Note to myself : I should write a blog post today.
With kids at home b'coz of snow day here in north east, I didn't expected myself to write this post. But after a relaxing day of not cooking much & simply watching kids play in the snow, now when kids are tucked into their beds I'm here. First thing first "Happy 2014 to everyone out there".
As a first post of new year I'm gonna share something sweet today. It's not any traditional Indian sweet but I'm talking about cookies. To be exact healthy cookies. YES, they are so healthy that I don't mind calling them Breakfast cookies, you see all that stuff peeking from the cookies that's good for u stuff. They have all the goodness of oats, almonds, flaxseeds, whole wheat and as most of my baking in this blog these are eggless too. Before we move to the recipe, please read the Notes.
Notes :
1) To reduce the quantity of butter I'm using homemade applesauce, one can use equal quantity of mashed banana also or if U like simply use butter only instead of fruit sauce.
2) If you are grinding your own flaxseeds, go slow I prefer pulse mode. Over grinding can get all the oils out from flaxseeds, to avoid that u can also add 1 tsp. of sugar(from the recipe) to the seeds while grinding them.
3) If U decide to use plain white sugar instead of Agave, which is liquid sugar in that case reduce the amount of flour by 1 Tbsp.
4) These are drop cookies but they won't spread like regular oatmeal & choc. chip cookies. So, for that reason after dropping the dough onto the cookie sheet I use my fingers or back of fork to gently press them down a little bit. It'll be sticky but make sure u keep cleaning the back of fork.
5) Following recipe gave me around 30-32 cookies of 2" diameter. Which I think is perfect size when u have my kind of habbit.....to test every single batch/tray coming out of the oven. which means by the time I'm done baking cookies I have already eaten 3-4 cookies not to mention what happen while they are cooling :)
6) This one is more of a tip. You can reuse the parchment sheets.
What I used :
- 1/2 cup Quick cooking Oats
- 1/4 cup White Whole Wheat flour(atta can be used here)
- 1/4 cup Almond meal/powder
- 1/4 cup Flaxmeal/ Powdered flax seeds *(see notes)
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. Unbleached all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. Salt
- 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
- 4 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter
- 2 Tbsp. Unsweetened Apple Sauce (can use butter instead)
- 6 Tbsp. Dark Brown Sugar
- 2 Tbsp. Agave Nectar (can be replaced by regular white sugar u might have to reduce flour by 1Tbsp. in that case)
- 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
- 1 Tbsp. Flax meal + 3 Tbsp. Warm Water mixed together (acts as egg substitute for 1 egg, also called flaxegg).
- 1/2 cup Mini Choco. chips
What I did :
1)Turn the oven to 350 degree. Mix all the dry ingredients from no. 1 to 8. Mix them nicely using a whisk, keep it aside.
2) Beat : Butter + Applesauce + Dark Brown Sugar + Agave Nectar using a handheld or stand mixer for 3-4 minutes on med. speed, till it start looking smooth & fluffy.
3) Add flaxegg (flax meal mixed with water) and vanilla to the butter mix. Mix evenly.
4) Turn the mixer to slow, and slowly add dry mix to the wet mixture till all the flour is mixed evenly. DO NOT OVER MIX.
5) Gently fold the Choc. Chips into the batter. Reserve couple of Tbsp. of Choco. chips if U like to have them on top of your cookies(clearly visible).
6) Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a spoon drop around walnut size dough balls on
to the parchment lined cookies sheet keeping them around 2" apart.
7) Using a fork press these dough balls(*see Notes) to give them little flat look(see the above picture) & top them with 3-4 chocolate chips.
8) Bake them for around 13-15 minutes. I'll suggest checking them at 12 min. and after that keep an eye. Mine took little extra time they were done in 16 minutes.
9) Let them sit on cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes & then transfer to cooling rack.
10) Once completely cool, store them in airtight container.
Now, these are the cookies you don't mind giving to your kids when they ask for more. My Lil'one enjoyed these so much that first day she didn't let anyone else eat these...she kept saying "they are all mine, if anyone eats them they will be finished". These cookies also got approval of one good friend & her family too. She could not believe me when I told her about how less butter I have used.
Now pour yourself some milk & enjoy milk & cookies as morning breakfast or late night snack.
Update on Jan/29/2014 : These cookies can be stored at room temp. in airtight container for upto 3 weeks, though I doubt they'll have any chance of staying that long, given that u know where to reach to grab one. Also, would like to add that these got approval from India also. I send some to my parents & in-laws & they loved it. So, I guess I can add that...these cookies are travel safe too :) .
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