When I first saw this topic I was beginning to think that someone was putting me on. While I do like food, and enjoy cooking, I am in no sense of the word a baker. But, the thought of making cookies in a food dehydrator did get my attention.

I did look in several of the nationally known cookbooks having sections on baking cookies just to see if any author had the inkling that any of their readers would seek out such an idea. In reality, I began sensing thoughts further back in my brain, knowing that more than likely I would not find a recipe for making cookies in a food dehydrator in any of these baking publications.

Occasionally, I have been subjected to a weight loss program by the semi-head of our household, which besides daily starvation, includes a type of hi-protein bar to be consumed when the paltry meals, or the diet regimen does not suffice the calling signs of the stomach. In analyzing the composition of these handy bars it occurs to me that this type of bar-cookie can indeed be made in food dehydrators. In fact, our own food dehydrator would be ideal.

So in the research mode I seek what might be a better cookie concoction than what the store bought bars offer. There indeed were some fine recipes in Food Dehydrator publications that looked fairly simple to assemble, and the ones I tried did come together quite nicely. The outcome of the recipes I tried were tasty, light weight, and retained a fair degree of stability if not exposed to high temperatures of the sun.

Now, my imagination kicks in along with creative juices, and I'm thinking before I am done I will have enough tested ideas to write one of those cookbooks myself on the Art of Making Cookies....In A Food Dehydrator. Perhaps not, but there are creative minds among us all, and whatever I come up with, you can match, or surpass my ideas with good ones of your own. That is part of the fun with ideas that are not yet tested. Failures, of course, but you do not have to eat them.

I started with an electric food grinder, and a food juicer. I mixed fruit, and vegetables pureed with honey, evaporated cane syrup, molasses, nuts, rice, barley, wheat, rolled oats, crisped rice, and soy. Sometimes onion, and garlic were added to the mixture. The point is experiment, and you will come up with a tasty cookie or bar that will come to be known in the family, and in the neighborhood.

The times when I seemed to run out of ideas, I summoned in the kids, neighbors, nephews, nieces, and whatever of my friend's kids that were curious enough to want to find out what this weird friend of their parents was up to. Despite the results, although most trials were edible, was the fun of sharing our combined talents regardless of the outcome. I know those fun times will become a lasting memory for those boys and girls who shared our Food Dehydrator talents in making cookies, and will bring smiles to their faces as years go by.