Low Fat Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Personally, I have been trying to change my eating habits. With the start of a new year, this is important for many of us, I'm sure...

So to help everyone along this journey who is struggling with dessert cravings, I have an excellent option!
I recently made some oatmeal cookies, substituting some unhealthy ingredients for healthier options...

 For example, by using applesauce instead of butter, you are able to save on both calories and fat, but still keep a delicious moistness.
In addition, there's only one egg in the recipe, but the dough still holds well even after baking! 

 To boost the healthiness, you can add more raisins, nuts, or anything else! Yummy options include sliced almonds, flax seeds, craisins (dried crnaberries), or even cheat and use chocolate chips ;)

Go ahead, try this quick and easy recipe! The cookies will store in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks.

Low Fat Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/4 c plain apple sauce
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups quick cooking oats
Optional (1/2 cup of nuts, dried fruit, etc. or a combination)*
*I used 1/4 cup of sliced almonds and 11/4 cup of dried cranberries


Directions

1) Preheat oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or grease with cooking spray).
2) Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon) in a bowl
3) Cream brown and white sugars with the butter. Mix in the egg and extract.
4) Stir in oats and the flour mixture.
5) Add cranberries, nuts, or even chocolate chips!
6) Drop cookie dough in tablespoon sized drops, about half an inch away from each other onto the lined baking sheets.
7) Bake for 9-12 minutes. The cookies will not be perfectly browned because of the lack of butter, but they should be lightly golden brown on the edges and bottom. Wait a few minutes before removing from the sheets.
8) After baking, cool completely and enjoy!

'Till Next Time,

Ruby

Almond Biscotti

It's the beginning of a new year, and I have taken a resolution to continuously posting recipes and ideas for my readers. Today, I am introducing you to a cookie or biscuit like creation called biscotti. 

Biscotti can be flavored in a number of ways, from adding plain vanilla to chopped dried cherries. It pairs very well with a hot drink like coffee or milk tea, because the cookie itself is crunchy in texture. Biscotti is a twice baked cookie, which means that after the dough is baked once, it is taken out of the oven and placed back in to be baked once more.

         

Almond Biscotti

Recipe Adapted from Food.com

Ingredients:

2 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 cup Sugar (white)

1 tsp Baking powder

¼ tsp Salt

3 large Eggs

1 stick Unsalted butter, melted

2 tsp Vanilla

1 cup Whole almonds (toasted and chopped)

Directions:

1)     Preheat oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2)     Combine dry ingredients and set aside.

3)     Whisk eggs and flavorings together. Mix in melted butter and almonds.

4)     Add in dry ingredients and mix everything well. The dough will be very sticky, but don’t worry!

5)     Divide the dough into half, and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

6)     Shape dough into two loaves (10 in long, 5 in wide). Use wet hands so the dough does not stick.

7)     Bake about 45-50 minutes, until loaves and lightly golden.

8)     Remove from oven and cool on racks for 15 minutes.

9)     Use a serrated knife to cut loaves into ½ inch wide wedges.

10)Lay slices down onto the baking trays and baked again for 25-30 minutes, until golden in color.

11)Cool completely before storing. They taste even better a day or two later! Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

A while back, someone requested I make some cupcakes. I wanted them to be special, so I decided to make some cupcakes baked with cookie dough in them. They turned out wonderful, but I learned some lessons.

1) It is best to bake them a little less (maybe 5-6 min) than you would normally for cupcakes, only if you want the "cookie dough" taste to them. If you want the dough in the cupcakes to bake a bit more, leave them in the oven like you would normally.

2) Roll about a teaspoon of cookie dough and drop it in to cupcake liners.

3) You will need to pour less batter because the cookie dough will take up more space.

4) Use any recipe of cookie dough that you love...normally, chocolate chip cookie dough is the best. You can even use premade dough!

5) For the frosting, I used regular buttercream frosting and sprinkled it with chocolate chips. However, you could try some cookie dough frosting.

6) If you are worried about eggs in the recipe for cookie dough, try going to the link above, which also includes an egg-less cookie dough recipe.

7) Enjoy!

Where Have I Been?

It's been such a long time and I've missed posting on this dear blog of mine. It's been busy since I posted last time. There's been a lot of chaos, adventures, and drama. But all is well, and my sister and I are doing good. So let me just update you on what's been going on. Have I stopped making desserts?

Not unless you think cakes and cupcakes aren't desserts...

Like these beautiful floral-themed cupcakes I made for my youngest sister:\

Chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, decorated with buttercream frosting using a star tip.

These sugar cookies were baked and decorated into flower shapes using royal icing:

And finally, a dessert table is not complete without cheesecake:

New York Cheesecake, graham cracker crust, with a bittersweet chcolate topping.

That's all for now..it's good to be back and I hope you enjoyed reading =) 

'Till Next Time,

Ruby (Your Fellow Baker)

SMS (Hosting) Peanut Praline

I was honored to be one of the last host(ess) for the Sweet Melissa Sundays Baking group! It's been a while since I posted, but since summer is rolling around, I plan on putting up a number of new posts!

Today's SMS recipe was peanut praline...I used the penaut brittle recipe in the Sweet Melissa Baking book, and processed them in the food processor to make the praline.

I was glad to have all these ingredients on hand: vanilla, butter, sugar, corn syrup, salt, baking soda, and of course, peanuts!

The first step involved making the sugar/syrup mixture. Once brought to a boil, and cooked up to a certain temperature, the mixture was ready to sit and cool down.

Once set after cooling, I broke the pieces of the brittle.

It would have been easy for me to eat all of this, but if you ever make peanut brittle, be sure to process it in the food processor!

Peanut praline + ice cream = party in my mouth!

*note: please do not plagarize pictures without permission*

Also, check out the other bakers' links here!