Carrot Pineapple Breakfast Cookies

So this is another version of an oatmeal breakfast cookie. Gotta get through them shredded carrots! It may seem like I've been baking a lot of "cookies" but that's ok because I froze most of them. Since school is starting soon, the boys need a healthy option for breakfast or snacks. They really liked these because of the bites of pineapple they'd get. They were like little carrot cake bites. :)

Carrot Pineapple Breakfast Cookies

yield: 12 cookies 

Ingredients:

• 2 bananas, mashed
• 2/3 c crushed pineapple
• 1 1/4 c shredded carrots
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbs dark molasses
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 c craisins
• 1/2 c flour
• 1 1/2 c oatmeal

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and prep two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpats.
2. In a large bowl, mash bananas. 
3. Then add pineapple, carrots, molasses, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, and craisins. Mix well.
4. Add flour and oatmeal and mix thoroughly.
5. I used a Pampered Chef Medium Scoop to drop dough onto cookie sheets.
6. Flatten cookies with your palm so they're shaped like cookies.
7. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden.
8. When baked through, remove from oven, cool a few minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
9. When cooked, store in an airtight container.

Source: Adapted from "Watching What I Eat"

Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies

What's awesome about the Banana Oat Breakfast Cookie is that there's no egg, dairy, flour, or added sugar. The only sugar is from the craisins. These are great for breakfast on-the-go!

I'm still going through my four pounds of shredded carrots and have been baking away in the evening when it's a little cooler. The boys asked for something without shredded carrots so I made these Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies. They were hoping for chocolate chip cookies but I wanted to try this recipe so I threw in a few chocolate chips for them. The addition of chocolate made them seem like an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. They really liked them! :) In addition to baking Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies, I also got out the ingredients for Carrot Pineapple Breakfast Cookies, Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Muffins, and Carrot Coconut Bread. I'll post those recipes over the next few days. Since all of the recipes used similar ingredients, I was able to easily bake one batch to the next using the same bowl and mixing spoons without washing in between batches. It made baking so much easier to bake smarter, not harder! :)

So yummy fresh out of the oven...

Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies

yield: 12 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c oatmeal
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 c unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/3 c craisins
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and prep two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat.
2. Mash bananas in large bowl.
3. Add apple sauce, craisins, vanilla, and cinnamon.
4. Stir in oatmeal.
5. I used a Pampered Chef Medium Scoop to drop dough onto cookie sheets.
6. Flatten cookies with your palm so they're shaped like cookies.
7. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden.
8. When baked through, remove from oven, cool a few minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
9. When cooked, store in an airtight container.

Note:
The boys wanted chocolate chip cookies so I made this batch with 1/4 c craisins and a 1/4 c chocolate chips. The boys really liked the bites of chocolate and seemed like more of a "real" cookie. :)
If you don't think you'll eat these right away, you can freeze them. I froze two cookies side-by-side in wax paper, then wrapped in plastic wrap, put them in a ziploc, and then put them in the freezer. Take out the night before you eat them and they'll be ready the next morning. When ready to eat, warm for 20-30 seconds in the microwave. YUM!

Source: Adapted from "Watching What I Eat"

Kiss Cookies

When I made Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies for friends, I made a special batch of cookies for Son #2 because he's allergic to peanuts. I don't like to make foods he can't eat, but if I do, I always make a special allergy-free batch for him. He LOVES when I make special treats for him. :)

These cookies were soft, buttery and melt-in-your-mouth delicious! These cookies were so large we ended up with 8 cookies. I measured out one tablespoon of dough per cookie when I made the Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies and those were the perfect size. I'll do that with this batch next time...

These were tasty but the chocolate to cookie ratio was off.

Note: Use less dough and make bite-sized cookies.

Kiss Cookies

Yield: 8 large cookies, ~3" diameter (I recommend smaller cookies, ~1" diam.)

Ingredients:

• 1/3 c powdered sugar
• 1 stick butter
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 c flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Hershey Kisses, unwrapped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat.
2. In stand mixer bowl, combine powdered sugar and butter until thoroughly combined.
3. Add vanilla and mix well.
4. Gradually add flour and salt and mix until dough forms.
5. I originally used a Pampered Chef medium scoop to measure out the dough which I turned out to be too much dough. I recommend using a tablespoon to measure out cookie dough balls: one leveled tbs per cookie, roll into ball and place on lined baking sheet 1-2 inches apart.
6. Bake 13-15 mins or until lightly browned. Do NOT over-bake!
7. Remove from oven and gently press unwrapped Hershey Kiss in center of each cookie.
8. Return to oven and bake another 2-3 mins or till cookies are golden.
9. Cool 5 mins on baking sheets then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. ENJOY!

Source: Adapted from Food Allergy Mama

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Although Son #2 has peanut allergies, I do have peanut butter in the house. My six year old can tolerate peanut products around him but he definitely cannot eat peanuts or nuts of any kind. Every time I open the peanut butter jar, I'm extremely careful to keep it contained and I wash everything immediately. If peanut products were life-threatening to my son, I most definitely would not have it in my house. 

Our friends were camping at Doheny State Beach so I baked them Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies. I wanted to use up the remaining peanut butter in the large, Costco-sized container and I had the perfect amount for these little cookies.

Stay tuned for an egg-free and peanut-free version of these cookies. That post is next! :)

Peanut Butter + Chocolate = Bliss

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies...

AKA Peanut Butter Blossoms

Yield: ~ 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 c creamy peanut butter
• 4 tbs butter, room temp
• 1/2 c packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 c sugar, for rolling
• 32-34 Hershey Kisses, unwrapped (I used regular and caramel kisses.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat.
2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well and set aside.
3. In low bowl, add 1/4 c sugar for rolling and set aside.
4. In stand mixer bowl, add peanut butter and butter. Use paddle attachment and mix until smooth.
5. Add brown sugar, eggs and vanilla and mix well.
6. Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour mixture. Continue mixing until dough forms.
7. Use a tablespoon to measure out cookie dough balls: one leveled tbs per cookie, roll into ball, roll each ball in sugar and place on lined baking sheet 2 inches apart.
8. Bake 8-9 mins. Cookies are lightly browned and slightly puffed up. Do NOT over-bake!
9. Remove from oven and gently press unwrapped Hershey Kiss in center of each cookie.
10. Return to oven and bake another 2-3 mins or till cookies are golden.
11. Cool 5 mins on baking sheets then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. ENJOY!

Source: Adapted from Hershey's Kitchens

White Chocolate Coconut Cookies

I'm not a white chocolate fan but I had some white chocolate chips that needed to get used up. Key word "needed." Yeah, right. Ha! I asked my boys if they wanted white chocolate cranberry or white chocolate coconut and they requested coconut. Since I'm not into white chocolate, I only ate a couple cookies. I wouldn't have eaten any but I figured I should see how they turned out. My waist-line is definitely thanking me for not eating any more than that. :) I really liked the browner cookies with the toasty coconut crispies and burned marshmallowy-like white chocolate chips. Those were pretty darn good.

This was my first batch of cookies on my brand new Silpat.

That thing is awesome!

See the browned edges? 

Those little toasty coconut crunchies are delicious.

Tower of tasty cookies.

White Chocolate Coconut Cookies

Yield: 18 cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 c white chocolate chips
• 1/2 c milk
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

wet:

• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

dry:

• 1 c flour
• 1 c self-rising flour*
• 1 c sweetened, shredded coconut

Directions:

1. * Self-rising flour: You can make your own self-rising flour: sift together 1 c flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt.
2. Preheat oven to 350F. Prep baking sheets with parchment paper or a handy dandy Silpat.
3. Measure out milk, add vinegar and set aside to let "curdle." If you prefer eggs, skip the milk/vinegar mixture and use 2 eggs instead.
4. Measure out wet ingredients and add to stand mixer bowl. Mix using paddle attachment until thoroughly combined. 
5. Add dry ingredients and mix well till dough forms. Add milk/vinegar mixture and stir well. Add white chocolate chips last and incorporate into dough.
6. Use Pampered Chef medium scoop and place on prepared baking sheet. Flatten to desired cookie thickness and place 1" apart on baking sheet. Bake for 10-14 mins.  Cookies should be browned on bottom.

Source: Adapted from Once Upon a Plate

"Mrs. Field's" Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm sure you've gotten a Mrs. Field's or Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookie recipe forwarded via email at some point. Maybe even multiple times. The email asks you to forward the recipe to everyone you know because someone was charged $250.00 for the recipe and not $2.50. They were upset about the incredulous charge and wanted to share the recipe with everyone they knew...for free.

Since the recipe looked familiar, I compared the ingredients of this so-called Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookie to the Mrs. Field's recipe I received in the late '80s from a family friend. Even then, I was doubtful that they were truly Mrs. Field's recipe but they were delicious nonetheless. These chocolate chip cookies have been my go-to cookie for years. Whether the recipe originated from the kitchen of Mrs. Field's, Neiman Marcus or some other cookie company, this cookie is DELISH! 

By the way, according to snopes, that recipe rumor is false.

Grab a tall glass of cold milk.

Chocolatey goodness.

"Mrs. Field's" Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: 112 cookies (I ended up with 7 dozen 2" cookies)

Ingredients:

• 2 c butter (I used 1 1/2 c)
• 2 c sugar (I used 1 1/2 c)
• 2 c brown sugar (I used 1 1/2 c)
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 4 c flour
• 5 c oatmeal (use food processor and process into powder)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder (2.5 tsp for softer cookies)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 24 oz chocolate chips
• 8 oz Hershey bar, grated (I omitted)
• 3 c chopped nuts (I omitted)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Cream together butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla.
3. Process oatmeal into powder and put in stand mixer bowl. Add flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix thoroughly.
4. Add chocolate chips, grated chocolate and nuts and mix until incorporated.
5. Use Pampered Chef Medium Scoop and drop scoopfuls onto lined baking sheet. Press cookie dough down until desired thickness is reached.
6. Bake 6-8 mins. Do not over-bake. Cool 5 mins on baking sheet before transferring to wire rack to cool completely. ENJOY!

Source: Adapted from family friend, MV.

Chocolatey Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was undecided between chocolate chip cookies and double chocolate chip cookies so I asked Hubby to choose. He looked at me as if I were crazy. He's a chocoholic (takes one to know one) so he was shocked that I even asked because the answer was so obvious. In all honesty, I just needed someone to blame for all the chocolatey goodness that I knew was about to ensue. 

These cookies were awesome and everyone enjoyed them. I heard lots of ooohs and ahhhhs with every bite. Love it! Now I can point a finger and say, "He made me do it!" Yup. It's all Hubby's fault. ;) I'm warning you. These cookies are rich and super chocolatey. I added too many a lot of chocolate chips so I wasn't sure if the cookies would actually hold together but they did. Decadent, delicious and dangerous, for sure! Yuh-uhhh-UMMMM!!!

Mmmmmmm...chocolate.......

Chocolate overdose...the BEST!
(drooooooool)

Chocolatey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: 24 cookies, approx. 2" in diameter

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c milk
• 1/2 tsp vinegar
• 1/3 c butter, softened
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 c flour
• 1/4 c cocoa powder
•  1 tsp baking soda
• 2 c chocolate chips (can reduce to 1 c - 1 1/2 c depending on chocolate preference)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Measure out milk, add vinegar and set aside to let "curdle." If you prefer eggs, skip the milk/vinegar mixture and use 2 eggs instead.
3. In stand mixer bowl, cream together butter, sugar and vanilla till thoroughly incorporated.
4. Measure flour, cocoa powder and baking soda. Mix well.
5. Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Mix well.
6. Add milk/vinegar mixture (or eggs).  Mix thoroughly.
7. Add chocolate chips. Stir well.
8. Use Pampered Chef medium scoop and drop scoopfuls onto lined baking sheets. Press cookie dough down until desired thickness is reached.
9. Bake 8-10 mins for soft, chewy cookie. Cool 5 mins on baking sheet and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I really LOVE facebook! Ahhh, good ol' fb. :) I love that I've re-connected with so many friends. I moved around quite a bit so I've found friends from all over the place. I even found my "little" brother, RY. Technically, he's my half brother but he's my brother nonetheless. It's great to check on him via fb and see that he's doing well. :)

It's fun finding old friends and I absolutely love it when old friends find me. My last friend request was from a good friend from 7th grade. I always wondered what happened to KS and now we have the chance to catch up. It's only been FOREVER! It made me feel really good when she said I was the first person she looked for from jr high school days. Sweet!

It's also a trip to get together with friends that I haven't seen in what seems like a gazillion years. I found my very first best friend, the other "AK." I think we were 3 yrs old when we met, we lost touch by the time we were 5 yrs old and then I hooked up with her for lunch last year. It was a trip to see our old pictures from birthday parties at the park. She cracks me up. What a fun friend!

Last year, a friend from 4th grade and I got together for dinner. We had so much to catch up on that we were the last to leave the restaurant. It was wild reminiscing about our days in elementary school and our time at summer camp. Jeez, the things we remember and the things we block out. Haha! Good times, KFM!

Then several months ago, I reconnected with my high school friends. There were eight girls in our freaky  little group.  At some point, we started talking about a mini reunion. I wasn't sure if we could pull it off as the majority live outside of the So Cal area. Well, we planned it and made it happen. Super cool I tell you! Out of towners from Nor Cal, AZ, WA and VA for our Weirdos Reunion 2010. AWESOME!!!

I have a vegan friend in the group so I put together a vegan spread. I like chocolate chips in my cookies but I left them out so HW could enjoy them. I only had milk chocolate chips, but if I had dark chocolate, they totally would've been in there. :) These cookies were chewy, sweet and satisfying. YUMS!

Tower of tasty treats!

Mmmm....gooood!

Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Yield: approx. 2 dozen 2" cookies

Ingredients:

• 1.5 c brown sugar
• 1 c Nucoa margarine
• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• 3 c oatmeal
• 2 c flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 c raisins (can also add some nuts and/or chocolate/peanut butter/toffee chips)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Place peeled banana in stand mixer bowl. Mix until mashed well.
3. Add sugar and Nucoa and mix well.
4. Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.
5. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and use Pampered Chef medium scoop to drop spoonfuls onto baking sheet about 1" apart. Flatten the balls of cookie dough to the size/shape of cookie desired.
6. Bake for 10-12 mins depending on thickness of cookies. ENJOY!!!

Source: Adapted from Simple Meals for Busy Families

Double Chocolate Caramel Cookies

I had so much going on this past week. Between the craziness in our school district and the house projects that have been going on, it was a wacky week indeed. It's been stressful to say the least and I needed chocolate. I needed LOTS of chocolate! I needed something sweet and scrumptious to satisfy my sweet tooth and to comfort me during this weird week. These were brownie-like and absolutely DELISH. These double chocolate caramel cookies hit the spot! 

Yums.

A pool of sweet caramel.

Chococaramelicious.

Double Chocolate Caramel Cookies

Yield: 18 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 c flour
• 1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 5 tbs butter, softened
• 2/3 c sugar
• 1/3 c plain yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 c mini chocolate chips
• 1- 5 oz package Milk Duds

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Place parchment paper on baking sheet or use Silpat.
2. In stand mixer bowl, add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and combine well.
3. Add butter, sugar, yogurt and vanilla. Mix on low until thoroughly mixed.
4. Fold in chocolate chips and Milk Duds.
5. Use Pampered Chef medium scoop and drop cookie dough on lined baking sheet about 2" apart.
6. Bake 12-14 mins. Warning: the melted caramel is very hot and sticky. Cool before handling the cookies.

Source: Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, June 2005

Banana Oat Cookies

I wanted a light and healthy dessert to serve at our dinner get-together with friends. I had two very ripe bananas so I opted for banana cookies. I wanted something sweet yet healthy so these were perfect. These definitely tasted "healthy" but the sweetness from the chocolate chips made them seem "desserty." Great stuff in my opinion and guilt-free when eating two or more cookies. :) My boys loved these, and when they kept asking for more, I had no problems letting them eat 'em up. This was very similar to the banana bars I made but I changed the ingredients a little and baked in cookie form. Yums. :)

My Pampered Chef medium scoop was perfect for cookies.

Next time, I'll press them down just a bit to make more of a cookie shape. 

Banana Oat Cookies

Yield: 18 cookies

Ingredients: 

• 2 ripe bananas
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 c quick oats
• 1/3 c shredded and sweetened coconut
• 1/3 c flax seeds
• 1/3 c flour
• 1/2 tbs cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 c chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In large bowl, mix bananas and vanilla.
3. Add oats, coconut, flax seeds, flour, cinnamon, salt and baking powder to same bowl. To avoid making another bowl dirty, I mix the dry ingredients carefully and then mix thoroughly into the banana mixture. All ingredients should be combined well.
4. Gently fold in chocolate chips. 
5. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and drop spoonfuls (use Pampered Chef medium scoop) of dough onto baking sheet about 1" apart.
6. Bake for 13-15 mins. 

Source: Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

Valentine Sugar Cookies

In Dec., I made my very first batch of sugar cookies. I stumbled across Our Best Bites and saw super cute cookies and I just HAD to make them. Between baking cookies for the boys' classmates, friends, family and my Bunco group, I ended up baking about 11 dozen over a period of a couple weekends. Crazy, I know!

I baked cookies for the boys' classmates since they'll miss Valentine's Day festivities at school. We're leaving for Mammoth this afternoon! YAY! I can hardly wait! They're a little sad to miss the V-Day activities but they're definitely looking forward to going snowboarding. Anyways, these cookies taste great and the icing is wonderful, too. Most icings are rock hard and don't have any flavor. These cookies are DELICIOUS! 

Egg-free sugar cookies stacked and set aside. 

I was short a few cookies so I baked a "regular" batch with eggs. I overbaked the first eight but they were crispy and delicious once I scraped some of the burned parts off. :) They tasted like Japanese Hato Sabure cookies. YUM! We're keeping those!

Glacé icing must be totally dry before packaging into clear, cellophane bags.

The cookies have white icing and I swirled hearts in the center.

If I had more time, I would've played around with different designs.

Oh my GOSH! Super CUTE heart-shaped hole punch shape, right?!

Borrowed the puncher from my next-door-neighbor/friend...thanks, J.!

Sugar Cookies

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 c butter (do not use a substitute!)
• 1 c sugar
• 1 egg (I used EnerG Egg Replacer)
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 c flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar for 2-3 mins. until light and fluffy. Add eggs (or egg replacer) and extract. Mix well.
2. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine. Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture. Combine thoroughly.
3. Shape dough into 2 flat disks and wrap in waxed paper. Place in fridge and chill 2 hrs. OR...to save time, immediately roll dough between 2 sheets of wax paper to 1/4" thickness and place on flat surface in fridge. When dough is chilled, it will be ready for immediate "cut-outs." :)
4. If you need to roll out dough, lightly flour work surface. Roll out dough on Roul'Pat and cut out shapes.
5. Bake at 350F for 8-12 mins.. For a soft cookie, bake for 8-9 mins. If frosting and need a firmer cookie, bake for 10 min..
6. Use glacé icing if giving away cookies for a special occasion.

Source: Our Best Bites


Glacé Icing

Ingredients:

• 1 lb powdered sugar (about 3 3/4 c)
• 1/4 c whole milk
• 1/4 c light corn syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. With whisk, mix sugar and milk until smooth. Then stir in corn syrup and extract.
2. If coloring the icing, separate icing into bowls and add gel food coloring.
3. If piping cookies, add icing in separate bowl and add more powdered sugar. If it's too thin, add more sugar; if too thick, add more milk. Step-by-step tutorial on Our Best Bites...check it out!
4. Happy decorating!

Souce: Our Best Bites