Healthy(ish) cookie recipes?

[morganlefay]

DD is 18 months and at the bottom of the weight charts. She's generally healthy, but has become a VERY picky eater. However, she'll generally eat cookies (I never give her packaged cookies, just homemade, btw) I'm trying to modify my cookie recipes to make them healthier (decreasing sugar and replacing with honey, adding wheat germ or natural peanut butter). Does anyone have other suggestions?

[maple_mama]

Here's one that we all love:

1/3 cup nut butter (we use sunflower due to allergies, but you can use PB, almond, cashew, whatever you like)
1 T oil
1/3 cup honey (this amount is sweet enough for us; add more if you like)
1/3 cup milk
1 t vanilla
1 cup ww flour
1 cup oats
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 cup chocolate chips
opt: 1/2 cup chopped nuts (we don't use due to allergies)
I also usually throw in some flax seeds or wheat germ

Whisk together first 5 ingredients until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Roll into balls and smash on cookie sheet. Bake at 425 for 8 minutes (or until tops begin to crack).

Or, and just a note...if you bake these with sunflower seed butter, they will turn green inside but this doesn't affect them at all.

[chattyprincess]

Here is my current fav, its called a "breakfast cookie" cause they are pretty filling!!!
You can usually replace up to 1/4 cup of flour with wheat germ with no difference. I also usually grind up 1/8 cup of flax and add it in as well as a couple heaping tablespons of unground flax. You can replace half the fat with canned pumpkin or applesauce ( I prefer pumpkin, not alot of the flavor but lots of "orange veggie" vitamins that we don't get alot of in our house!!)
I will go look up my other two oatmeal cookie recipes that involve pb as well...These freeze well in baggies once cooked and cooled and still hold together/taste great!

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 t cinnamon
1 1/4 t ground ginger
1/4 t cloves
1/4 t allspice
1/2 t baking soda
2 eggs
3/4 cup (186 g) packed pumpkin
1 cup light brown sugar (I generally use a bit less than 1/2 cup maple syrup and a bit less than 1/2 cup honey... and then sprinkle some brown sugar on top)
2 t vanilla
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened(I replace this with more pumpkin and some applesauce!)
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup (76 g) wheat germ
approximately 1 cup chopped pecans (98 g)
1 cup cinnamon chips (we always use butterscotch)

Whisk together the first 6 ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar. When it is light and fluffy, add the eggs and vanilla and beat well. Then beat in the pumpkin. Mix in the flour mixture, and then the wheat germ and rolled oats. Fold in the pecans and cinnamon chips.

Place plastic wrap firmly over the cookie dough and chill for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight. 15 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350 F.

Scoop heaping tablespoons of the dough onto cookie sheets, 2 inches apart. Flatten them slightly with the palm of your hand (the dough will be sticky) (the sprinkle with brown sugar). Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the cookies are set and slightly firm. These cookies will stay moist and chewy but truly are best when eaten warm.
http://thespicedlife.blogspot.com/20...breakfast.html

~Kate

[staceychev]

Mmm. Ya'll are making this preggo want to bake!

[lil_earthmomma]

Pumpkin Cookies

These are like cakey muffin top cookies, and don't stay around longer than one evening in my house!

1 1/2 cups ww flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup maple syrup (this was originally 1 1/2 cups of white sugar, so I'm pleased that I was able to reduce it so much!)
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, ginger and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and maple syrup. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; (I use two tbsp, one to scoop and one to scrape, and just plop them onto the cookie sheet!)
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven.

I let these cool completely before storing and store on a paper towel so they don't get soggyish.

Can't wait to get better at cooking with nut flours so I can convert some of my beloved recipes.

[vbactivist]

not cookies, but muffins.

http://shmooedfood.blogspot.com/2007...l-muffins.html

[amcal]

Bean Cookies:
Ingredients
2 cups oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 can or 19 oz navy beans (I've used black beans and added 1T cocoa powder for a chocolate version)
1/4 cup butter, softened (I've used coconut oil and it works fine)
1 cup brown sugar (I use coconut palm sugar with 1 T molasses)
1 tsp orange zest (I've left this out without it making a difference)
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla
Optional ingredients:
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup cranberries, raisins or other dried fruit
1/4 cup pecans
2 tbsp ground flaxseed (I never add the flaxseed)
Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.Place the oats in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it resembles coarse flour. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and process until combined. Transfer to a large bowl.

2. Put the beans into the food processor and pulse until roughly puréed. Add the butter and process until well blended. Add the brown sugar, orange zest, egg and vanilla and pulse until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

3. Pour the bean mixture into the oat mixture and stir by hand until almost combined; add the chocolate chips, cranberries, nuts and flaxseed and stir just until blended. Drop large spoonfuls of dough onto a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick spray, and flatten each one a little with your hand. (I find this works best if I dampen my hands first.) Bake for 14–16 minutes, until pale golden around the edges but still soft in the middle. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Makes 2 dozen cookies

[Drummer's Wife]

The pumpkin cookies sound really good!

I just add ground up flax seed to my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe - it makes me feel better since the rest of the ingredients are not so healthy.

[allnaturalmom]

Originally Posted by maple_mama

Here's one that we all love:

1/3 cup nut butter (we use sunflower due to allergies, but you can use PB, almond, cashew, whatever you like)
1 T oil
1/3 cup honey (this amount is sweet enough for us; add more if you like)
1/3 cup milk
1 t vanilla
1 cup ww flour
1 cup oats
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 cup chocolate chips
opt: 1/2 cup chopped nuts (we don't use due to allergies)
I also usually throw in some flax seeds or wheat germ

Whisk together first 5 ingredients until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Roll into balls and smash on cookie sheet. Bake at 425 for 8 minutes (or until tops begin to crack).

Or, and just a note...if you bake these with sunflower seed butter, they will turn green inside but this doesn't affect them at all.

This recipe looks great! I can't wait to try it. I am just starting to experiment w/baking w/sunflower seed butter and read that when baking to add a teaspoon of lemon juice to prevent baked goods from turning green. I haven't tried it yet, but just wanted to share.

I have a healthy cookie recipe, also, but I must go dig it out... I'll post it later.

hth

[morganlefay]

Thanks for the replies so far! I can't wait to try these recipes!

[nicolelynn]

The peanut butter-teff cookies recipe on the back of Bob's Red Mill teff flour is excellent. It's just teff flour, peanut butter, maple syrup and salt.

Also, nut flour/butter based flourless cookies are a good option: calorically AND nutrient dense. You can find some recipes on www.pecanbread.com.

[vbactivist]

Originally Posted by nicolelynn

The peanut butter-teff cookies recipe on the back of Bob's Red Mill teff flour is excellent. It's just teff flour, peanut butter, maple syrup and salt.

Also, nut flour/butter based flourless cookies are a good option: calorically AND nutrient dense. You can find some recipes on www.pecanbread.com.

Is teff gluten free?

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by vbactivist

Is teff gluten free?

Yes.

We like this recipe...

http://www.elanaspantry.com/dairy-fr...-chip-cookies/

I've tried it with a few changes, I used ground pumpkin seeds (made in coffeebean grinder), coconut oil instead of grapeseed, and I've tried it both with chocolate chips, and a spice cookie version where I used chopped up crystallized ginger and added 1.5 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp ground cloves. Both versions were tasty, and once I added 1 or 2 eggs to make them puff up a bit more. It's flexible and tasty.

[FairyRae]

Check out http://www.elanaspantry.com/tag/cookies-and-bars/. She has some awesome recipes, and I've used many substitutes (her recipes are almond flour based, but we've used a variety of blends of ground pumpkin seed/sunflower seed/flaxseed in place of the almond flour.) I also usually sub coconut oil for the grapeseed oil, and honey for the agave--although I'm thinking to switch to stevia and add some kind of veggie/fruit puree to replace the liquid--might be a helpful way to add nutrients.

We've been talking about pumpkin seed flour in the allergies forum, and coconut flour in the TF forum--I've found that I can usually make some kind of 'cookies' out of muffin or cake recipes by just putting a small dollup of the dough/batter on a cookie sheet--looks like a cookie and tastes yummy--my ds is usually happy about these!

I also love putting finely diced kale in various baked goods--ds doesn't mind it at all, and will help me add it in. You can't taste it either (IMO), so it's just another simple way to add in some greens!

HTH!

[maple_mama]

lil_earthmama~
my kids and I made your pumpkin cookies yesterday and they are awesome! I made them with raisins-yum yum yum! Dh, both kids and I all love them! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!

[treemom2]

When I'm baking cookies I like to use ww flour instead of white, coconut oil for the butter/oil/shortening in the recipe. . .I also like to make oatmeal cookies with flax, nuts, any dried fruits. Replacing peanut butter with almond butter in cookies is yummy too!