Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

It is pouring down rain here. Thunder and lightening too. That means it is the perfect day to enjoy a cookie with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk if you are a milk drinker. That is my excuse anyway.

The truth is I have gone to too many graduation parties and indulged in too many desserts lately and now I have a little hankering for sweets going on. I am working on getting that back under control but in the mean time I wanted a dessert I could enjoy without the guilt.

I whipped up this small batch of cookies last night in about 6 minutes and they only took 12 minutes to bake. Sweet tooth satisfied in 19 minutes (I waited about a minute for it to cool before breaking off a little piece.) Plus it only made 12 cookies so I won't have them hanging around here tempting me all week.

Three tablespoons of Earth Balance, 1/4 cup of honey, 1 egg, 1/2 cup Sucanat, and 1 tablespoon water go into the mixer. Using the paddle attachment, blend until thoroughly mixed. I just let it run while I got the dry ingredients together.

In my pyrex measuring cup (dirty only one dish whenever possible) I placed 1 1/2 cups oats, 1/4 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus.....

1/2 cup whole wheat flour. I didn't level that if you are wondering. I just shook it down a little until it looked close enough. I know I am lazy and don't follow the baking rules that my Home Ec. teacher taught me in the 8th grade. I still have issues with how she taught us to scramble eggs. Maybe that is why I rebel against measuring.

She ruined me. It is all her fault I guess.

I took a fork and mixed these 4 ingredients around in the cup and then added them to the mixer. Mix wet and dry ingredients until thoroughly combined. Decide now if you will add the dark chocolate chips or not!!! I went back and forth and then was sorry I hadn't added them to the batter.

So after I had dropped the spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet I pressed a few chocolate chips into the cookies. I was super glad I did. Raisins would be awesome too and then my kids wouldn't like them as much so Miles and I could have more. So I am a bad "measure-ur" and I am a bad sharing mom!

12 minutes later and look how big and puffy and chewy they came out!

Then I was kind of glad I had just pressed those chips in because see how they just got a little bit soft and melty. Yummo! Plus each cookie only had about 5-6 chips which helps the calorie count. Next time they will just go in the batter however because that is easier. You won't need very many chips for such a small recipe.

One little plate of delicious and healthier cookies to enjoy!

Keep in mind that these are not sugar free because I used sucanat which is a good replacement for brown sugar since it isn't as refined. The whole wheat flour also makes these better for you as does dark chocolate versus milk or semi-sweet chips. You could also use egg beater instead of one whole egg to help the calorie count which is about 125 per cookie. I am not sure how they would taste with just Stevia instead of Sucanat since they need that brown sugar taste but since it is such a small recipe it might be worth a little experimenting.

Now I must go do some form of exercise. I was planning on running this morning outside but my husband came and told me to sleep longer because of the storm. Faith is still asleep or I would take the both of us to the YMCA so maybe a pilates video will have to do for the day. Perhaps later this storm will pass and that run will happen???

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies

• 3 tablespoons Earth Balance (or other spread of choice)
• 1/2 cup Sucanat
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• Optional dates, figs, raisins, cranberries, chocolate chips, or chopped nuts.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Using a mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the Earth Balance, Sucanat, honey, egg and water thoroughly.
3. Sift together the dry ingredients then stir in the oats. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix. Add any additional ingredients you've chosen.
4. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto the cookie sheet. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack

Yields 1 dozen cookies



Molasses Cookies

At Christmas time I usually do a ton of baking for friends and neighbors. I also usually give most of it away so it isn't sitting here begging me to eat it and not  let it go to waste. Since we traveled this year and didn't get back until late Wednesday night and I had to work Thursday and Friday there was no time for the annual baking!

I had planned to make creme brulee for Christmas dinner for two reasons. The first reason; it is my favorite dessert thanks to my very favorite restaurant in Spokane, Clinkerdaggers, where creme brulee and I first met! The second reason is that you eat this dessert and it is all gone! There is no more of it left to keep nibbling on and tempting me to come back for more.

Then I made a mistake.

I thought to myself that I should whip up some cookies quick to share with the neighbors so they don't think I am mad at them this year or something. Guess what? The neighbors got nothing! I guess I will have to explain to them sometime what happened to their Christmas goodies this year.

Thankfully when I made the molasses cookies I did clean them up slightly. They are still a definite indulgence because they do have quite a bit of sugar in them but I did make them a bit healthier so they come with slightly less guilt. The problem is that I made too many and they don't even have to beg me to eat them. Miles even said as he grabbed 3 or 4 last night, "We have to get these out of here!" I guess that is what he was working on! Even Evan completely LOVES them. He said after his first one, "Mom, your molasses cookies are soooooo good!" I promptly rushed out and bought him another Christmas present. Just kidding.

You begin with all the usual suspects; flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. I made the first switch with the flour. The recipe called for two cups of all purpose flour. Since these were supposed to be for the neighbors I switched only one cup for whole wheat pastry flour. If I make them again I will try it with all whole wheat pastry flour and see how they come out. Mix all these ingredients together.

Yes, I actually have brown sugar in my house. I do make cakes on the side so I have to keep it around. You do need to have dark brown sugar instead of light. This molasses is an unsulphured molasses. That means that no sulfur dioxide was used in the processing of the sugar cane. The best and healthiest molasses to use is blackstrap molasses because of its high mineral content. It contains significant amounts of calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium and selenium. However, I purchased this with someone elses money to make something for an event and I needed to use it up so it didn't go to waste.

I knew the brown sugar would be essential to the molasses cookies of course but it was also going to kill me to use a whole cup of brown sugar. So this was  my second switch. I used 1/2 a cup of brown sugar and half a cup of sucanat. Sucanat is dehydrated, freshly squeezed sugar cane juice. It is still sugar but with less sucrose than table sugar and is less processed and all natural making it a bit healthier. It is actually a perfect switch for these cookies since it contains molasses. I might try using a whole cup of Sucanat next time I make the cookies.

You will want to thoroughly cream 1/2 cup of butter and the sugars together and then add the molasses, eggs, vanilla, and applesauce. Applesauce was my third and final change. The recipe called for two tablespoons of oil. I know that isn't a huge amount, especially when you spread that out over 45 cookies but I didn't substitute the butter so every little bit helps to make a more nutritional cookie with less calories. Add your dry ingredients slowly at this point until mixed in well.

WARNING......YOU MUST REFRIGERATE THE DOUGH FOR A COUPLE HOURS TO ALLOW IT TO FIRM UP AND BE ABLE TO ROLL INTO BALLS.

Just thought I would let you know in case you thought you could make these a couple hours before your New Years party.

Once your dough is firm then take it out and roll into one inch balls. Roll the balls in sugar and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or aluminum foil. Press them down with the bottom of a cup and bake in a 350 degree oven for 9 minutes. DO NOT OVER BAKE! Molasses cookies should be soft and the tops cracking when they come out of the oven. Like this.....

I had actually doubled this recipe because my intentions were to give these cookies away but they began to disappear rather quickly. I think I had close to 100 cookies and there are about 7 left, which ironically is about all I have eaten.

Remember to keep in mind that these cookies are an indulgence because of their sugar content even though they have been slightly cleaned up so don't go crazy eating them. I know it will be hard but try! Also, if you can, please go for the blackstrap molasses because it actually contains heath benefits.

I will next time for sure.

Here is the recipe. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Molasses Cookies

2 cups flour (preferably whole wheat pastry flour)

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

½ tsp. ground cloves

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature (or use butter substitute)

1 cup sucanat or dark brown sugar (or mix ½ of each)

2 tbsp. applesauce (can use oil if you must)

1/3 cup blackstrap molasses (or unsulphured molasses)

1 large egg

½ tsp. pure vanilla extract

White sugar for garnish

Directions:  In a large bowl sift or whisk together all dry ingredients.

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the sucanat and/or dark brown sugar and the butter until light and fluffy (about 2 - 3 minutes). Add the applesauce, molasses, egg, and vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. Beat in the flour mixture slowly. Cover and chill the batter until firm (about 2 hours or overnight).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or foil.

Place some white sugar in a bowl. When the dough has chilled sufficiently, roll into 1 inch balls. Roll the balls of dough into the sugar, coating them thoroughly. Place on the baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart and, with the bottom of a glass, flatten the cookies slightly.  Bake for 9-10  minutes, or until the tops of the cookies have crinkles yet are barely dry. (They will look a little underdone.) Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Yields about 3 dozen cookies.