remaining 1 cup rolled oats, 3/4 cup flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
4. In a separate bowl, stir together maple syrup, melted coconut oil, almond milk, and vanilla extract. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
5. Place dates onto a cutting board and sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon flour. Dice dates, sprinkling wth more flour as needed to prevent dates from sticking to each other and the knife.
6. Fold dates and chocolate chips into dough and mix until well distributed.
7. Roll dough into golf-ball sized balls and press it between the palms of your hands to flatten. Place cookie onto a parchment lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough, placing cookies a couple inches apart.
8. Bake in preheated oven for 12 – 15 minutes or until cookies are golden browned on the bottom. Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely.