Greek Yogurt Cookies

Greek Yogurt Cookies

This recipe has been sitting in my draft folder way too long.  I made them years ago for a fourth of July party and they disappeared so quickly I never got a great close up, and consequently never got around to sharing the recipe for the last two and a half years.  They are a very simple, moist, cake like cookie that I would compare closely to the Pumpkin Cookie recipe I shared in my very fist blog post. It's actually kind of funny that I also never got a photo of those cookies. It's usually a good thing when my treats disappear before they are documented. And it just means I should probably make them again!  I love the simple flavor that the fresh organic butter and whole wheat flour provide, but these would be fabulous with a little orange or lemon zest mixed in, or almond extract instead of vanilla. I've even added in chocolate chips in a similar cookie recipe using ricotta cheese instead of yogurt that I plan to post later this week. Think of it as a basic cake like sugar cookie recipe that can be adjusted in numerous ways, and decorated for any occasion. And if the three full cups of whole wheat flour is a bit hearty for your taste, you could definitely lighten it up with a little white flour, or even a cup of almond flour as a replacement. Now it's time to get baking!

Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

Now that Spring is officially in the air, I thought I would share my flower shaped cinnamon sugar cookie recipe.  I made these a few months ago, in the middle of winter, on one of the only snow days we had.  The cookie cutters that I found in a small shop in Falmouth, MA made it extra fun, and my daughter enjoyed adding the sprinkles onto the flowers with me.  This is a basic sugar cookie recipe, with the addition of cinnamon, and the replacement of white flour with organic whole wheat, and switching out the eggs for soaked chia seeds.  I love the little chewiness of the chia seeds, but you could definitely just use eggs instead if you prefer. When my kids are helping me and getting their hands into everything, I like knowing there is no raw egg in the dough they are playing with, so the soaked chia seeds are a nice alternative.

Salted Caramel Walnut Butter

Salted Caramel Walnut Butter

Just found this old draft in my folder and thought I would share it, seeing as I have been too busy recently to get a new post up.  Definitely not one of the most healthy things I have created, but way too yummy not to share.  The caramel sauce itself is just a pure indulgence, but the nut butter as a whole is actually a great high protein sandwich or toast spread. Unless you are a total health nut and never let yourself indulge in sweets, ever (which sounds rather unpleasant to me), I am sure you have found yourself topping a bowl of vanilla ice cream with a large melting spoonful of caramel sauce straight from a jar.  Some specialty brands may have simple ingredient lists like this recipe, but most of them are full of corn syrup, artificial flavors and colors.  So at least with this, you know what you are getting and can even use local, organic sources of butter and cream.  I apologize in advance for not having a proper photo of the finished nut butter, and will add one as soon as I make this again, but from what I remember, my family and I ate it up so fast, I actually forgot to get a good photo. Sometimes when something is that tasty it's hard to pause for a picture. And if you want to make the caramel sauce healthier, why not use it as a dip for sliced apples? :)

Raspberry Cream Muffins

Raspberry Cream Muffins

Who doesn't love a red velvet cupcake?  I know my daughter does and always asks for a red velvet muffin at the grocery store.  But I don't let me kids eat food coloring or tons of white flour on a regular basis so I usually have to say no.  I realize that these muffins are not exactly as red, but they are about as close as you can get without adding coloring and they were good enough for my daughter to excitedly eat a couple as soon as they cooled off from the oven.  And they taste better than anything you could buy in a store.  Basically a combination of my recipes for raspberry fudge cookies and triple blueberry muffins, this recipe uses only fruit for sweetness, whole wheat flour and real organic raspberries.  So it's a treat you can feel good about serving to the sweet people in your life.

Breakfast Cookies

Regular Breakfast Cookies

Chocolate Coconut Breakfast Cookies

Nothing is better on a weekend (or snow day) morning than a freshly baked treat hot from the oven.  But sometimes preparing and baking something can take too long and it is closer to lunchtime before my family gets to enjoy whatever it is I am whipping up in my kitchen. So when I saw a recipe a few months back for breakfast cookies that you prep the night before, I was intrigued.  Last weekend I finally got around to trying my own version of this idea and it was really good.  I made the dough the day before, wrapped it up in plastic and put it in the fridge.  So the next morning, with my husband's help, we just sliced up the dough and baked them.

The original cookies were delicious, and if I were to try to describe them, I would say they are a cross between a biscuit and biscotti.  More crispy than flaky, they held their shape well and my kids were able to eat them without it turning into a big crumbly mess. The chocolate version I made this past weekend wasn't such a success.  While absolutely delicious and melt in your mouth decadent, they literally fell apart on contact and we nicknamed them the "exploding chocolate cookies".  I honestly think it might be completely to blame on the fact that I used whole grain spelt flour instead of regular whole wheat.  I had heard that spelt flour was "easier to digest" than wheat and was a perfect substitute and mistakenly thought I could just switch it out.  But I guess you need to adjust other ingredients first and in such a delicate recipe as this, I probably should have just stuck to my usual flour.

I see no reason why the cookies would not have held their shape when I added in the cocoa powder and additional coconut oil, so I am probably going to try this recipe again sometime soon using regular whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour.  I also think adding an egg or two would moisten the cookies and bind them together better, as well as make them more "cookie like", and less like a biscuit. All in all, I would definitely recommend this recipe if, like me, you enjoy fresh baked goods and yet don't want to spend your whole morning in the kitchen.