The Best Cookies I've Made

My husband LOVES chocolate chip cookies.  They are one of the few cookies we do make.  Once my husband thought I had perfected the traditional chocolate cookie recipe I started experimenting with whole grains.  My skillet cookie recipe is good, but this is even better (for cookies that is).  And my husband would likely agree that these are even better than my non-whole grain version. In fact, he usually prefers frozen dough to baked cookies, but he said the baked version actually rivals the dough - that means they are darn good!  Okay, okay enough about how good they are.  I promised a recipe using coconut oil today and this does.  My plan, however, had been to share my soaked granola recipe, but since this was only the second time I've made it and I did not write down what I did the first time, I still need to tweak it a bit to get the same results as the first batch.

Even though we LOVE these cookies and sweets in general, we try to keep our sweet intake to about once a week.  Unfortunately the month of December often messes with this plan and lingers through January.  At the moment our goal is Sweet Treats only on Sundays, not after every dinner (or meal if the kids had their way).  Once sugar enters our lives it is so hard to get it out again.

This recipe was somewhat of a fluke.  We didn't have any oat flour on hand and I know the key to good chocolate chip cookies is the sweetness of the oat flour.  I did, however, have oats and decided to throw them in my food processor until fine.  The result, a deliciously oaty crisp cookie that was not quite what I expected.  Normally we prefer somewhat chewy, but I was shocked to discover that they were even better the next day than they were hot out of the oven.

Best Whole Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup Rolled Oats, chopped until fine in food processor/blender
• 1 cup Spelt Flour
• 1/4 cup All-purpose Flour (could probably use spelt or other wheat flour)
• 1/2 Rolled Oats not processed
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup Turbinado/Demerra Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Molasses
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup palm shortening
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk (save white for another purpose)
• 1 + teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup chocolate chips (Callebaut are my favorite)
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine dry ingredients in small bowl and set aside.
3. Place Turbinado and Molasses in bowl of standing mixer and mix until fully combined.
4. Add butter, coconut oil and palm shortening, mix until creamed.
5. Add egg, yolk, and vanilla mixing after each addition.
6. Add dry ingredients and mix until fully combined.
7. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using).
8. Line baking sheets with a silpat or parchment paper for easy clean up. Use a cookie scoop or a spoon to place small balls on cookie sheets. Provide space for cookies to spread. Should make about 3 dozen cookies or more, depending on how much of the dough you eat.
9. Bake for 8 minutes, rotating from top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to cooling rack. These cookies actually taste best when fully cooled and allowed to crisp up a bit. Pour a glass of milk and enjoy!

Prep Time: 30 min Cook Time: 30 min Ready in: 1 h

Best Whole Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies courtesy of Jamie Del Balso.

Who Needs a Date?

Okay, I know very, cheesy title, I couldn't help myself.  One day I was searching through some internet recipes and came across someone's Larabar recipe and got the idea to make a version of my own.  I honestly don't remember where I found it and when I did a search for Larabar recipe I found a ton.  We call these "Date Balls" in our house and the kids love them.  My husband was not so keen on them, but that is probably because he doesn't care for dates (the dried fruit that is).

The great thing about these is that they are super easy, super fast, have little to no processed sugar (depending on which ingredient options you choose or have on hand) and I almost always have the ingredients in my kitchen.  Anyway, on to the recipe...

Chocolate Date Balls

Handful of nuts or nut butter (almonds, walnuts, pecans - preferably soaked and dried)
Handful of oats (could be soaked and dried too)
1-2 Tblsp Coconut (chips, oil, or shredded is fine)
1-2 Tblsp Cocoa Powder or 1/2 cup chocolate chips
1-2 Handful of pitted dates (I like to get them whole so that they don't have added sugar)

Throw the nuts and oats in your food processor and mix until there are small pieces or until it turns to a nut butter consistency (depends on your preference).  Add remaining ingredients and process until everything is sticking together and moving around the food processor as one cohesive unit.  You are pretty much done - now comes the fun part, roll your mixture into "Date Balls."  You can eat them right away or put them in the fridge to solidify.  Or you could roll them in chopped nuts or shredded coconut.  Enjoy!

This recipe is part of Real Food Wednesday over at Kelly the Kitchen Kop's site - check it out for more great Real Food Recipes.

Side note:  My son likes to roll them into "snakes or worms," if you or your children decide to do this I don't recommend serving them to others or leaving them lie around the house - they look rather unappetizing this way.

Do-It-Yourself: Granola Bars

One of my favorite blogs is 101Cookbooks, which is where I came across a recipe for Power Bars, but some of the ingredients weren't very interesting to me, so I set it aside for another time.  I finally got around to making them with a couple of substitutions (for the things I didn't like) and they turned out pretty good, but a bit too sweet and fairly gooey.  So, I tried again and again and again.  All of them tasted pretty good, but were sticky or falling apart or something just wasn't quite right.  I gave up for awhile because I was getting sick of granola bars.  Until one day when we were out of honey - I called up the lady I met at a local farm event who lives just a few miles from our house and has this amazing honey with a cinnamon flavor.  Unfortunately she was out of town, but she told me of a few local places that carried her honey - so I stopped in at a coffee shop to pick some up.  Of course I had to get a chai tea latte while I was there, how could I resist.  Anyway, while I was ordering my latte, they had samples of a homemade granola bar that was quite incredible!  It had lots of peanut butter and one of the ingredients listed was maple, so I went home and tried a new version of the "power bars" and came up with my favorite one so far.

Although the one I like has peanut butter in it and quite a bit, you can make it without if you are not a peanut butter fan.  You could also try other nut butters to see if you prefer that taste.  These are quite easy to make and very yummy too.  And, I promise that you will be able to pronounce all of the ingredients - unlike the ingredient list on some store bought granola bars.  And the best thing about it is that you make it what you want.  You add the nuts you like, the dried fruit you like and whatever nut butter or cohesive agent you prefer.

Granola Bars

Ingredients:

Oil sprayer

2 cups chopped nuts/seeds (almonds, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds)

2/3 cup unsweetened coconut chips

1 1/2 cups rolled oats*

1 1/4 cups crispy brown rice cereal* (or something similar to Rice Krispies)

3/4 cup natural (no sugar added) peanut butter*

1/2 cup brown rice syrup*

1/3 cup maple syrup (not maple flavored corn syrup)

1/4 cup sucanat or sugar

1/2 cup dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, cherries, blueberries, etc.)

1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

1/2 cup chocolate chips*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In 9x13 inch baking dish toast nuts and coconut for about 7 minutes, stirring once.  When coconut is starting to brown, they should be thoroughly toasted.  Mix nuts, coconut, oats, cereal and dried fruit in a large bowl, set aside.  Spray pan with oil sprayer and sprinkle chocolate chips over the bottom of the warm and now empty baking dish; set aside.  Combine the peanut butter, rice syrup, maple syrup and sugar in a microwave safe bowl or in a saucepan over medium heat.  Microwave until the mix boils, about a minute.  Stir halfway through, add vanilla and then mix again.  Pour the syrup mixture over the oat/nut mixture until evenly incorporated. Press mixture into pan with chocolate chips using wax paper.  Allow to cool and then cut into whatever size bars you prefer.

*Side notes:  To make these gluten free, use gluten free oats and gluten free brown rice cereal. As mentioned earlier, you can use cashew butter or almond butter or any other nut butter in place of the peanut butter.  I have tried making these granola bars without the brown rice syrup, but honey made it too sweet and too sticky.  I believe the brown rice syrup really helps keep these bars together.  If you live in WI and have a Woodmans in your area - start there first, they should have it in the organic/natural aisle and it is more affordable than the health food stores.  If you are in CO, Vitamin Cottage carries brown rice syrup.  As for the rest of you, try Whole Foods, I believe they have it there or if you have a local co-op store or health food store, they should have it as well.  If you do not like peanut butter or other nut butters in your granola bars, then increase the brown rice syrup to 1 cup and eliminate the nut butter.  And you can decide whether or not you want the maple syrup in the granola bar.  The chocolate chips are optional as well.  They do make a bit of a mess on your hands when you eat them, because unlike M&Ms, chocolate is supposed to melt in your hand.  If you mix the chocolate chips into the other ingredients instead of putting them on the bottom, they may just melt in and go unnoticed.  But these are your bars, so do what you want!

To get a printable version of the recipe without pictures, click on the Recipe Title.  Hope you enjoy making your own granola bars.  Your family and friends will love them too!  

Easter Story Recipes

Last year when the season of Lent arrived we decided we wanted to make some meaningful traditions for our family, just as we have at Christmas time during the season of Advent.  We wanted to be able to teach our kids about the true meaning of these significant holidays in our Christian faith.  Since then we have been collecting family devotionals and other ideas to pass along the reasons for celebrating these very important holidays.  Below are some recipes and ideas for a few activities that can help you teach your children more about the true Easter story.  Some ideas may be better suited for older children that can better understand the details of Christ's death and resurrection.

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of these little gems since I have not made them myself.  But I have two recipes that teach the story of Easter (that is if you tell it along with the recipe).  Since Easter is this coming weekend, I thought I would share them.  They are not necessarily nutritious and I can't speak for whether or not they are delicious since I have not made them yet.  We will be trying the Resurrection Rolls, so hopefully I will be able to add a picture to this post at a later date.  Another baking activity to do during Lent is to make pretzels as they represent prayer and the trinity.  Click here for a link on more information of the history of pretzels and a recipe.  We did this last year (see pic above) for Lent, but I can't find the recipe I used.  MoneySavingMom.com also shared a pretzel recipe recently.  Click on the recipe titles below for a printable version of these recipes without pictures.

Resurrection Rolls

Ingredients:

Crescent rolls

Melted butter

Large Marshmallows

CinnamonSugar

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.

1.  Give each child a triangle of crescent rolls. The crescent roll represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in. Read Matthew 27: 57-61.

2.  Give each child a marshmallow. This represents Jesus.

3.  Have him/her dip the marshmallow in melted butter. This represents the oils of embalming.

4.  Now dip the buttered marshmallow in the cinnamon and sugar which represents the spices used to anoint the body.

5.  Then wrap up the coated marshmallow tightly in the crescent roll (not like a typical crescent roll up. but bring the sides up and seal the marshmallow inside.) This represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death.

6.  Place in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. (The oven represents the tomb---pretend like it was three days!)

7.  Let the rolls cool slightly. The children can open their rolls (cloth) and discover that Jesus is no longer there, HE IS RISEN!!!!


(The marshmallow melts and the crescent roll is puffed up, but empty.)

 

  Now read Matthew 28:5-8 Explain: At the tomb, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary saw an angel, who told them not to be afraid. No one had taken Jesus' body, but He Had risen from the dead!

Easter Story Cookies

You will need:

1 cup whole pecans

1 tsp vinegar

3 egg whites

pinch of salt

1 cup sugar

zipper baggie

wooden spoon

tape

Bible

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  This is important - don't wait until you're half done with the recipe!

1.  Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces.  Explain that after Jesus was arrested, He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.  Read John 19:1-3.

2.  Let each child smell the vinegar.  Put 1 tsp vinegar into mixing bowl.  Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink.  Read John 19:28-30.

3.  Add egg whites to vinegar.  Eggs represent life.  Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life.  Read John 10:10-11.

4.  Sprinkle a little salt into each child’s hand.  Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl.  Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers, and the bitterness of our own sin.  Read Luke 23:27.

5.  So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing.  Add 1 cup of sugar.  Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because he loves us.  He wants us to know and belong to Him.  Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.

6.  Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed.  Explain that the color white represents the purity in God’s eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.  Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

7.  Fold in broken nuts.  Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet.  Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid.  Read Matt. 27:57-60.

8.  Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.  Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door.  Explain that Jesus’ tomb was sealed.  Read Matthew 27:65-66.

9.  GO TO BED!  Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight.  Jesus’ followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.  Read John 16:20 and 22.

10. On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie.  Notice the cracked surface and take a bite.  The cookies are hollow!  On the first Easter, Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.  Read Matthew 28:1-9.

Super Bowl Appetizer

I'm not sure how many of you are interested in watching the Super Bowl from year to year. This particular year my desire is great as "my team" will be playing in it! Woohoo - Go Pack Go! So, now the question - to have a Super Bowl party or not. My football loving husband says no - he wants to focus on the game, not conversation or kiddos running around. But, if you are having or going to a Super Bowl party (or any other event for that matter) then you should really try this appetizer! It is extremely tasty and super easy.

Recently I became interested in "couponing" and saving large amounts of money on my grocery bill. And in printing out a coupon for Athenos I received this wonderful appetizer recipe. One day when Ryan was watching his beloved Packers play I decided to try out this new appetizer recipe as a late afternoon snack. I made a small batch in case no one cared for it, but we all loved it so much that I had to make a second batch. And since I had a ton of hummus in the fridge (from my great coupon deal) I was happy to oblige - and it was a very healthy snack. At a recent family gathering I made this appetizer with Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, sun dried tomatoes and no black olives - it was also delicious! My mother-in-law, who apparently does not care for hummus asked for the recipe. Although I used Athenos hummus for this recipe, I actually prefer Tribe Hummus as it is all natural and doesn't contain any of those icky ingredients. And here is some good news: there is a deal out there right now on Tribe Hummus, click on the link to receive your coupon, this coupon is good until the end of April and you can print as many as you want. I've found Tribe Hummus at Walmart and Woodmans (with coupon the hummus would be less than $1). Roundy's stores (Copps, Pick N' Save, Rainbow Foods) are having a deal on Athenos hummus and feta through Wednesday this week, so you could get both for $1 each, see details on pocketyourdollars.com if you still have your coupon book that you received in the mail.

5-Layer Greek Dip

Ingredients:
1 pkg. Hummus
1 pkg. Traditional Feta Cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped cucumbers
2 Tbsp. sliced kalamata olives
Pita Chips

Instructions:
SPREAD hummus onto bottom of 9-inch pie plate.
COVER with layers of remaining ingredients.
SERVE with chips.

Side notes: The recipe calls for original hummus, but I've tried this with various flavors and enjoyed all the options. Also, as mentioned previously if you don't have fresh tomatoes, try sundried (if you happen to have those on hand or find a really good deal on them). If you don't like olives, don't bother. But if you prefer black olives, try that - that is actually what I used. My aunt recently told me about a new more natural olive out on the market too. Lindsays carries a natural green ripe olive that is preserved with sea salt and water, no other icky preservatives or unknown ingredients! And they taste just like the black ones, not like Spanish olives. Oh and I have not yet measured any of my ingredients when making this, nor have I made a full batch - sometimes I make a small plate as an afternoon snack for the kids and I. Recently I went to a family event through church and a fellow couponer brought this with wheat thins. So, the sky is the limit with this appetizer! Whatever is on sale, or whatever you have in the fridge should work just fine! But as always, I promise it will be both delicious and nutritious! You can of course make your own hummus, but that is a recipe for another day! Next week look forward to my Tofu Fried Rice recipe, seriously something to try - even if you are scared of tofu!

My Love for Everything Pumpkin

Fall is one of my favorite times of year - the weather is wonderful, the scenery is gorgeous and pumpkins arrive! I'm not sure that I have come across a pumpkin recipe that I haven't liked. That said, some are better than others.

I've been trying to cut out white refined sugar from my family's diet for awhile now; other than powdered sugar from the holidays, I finally used up the last of the white sugar in the house at Christmas time with our First Annual Family Christmas Cookie Exchange. I now rely on sucanat (sugar cane natural aka evaporated cane juice), turbinado sugar, "natural" brown sugar, honey and maple syrup. We do have some xylitol in the house which I use on occasion mixed with other sugars and I have tried brown rice syrup as well as palm sugar. So it is always my quest to look for recipes that include whole grains and one of the more natural/less refined sugars. And that is how I found this wonderful Pumpkin Pecan Bread recipe.

You'll see from my pictures that we typically roast and puree our own pumpkins, but this is not necessary - you can use canned pumpkin puree from the grocery store as well. But I wanted to show you that it really isn't that difficult to do, just a little bit of planning. First I preheat the oven to 375 degrees, cut the pumpkin in half, take out the seeds and lay them face down on a cookie sheet. I usually add a bit of water to help in the roasting process. Then roast for about 45 minutes - you will know the pumpkins are done if a knife slides into the pumpkin easily. Remove the pumpkin from the oven and let it cool until you are able to handle it. Scoop out the inside flesh and puree in a food processor. I have found that straining the pumpkin overnight is extremely helpful. To do this I use a fine mesh strainer and put a few coffee filters in for easy clean-up/removal. I place the strainer over a bowl or tupperware container and place the puree in the prepared strainer, cover and refrigerate overnight or at least for a few hours to remove excess water. Depending on the type of pumpkin you use, you will have a lot of excess water or just a little.

My favorite pumpkin that I've tried was a sugar pie pumpkin that I picked up at the farmers market this past fall. It was the first batch of pumpkins that I had come across at the farmers market and I was a bit disappointed at how ugly it was. But WOW, it had the best flavor and color of any other that I have tried. A few weeks later I went back to that same vendor because I hadn't seen anything like it at any of the other farmer's markets that I had visited and he said he sold out of those the first week! Well now I know what I am planting someday when we have room to plant pumpkins! Any type of smaller or pie pumpkins tend to work best, but you can use even a regular large pumpkin - it won't have the dark orange color that you think of when you have pumpkin and it will be very watery and not as flavorful. This year I bought a number of pumpkins at farmers markets and received some in our CSA as well, so I have been roasting a couple of pumpkins at a time and freezing the puree. I had planned on canning it, but it looks like the FDA does not recommend canning pureed pumpkin.

Anyway, on to the recipe...this recipe calls for white whole wheat flour and if you have not tried this type of flour yet, I highly recommend buying a bag of it! I had typically bought King Arthur's White Whole Wheat Flour, but wasn't finding it at the stores near my house, so I tried a new brand (Eagle Mills) and it worked great, and was cheaper. Although I did find King Arthur's flour at Woodmans a few weeks later for roughly the same price. This flour is great because it has the benefits of whole wheat flour, but does not have the strong taste or dark color of whole wheat. Most of the time you wouldn't even know that you are eating whole wheat bread! I've even tried it as a thickening agent for sauces and it works well. If you plan to experiment with this type of flour, start by substituting half white whole wheat for all purpose flour in your recipes. Otherwise look for recipes that are intended to use white whole wheat or whole wheat.


Pumpkin Pecan Bread (From Whole Grain Gourmet website)

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup packed natural brown sugar (I used sucanat)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt (I used sea salt)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, preferrably 60% cocoa

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Lighly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan with butter.
Combine flour, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Whisk and set aside.
In another large bowl, combine butter, honey, and sugar and beat for two minutes. Add the eggs and lightly beat until just combined. Mix in pumpkin and vanilla -- do not overmix. Gradually beat in the flour mixture in thirds.
Dilute baking soda in ¼ cup hot (not boiling) water, then beat into batter.
Stir in, by hand, the chocolate chips and chopped nuts.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 325 for approximately 55 to 65 minutes. (test for doneness being careful not to overbake as it may dry out the bread)
Remove from pan and place on a wire rack to cool. If you plan to serve this to guests and want clean slices, then allow it to cool for 30 minutes. Otherwise dig in after 5 minutes.

In my oven it usually takes at least 65 minutes, but I always check at 55 to be sure. I hope you like this bread as much as our family does!

And sorry that this took so long to post again, after the last post I forgot that I would be going out of town for several days. Maybe I'll get another recipe posted this weekend to catch up!