Tag: cookies

Plant Protein Powered Breakfast Cookies!

Plant Protein Powered Breakfast Cookies

These cookies make a great breakfast or snack on the go.  Pair a couple of these with some fresh fruit and you have a delicious and nutritious start to the day!  Need a compact quick energy source while out on a hike or bike ride?  These will definitely do the trick.  Chock full of goodies like wheat germ, flax, pumpkin seeds, and hemp seeds, these babies pack a protein punch!  Not to mention the vitamin E, zinc, omega 3’s, and iron they bring to the party too!  You won’t miss the oil, eggs, or dairy here.  If you tend to be pressed for time, double the batch and freeze some of the baked cookies for when you need something quick on the go.

INGREDIENTS:

DRY
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2  cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup sunflower or pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup hemp seeds

5 Medjool (or 10 deglet noor), chopped

1 handful dried cranberries

WET

1 flax egg (1 Tablespoon flaxseed meal mixed with 3 Tablespoons water)

1/2 large ripe banana, mashed

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/3-1/2 cup sucanat (or organic brown sugar)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tablespoons almond milk

DIRECTIONS: 

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl, set aside.  Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl.  Next, add the wet mixture to the dry one in the large bowl.  Mix well with a wooden spoon to combine.
  3. Drop by spoonfuls onto 1 or 2 parchment lined baking sheets.  Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the pans after 10 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.  Once they cool, if you want to put some  in the freezer for future use, now’s the time.  Otherwise, if you leave them out they’ll be all gobbled up before you know it!  Enjoy!!

 

meltrinidadLeave a comment

Oatmeal Pumpkin Cranberry Cookies

This a.m. I was in the mood to bake and had a cup of left over pumpkin puree in the fridge that needed to be used.  My first thought was pumpkin oatmeal cookies, bejeweled with cranberries.  Fortunately I came across this wonderful recipe on the Vegan Yack Attack website.  Click here for the original post and recipe.  These babies are so full of flavor without any oil, eggs, dairy, nuts or refined sugar.  Of course I can’t leave anything alone, so I switched out the whole wheat flour with spelt flour, used date paste (pureed dates and water) as the sweetener, and added an extra pinch of ground clove. Cloves add such a great earthiness and depth.  Enjoy!

meltrinidadLeave a comment

Oatmeal Chocolate Cherry Pecan Cookies

Holy cow are these cookies good!  If you love lots of chocolatey-oaty, sweet and crunchy goodness then this is the cookie for you.  It is also a great back-to-school treat you can share with the kids, without any guilt since the only things these little gems lack are eggs, butter, oil and soy.  To make them wheat-free, try substituting the whole wheat pastry flour with oat or barley flour.  These also freeze very well, so why not make a double batch and freeze some to enjoy later!  

A Helpful Note: The dough is a lot easier to manage if you can let it chill in the fridge for about an hour or so before baking, but this isn’t necessary.  Here I use applesauce and prune puree (baby food prunes).  If you only have one of the two on hand, it’s no problem.  Just as long as you end up with 1 cup of fruit puree, whether in the form of applesauce, prunes or a combo.  Mashed bananas may also work in a pinch, though I haven’t tested that substitution yet.  

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup water 
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce 
  • 1/2 cup prune puree or baby food prunes 
  • 3 Tablespoons ground flaxseed meal
  • 1/2 cup sucanat or light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup evaporated can juice or raw sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/2 cup wheat germ
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  •  2 1/2 -3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 cup dried cherries, chopped
  • 1 cup non-dairy chocolate chips, or roughly chopped vegan dark chocolate
  • 1 cup raw pecans, chopped

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees farenheit.  Place oven racks at 2nd and 5th positions.
  2. Combine water, flaxmeal, applesauce, prune puree and sugars in a large bowl and beat well.  Beat in vanilla.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, wheat germ, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.  Gradually add dry mixture to wet ingredients and stir until well combined.
  4. With a wooden spoon, stir in oats, cherries, chocolate and nuts.
  5. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight, if desired.
  6. Drop by large spoonfuls onto a parchment covered baking sheet.  Press to flatten slightly.
  7. Bake 10-12 minutes.  Rotate baking sheets half way into baking time.  Rotate 180 degrees and switch racks that the baking sheets are on, to insure even baking.
  8. Cool on baking sheet for 5-10 min., then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling…if you can wait that long.  🙂

meltrinidad1 Comment

Teff Flour Peanut Butter Cookies

Teff is one of the smallest grains in the world, and also one of the most nutritious.  It is gluten-free and a good source of fiber, protein, calcium and iron.  In Ethiopia, teff flour is used to make injera bread, which is a staple there.

The fact that teff grains are so small makes it very difficult to mill into teff flour.  You can find it though.  Bob’s Red Mill (www.bobsredmill.com) makes a whole grain teff flour that can be found in health food stores.  Teff flour is also gluten-free and makes a great alternative to regular flour.

I picked some up and decided to give it a try.  Here’s what I came up with.  This recipe is actually adapted from one taken right off the back of the teff flour package.  I eliminated the oil and substituted applesauce.  Mashed ripe banana would probably be a tasty oil substitute here, too.   If peanuts (or nuts in general) are out of the question because of an allergy or sensitivity, try using sunflower seed butter instead.  

Ingredients :

  • 1 1/2 cup whole grain teff flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup applesauce
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup peanut butter (or sunflower seed butter)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt.  Set aside
  3. In a separate bowl, mix the remaining ingredients well. (You can use a hand mixer, food processor or even a blender for this part.)
  4. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir until well combined.
  5. Roll dough into balls the size of a tablespoon and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  6. Slightly flatten with a fork, using the tines to make a criss-cross pattern.
  7. Bake for 13-15 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.

(yields 2 dozen cookies)

meltrinidad2 Comments

Chocolate Banana Macaroons

 

These are so yummy!  As you can tell, my daughter couldn’t resist the temptation when she saw them out, while I took pictures for this post.  They are so easy you can whip up a batch just on whim, if you like. If you celebrate Passover, then you’ll definitely want to save this recipe for next year. Sorry I didn’t get it posted earlier.

I adapted this from a recipe I found online and jotted down. Unfortunately, I didn’t write down the source. If you know who originally posted it, please let me know so that I can give them credit! But this is a great recipe. Banana works so well with the chocolate and coconut. These macaroons are so moist and delicious and full of flavor. The only things they are lacking are sugar, oil, cholesterol, soy and gluten – stuff you won’t miss! The walnuts also add, not only crunch and flavor, but a nice little dose of omega 3s too!

Ingredients:
2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Mash bananas in a large bowl, then add remaining ingredients.

3. Roll into walnut-size balls, or shape into pyramids on a parchment-lined baking sheet (you may need 2)

4. Bake 20 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. If you don’t wait to transfer the macaroons, they will be more likely to stick to the parchment. Enjoy!

meltrinidad8 Comments