Morning glories

These are taken from the mynewroots site – her recipes are beautiful, and always yummy.  These are a good thing to have in the cupboard for busy days, as a snack or on-the-go breakfast.

Ingredients:
-2 cups whole, rolled oats (not instant oats)
-1 cup whole grain flour (I used spelt)
-2 tsp. aniseed, crushed in mortar and pestle, spice grinder, or use the bottom of a glass
-1 tsp. baking powder
-1 tsp. baking soda
-Zest of one, non-waxed lemon
-1/2 tsp. fine grain sea salt
-One can white kidney, great northern, or navy beans, rinsed & drained (or 1 1/2 cups cooked beans)
-1/4 cup olive oil
-1 cup coconut sugar
-1 large organic egg
-1 tsp. vanilla extract
-1/3 cup chopped dates
-2/3 cup sesame seeds

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350F degrees and place a rack in the top third. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Pulse the oats in a food processor (or blender) until they resemble a very rough flour. Transfer the oats to a large mixing bowl and whisk in the flour, aniseed, baking powder, baking soda, lemon zest and salt.
3. Pulse the beans and olive oil in the food processor until they are creamy. Add the sugar, egg, and vanilla extract and pulse until smooth. Add dates and pulse a few times until chopped and incorporated. Scrap down the sides of the bowl once or twice along the way.
4. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until the ingredients start to come together. Stir until everything just comes together.
5. Place the sesames seeds in a bowl. With a tablespoon, scoop out some dough about the size of a golf ball, then roll it into a rough log shape. (Yes, the dough at this point is very wet, but it becomes very easy to handle once coated in sesame seeds.) Roll the log of dough into the sesame seeds, remembering to dip the ends too. Set each log on the prepared baking sheet and with the palm of your hand flatten the dough just a bit, into a bar shape. You want the bar to be the same thickness all the way through – do not make the ends flatter than the middle. Repeat with the remaining dough, leaving at least an inch or so between each bar – they’ll spread a bit, but not much. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the sesame seeds around the bottom start to get golden.
Makes about 1 1/2 dozen cookies, give or take a couple.
Store in an airtight container for a week (if they last that long!).