Counting down to Disney...and baking like crazy!!! - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Counting down to Disney...and baking like crazy!!!
Hi all!
We're getting ready to head down to Orlando this coming weekend. Yahoo!
Anyway, as with our past 2 trips, I try to pack somewhat nutritious breakfasts that we can eat on-the-go. With 2 little ones, I do all I can to push them along in the mornings when we need to get out the door...and to balance all the rich food we eat on the dining plan!
So, my week's to do list includes baking carrot cake cookies, oatmeal cookies, and pumpkin muffins for the kids; bran muffins for the adults. I just finished the carrot cake cookies and they are yum-o! I just hope DD6 will deign to eat them, as she is our pickiest eater.
The recipe (in case anyone wants it) is based on Carrot Cake Cookies Recipe - Allrecipes.com. I just "health-ified" it to make me feel better. The cookie is a moist cookie, not crunchy. So, it's more like a muffin but less crumbly, which I like because that's less mess in the back of our car!
Bon appetit!
Carol
Carrot Cake Cookies, health-ified
Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tbs. wheat germ
2 Tbs. ground flaxseed
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbl. cinnamon (yes! 2 Tbl, but you can use less if you want)
Mix the above ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup brown sugar (can cut down to 3/4 cup if you want it less sweet)
2 eggs
3/4 cup shredded carrots (about 2 carrots)
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained (or 1-8 oz. can of crushed pineapple)
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Cream the butter, applesauce & brown sugar till it's smooth.
Add the eggs, one at a time.
Mix in the carrots, pineapple & raisins.
Mix in the dry ingredients until just mixed.
Mix in walnuts, if using.
For large cookies (sort of like muffin tops), use a large cookie scoop (3 Tbl.) & bake for 15-18 minutes, until cookies are nicely browned.
For regular cookies, use a small cookie scoop (2 tsp.) & bake for 12-15 minutes.
Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for several minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
Yields about 18 large cookies; 3 1/2 dozen small cookies.
Anyone do Weight Watchers? I do and calculated the large cookies to be about 3 points; the small ones are 1 point each. Yeah!!!
__________________
DS-almost 3 & DD-6 with Meeko & Pocahontas in 2012
DH, "Commando" (Let's get a move on, folks!) ~ Me, "Pokey" (Just a moment...Look at this cool trinket!) ~ DD, born 4/2005, "Ride! Ride! Ride!" (Roller coaster! Cars! Dumbo!) ~ DS, born 3/2009, "Charge!" (I wanna goooooo!)
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Oh wow that sounds so good with the pineapple, except I'm allergic to apple. I wonder what you could use in place of the apple sauce?
You can actually use just about any pureed fruit. I think banana would work nicely here too. In a pinch, I have used jarred baby food banana, applesauce, plums(especially good with chocolate recipes) and peaches. It's easier than pureeing your own for such a small amount :^).
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The applesauce is actually a substitution for butter! The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup butter. I usually cut butter amounts in half and sub in the applesauce. So you can go with all butter! Still yummy...probably moreso!
__________________
DS-almost 3 & DD-6 with Meeko & Pocahontas in 2012
DH, "Commando" (Let's get a move on, folks!) ~ Me, "Pokey" (Just a moment...Look at this cool trinket!) ~ DD, born 4/2005, "Ride! Ride! Ride!" (Roller coaster! Cars! Dumbo!) ~ DS, born 3/2009, "Charge!" (I wanna goooooo!)
The applesauce is actually a substitution for butter! The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup butter. I usually cut butter amounts in half and sub in the applesauce. So you can go with all butter! Still yummy...probably moreso!
Cool - I would never have thought that it was a substitute for that.
OK. Day 2 of my baking extravaganza. My goal is to bake 2 of my breakfast options today --- the oatmeal cookie & the pumpkin muffins. That leaves me 2 days to make the bran muffins and clean the house from top to bottom.
Before I launch into the recipe, I should explain that I try to "health-ify" the recipes by substituting up to 1/2 the flour with a mix of whole wheat flour and flaxseed/wheat germ. I also try to sub up to 1/2 the butter with applesauce. If you don't have these ingredients, feel free to go with all all-purpose flour or all butter. You'll get a tastier cookie/muffin!
So, onto today's cookie....
The oatmeal cookies are my least "health-ified" breakfast options, but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to make (or at least try to make) a portable bowl of oatmeal. By the way, I love peanut butter in my oatmeal! It adds some great protein & staying power to combat the munchies for a few hours. So, I searched high & low for a good oatmeal-peanut-butter cookie and found one, of course, on allrecipes.com.
I couldn't "health-ify" this recipe too much because I think too many substitutions would throw off the wet/dry ingredient balance...leading either to an overly gooey mess or a dry brick. The original recipe is Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe - Allrecipes.com.
I just pulled a batch from the oven & sampled one with DS. He loved it. It was miraculously silent at the table for the 30 seconds it took him to devour his piece. As for me, I think it was too sweet! Next time, I might adjust the sugars down a bit (maybe just 1/3 cup of each type) and instead of all chocolate chips, I'll do 1/2 chocolate chips, 1/2 craisins. (Health-ify!)
Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies, health-ified
Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
Mix the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter
Cream the butter, applesauce, and sugars until smooth. Beat in the egg. Mix in vanilla & peanut butter. Mix in flour till just moistened.
1/2 cup rolled (old-fashioned) oats
1 cup chocolate chips
Mix the oats & chocolate chips into the batter.
For large cookies (like muffin tops), use large cookie scoop (3 Tbl) and bake for 14-18 minutes, until cookies are golden brown on top. Let cool on cooling rack for several minutes before storing. Yields 14 large cookies.
If you want smaller cookies, I'm guessing a small cookie scoop would yield about 3 to 3-1/2 dozen cookies. Reduce cooking time to 10-12 minutes.
Bon appetit!
Carol
__________________
DS-almost 3 & DD-6 with Meeko & Pocahontas in 2012
DH, "Commando" (Let's get a move on, folks!) ~ Me, "Pokey" (Just a moment...Look at this cool trinket!) ~ DD, born 4/2005, "Ride! Ride! Ride!" (Roller coaster! Cars! Dumbo!) ~ DS, born 3/2009, "Charge!" (I wanna goooooo!)
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