"Healthy" cookies....because I care about you

The other day my husband and I were watching Food Network and Alton Brown was talking about Oatmeal, and how good it is for us. Since I care about my husband's health I decided to make him some oatmeal cookies. Since I care my taste buds, I threw a bunch of other yummy stuff in them, for my benefit. Are they still healthy? Suuuuuure! Why not? Are they mega tasty? ABSOLUTELY! Plus, this recipe doesn't make a ton of cookies, so they won't last long, thus you aren't eating cookies for an entire week.

Loaded Oatmeal Cookies
Recipe adapted from Averie Cooks

Ingredients
1 Extra large egg, room temperature
1/2 C Unsalted butter, softened
1/4 C Granulated Sugar
1/2 C Light brown sugar
1 Tbsp Madagascar vanilla extract
1 C Old-fashioned rolled oats
1 C All-purpose flour
1/2 Tsp Baking soda
1/2 Tsp Kosher salt
1/2 C Sweetened Shredded coconut
1 C Dark Chocolate chips

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine oats, flour, soda, salt, and coconut. Set aside.
In the bowl of your mixer, combine egg, butter, sugars, and vanilla. Beat with paddle attachment, at medium speed, for about 2 minutes, or until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the sides of your bowl, then set speed to low and slowly add your bowl of dry ingredients. Mix for about 1 minute, until your no longer see white streaks from your flour. Remove bowl from mixer and add chocolate chips, and stir by hand, with a wooden spoon.



Using a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop, scoop out mounds of cookie dough onto your prepared baking sheet. When you have 12 piles of dough, roll each one into a rough ball, and slightly pat down (Mine looked like hockey pucks!) Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grab another baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. I baked 6 cookies per baking sheet. Bake for about 11 minutes, or until edges are just starting to brown. You don't want to over bake these, or else they will get crispy. These cookies are to die for if they are nice and soft.

Once they come out of the oven, cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way. Store in airtight container to retain softness. Good luck not eating all of them in one day!!

Snickerdoodles

I used to back so much more than I do now. Every once in a while I get hit with the baking bug and I pump out different cupcakes, cookies, and desserts, but it's not as frequently as before. I joked with my husband, and told him that I'd bake him cookies, so a few hours before he came home I had to hurry up and throw something together. Logically I hopped onto Pinterest and sought out an easy recipe. I hadn't made snickerdoodles in a while, and I came across a recipe for "The Best Snickerdoodles" and decided to give it a whirl. The cookies came out soft, just as I had hoped but they didn't taste as sweet as I recall them being. Over all, they were tasty, but I think I'll probably stick to my old recipe (which is in a recipe box....somewhere in my kitchen!)

Snickerdoodles
Inspired by a recipe from Averie Cooks

For Cookies
1/2 C Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1/2 C Granulated Sugar
1/3 C Light Brown Sugar, packed
1 large Egg
1 tsp Madagascar Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 C AP Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Kosher Salt

For Coating
1/3 C Granulated Sugar
2 Tbsp Cinnamon (I used Korintje)

In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. Once combined, add the egg and vanilla. Scrape down your bowl, then slowly begin to add your flour mixture into your wet ingredients, until just combined. Scrape down your bowl, then use a 1" scoop to scoop out dough into balls, and place in an easy to cover dish. Roll them into semi-uniform balls, cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. While your dough chills, prep 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and prep your coating.

For coating just combine your sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl, then set aside.

Once the dough has chilled and you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough balls from dish and roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture until completely coated. Place on cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until edges are set and centers are just set. Do not over bake, or you'll get crunchy doodles, versus soft chewy ones! Once they are out of the oven, let them cool on the cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes, then remove them to a wire rack to finish cooling.