Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Winter Energy Cookies


I have been making these the last couple of winters since I moved north. I don't know where I got the recipe initially. Below the recipe are some tweaks I have made to it.

I am going to be making these today because in the next day or so with the extra new snow we are getting, I can go out and do some snow shoeing and picture taking.

Yield: About 2 dozen.

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1-1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup molasses
  • 1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1-1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup toasted wheat germ
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 cups uncooked rolled oats
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts or peanuts

Cream the butter, brown sugar, molasses, and peanut butter in a large bowl. Blend in the eggs and vanilla. Mix the flours, wheat germ, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture until evenly blended. Stir in the oats, raisins, chocolate chips, and nuts. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease cookie sheets. Shape dough into balls using 1/4 cup of dough per cookie. Place onto sheets, leaving 3 inches between them. Flatten slightly with a fork. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes. When done, the tops will still be soft to the touch. Cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool.

My tweaks;

I replaced the white flour with spelt flour.

I substituted Splenda sugar for the brown sugar and only used 1 cup. I used 1 cup applesauce and soaked dates for 1/2 of the butter. I lowered the temperature to 325 and baked only 12 minutes. They turned out moist and soft. I might add some coconut next time to jazz it up.


3 comments:

Cartoon Characters said...

pecans instead of walnuts and they won't go rancid...but then, they sound so delish that I doubt they would sit long enough to go rancid! :)

Phiddy said...

I guess it's a personal choice on the nuts. Here is some info on both of them;

Walnuts
Walnuts are highly revered for being a great source of omega-3 essential fatty aids. These fatty acids have been shown to yield numerous health benefits: protecting the heart, improving cognitive function, and reducing inflammatory effects of asthma, eczema, psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Walnuts contain ellagic acid, an antioxidant compound that provides cancer-fighting and immune system boosting properties.

Pecans
Pecans contain an abundance of nutrients (over 19 minerals and vitamins) including folic acid, vitamin A, calcium, magnesium, copper, potassium, phosphorus, manganese, vitamin B and zinc. Like almonds and walnuts, pecans provide heart-healthy properties by reducing total blood cholesterol, reduce LDL cholesterol, and create clearer arterial flow

In other words... use what you want/like/have on hand. Both types of nuts offer tremendous benefits. We like walnuts here but, I will with the next batch use pecans. Who knows we might like them better.

Lynda Halliger Otvos (Lynda M O) said...

nom nom nom nom, munch, munch, mmmmmmm.

Little old me...

My photo
Canada
An american yankee up past the 49th parellel.

Followers

Blog Archive