Trail Mix Cookies

My sister-in-law and I have the tendency to faint when outdoors in 90-degree temperatures.  This stems from my general lack of muscle mass and her questionable choice to be a vegetarian.  Before a recent vacation to Florida, I decided to preempt our dizzy spells by making these cookies.  They have all the nutritious ingredients of chunky granola bars (dried fruit, nuts, oatmeal) plus the sweet tenderness of cookies.  The ingredient list is long, but it's one of those recipes where you throw everything into a big bowl, mix it up, and produce perfect cookies.  We kept our purses stocked, and no one fainted!

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2.25 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1.25 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest (1 lemon)
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts

If you have a whole nutmeg and a microplane, use them!  If not, ground nutmeg works just fine.

In a small bowl (no need to use a huge one like I did), whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy and light in color.

Beat in the eggs one at a time.

Beat in the molasses, yogurt, ginger, and lemon zest.

You might think, "Eww, what happened?!"  But it's just the fats separating!  No worries, it's going to be delicious!

Fold the flour mixture into the molasses mixture with a spatula until you have a smooth batter.  Don't beat it in with the electric mixer or the cookies will turn out dense instead of light and you'll be engulfed in a cloud of flour.

Fold in the oats, golden raisins, cranberries, and chocolate chips.

Heat a pan on the stove over medium-low heat and add the walnuts.  Keep them moving with a spatula and don't leave them alone!  I've burned countless batches of nuts by walking away for just a minute.  When you can smell the nuts (or when they're golden brown), they're done.  Transfer them to a paper plate to cool, then roughly chop.

Fold in the cooled walnuts.

Drop 2 tablespoon-sized balls of the sticky batter onto parchment paper.  Bake at 375 degrees for 9-12 minutes until golden brown.  The dough itself is subtly sweet with bursts of flavor from the chocolate and raisins balanced by the tartness of the cranberries.  We ate at least 10 cookies just on the plane!