Organic Sugar Cookies

These taste sweet...not healthy :)

Finally! I figured out how to make organic sugar cookies that I can decorate. I did not get a good enough picture of this batch, and I'm sure that some of y'all can do a much better job of the decorating, but you get the idea. ;)

I found this recipe in a cute book that my mom got for me and my daughter. I tweaked the recipe some, but it gave me a good place to start. I had searched quite a bit to try to find a way to make the Christmas cookies with sprinkles that I used to make before my quest for all things organic and non gmo. While, I didn't find healthy sprinkles, I did concoct a frosting that is easy to use and tastes pretty yummy. And you can make lots of different flavors. 

Also, it took me a couple of flops and then I finally found Organic All Purpose Flour. I didn't want to use my usual organic wheat flour because I wanted them to still resemble regular sugar cookies. I even tried coconut flour because I thought that it would be the right color. That is known as the Cookie Debacle of 2013 now. ;)  I forgot that coconut flour does not equate the same as other flours because it is much more dense and absorbs all of the moisture, thus making them like dog biscuits. Live and learn.

Ingredients: 

3/4 Cup Softened Butter (non hormone)

1 Cup Organic Sugar

2 Organic Cage Free Eggs

1 Tsp Organic Vanilla

1 Tsp Baking Powder (Aluminum Free)

1 Tsp Salt

3 Cups Organic All Purpose Flour 

Directions:

1. Beat butter and sugar until well blended
2. Beat in eggs and vanilla
3. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt until combined
4. Form a ball
5. Roll it out on floured wax paper and cut shapes
6. Bake at 350 F for 10 - 14 minutes 

Frosting

For these I used frozen strawberries and organic powdered sugar. I pureed the strawberries in my Ninja food processor (I love that thing!). Then, I added powdered sugar into the Ninja, alternating pureeing and adding, until it had a thick, but spreadable consistency. 

At Christmas, we used fresh mint leaves, organic powdered sugar, and a little bit of almond milk. At my daughter's request, we also made some with cocoa, powdered sugar, and a little almond milk to make chocolate frosting. All of them have turned out pretty yummy so far, and they stay fresh for a few days. I did put the strawberry ones in the fridge after the first day just to make sure, they taste great right out of the fridge. :)

Organic Cranberry Banana Swirl Ice Cream

Yummy!

I got a Ninja Blender and food processor set for an early Christmas present from my sweet husband. It rocks! Of course the first thing that we had to make was "banana swirl" because my daughter had seen them make on Daniel Tiger. Then, naturally, I had to add to it. ;)

Ingredients:

2 Organic Bananas

1/2 Cup Organic Whole Fresh Cranberries

1 Tbsp Vanilla Almond Milk 

Getting Ready:

Unpeel bananas, wrap them together in foil, and freeze overnight. 

Directions:

1. Cut frozen bananas into chunks (about 1 inch) so that they blend easily
2. Blend 
3. Add cranberries and almond milk
4. Blend

The more you blend the creamier it becomes. Depending on the size of your bananas and cranberries, you may need to adjust the amount of all three ingredients. It's easy to fix it to your liking. 

You can freeze the left overs and it will get fairly hard, but it thaws out well and tastes just as good as right after it's made. 

Organic Chocolate Oatmeal No Bake Cookies

So Easy!

I loved when my mom would make these kind of cookies when I was growing up, but somehow I never got the recipe when I started baking on my own and I never made them. Then, when I started this quest to eat healthier and use organic and Non GMO ingredients, I thought that I would have to give up all of my favorite treats. Needless to say, I am so happy to find recipes that I can make that are quite similar to my familiar favorites and still be able to use my newly favored ingredients.

This recipe uses fresh ground peanut butter. I discussed the awesomeness of that in the post for peanut butter cookies.

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Hormone Free Butter (1 stick)
1 Cup Organic Sugar
4 Tbsp Organic Non GMO Cocoa
1/2 Cup Almond Milk
3 Cups Organic Oats (not quick)
1 Cup Fresh Ground Peanut Butter
1 Tsp Organic Vanilla Extract

Getting Ready:

1. Line 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper, or just put out 3 of the papers about the size of cookie sheet onto the counter 
2. Spoon peanut butter into one cup with spatula and set aside
3. Put butter into large pot and cook at medium heat to melt
4. Get out all other ingredients so that you are ready to put them in 

Directions:

1. Add into melted butter, sugar, almond milk, and cocoa
2. Stir constantly until it boils and then boil for about 1 minute
3. Remove pot from heat and mix in 1 cup of oats at a time 
4. Add vanilla and peanut butter and stir until well mixed
5. Drop spoonfuls onto the wax paper
6. Allow to cool for about 30 minutes to harden into cookies

Makes about 38 cookies depending on size

I was so excited, they taste just about like my mom's! (Nothing ever really tastes just like hers unless she is here to make it. I haven't quite figured that out.)

Organic Peanut Butter Cookies

My Favorite Peanut Butter Cookies

These are by far the best peanut butter cookies I have ever had. I was so happy to find this recipe as it introduced me to fresh ground peanut butter (you should be able to find it in your health food stores or even some grocery stores). My brother and I used to get excited about opening the new jar of creamy peanut butter, the smooth, untouched goodness and the awesome aroma. That does not even begin to compare to the absolute perfection of freshly ground peanut butter. It is a sublime ratio of tiny crunchy pieces of peanuts mixed with a thick creamy peanut butter. And that fresh taste in these cookies is splendiferous (ok, I had to break out the thesaurus to describe how wonderful these are!) And they are so fast and easy to make!

As with some other recipes on this blog, you may want to double the recipe as it does not make a whole lot. 

Ingredients:

1 Cup Freshly Ground Peanut Butter
1/2 Cup Organic Sugar
1/4 Tsp Sea Salt
1/4 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Organic Vanilla Extract
1 Organic Cage Free Egg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Beat peanut butter in large bowl (it flies out) with a mixer on high
3. Add sugar, salt, baking soda, vanilla, and beat 30 more seconds
4. Add egg and beat until just mixed
5. Form balls with the dough and place on cookie sheet about 1 inch apart
6. Press a fork into the balls to make a criss-cross 
7. Bake 14 - 16 minutes

Makes 12 - 15 cookies depending on how big you make them

Enjoy!

Organic Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Healthy Holiday Yumminess!

I got this recipe from Natural Grocers and I was so happy to have a healthy alternative to all of the not so healthy holiday pumpkin flavored goodies. I have only made them once and already have some variations that I want to try with them. 

This recipe calls for egg whites, which I haven't done in quite a while and am always slightly hesitant about, but they really weren't hard at all. So, if you're a little uncertain of the egg whites, know that you're not alone. And if you have an egg separator, it's really a breeze. Then, I scrambled the yolks and cooked them for my little girl so they weren't wasted.

                              

Ingredients:

1 3/4 Cups Whole Wheat Organic Pastry Flour
1 Tsp Aluminum Free Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Sea Salt
1 Tsp Organic Ground Cinnamon
3/4 Cup Organic Pumpkin Puree
2/3 Cup Organic Buttermilk
2 Tbsp Organic Coconut Oil Melted
1/2 Cup Honey
2 Egg Whites

Getting Ready

1. Put 2 tablespoons of the coconut oil in a small saucepan and simmer over a low heat. As soon as it is melted, turn off and let sit until you are ready to use. 
2. Preheat oven to 400 F. 
3. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper baking cups (or grease with coconut oil).
4. Separate egg whites and beat lightly.

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
2. In another bowl, stir together the pumpkin, buttermilk, coconut oil, honey, and egg whites. 
3. Combine all together in the large bowl.
4. Divide batter equally among the 12 baking cups. 
5. Bake for 20 minutes.  

Optional Glaze:

1 Cup Organic Powdered Sugar

2 Tbsp Orange Juice

1 Tsp Organic Pumpkin Puree 

1/2 Tsp Organic Cinnamon

Mix glaze ingredients together and smear onto tops of muffins with a spatula. 

Variations: 

I really think they could use 1 full cup of pumpkin and 3/4 cup honey, but I haven't made them like that yet and wanted to post it as is until I try it out. I also want to put in some dried cranberries and/or pecans or walnuts. And I wasn't sure til I made them if they could handle adding shredded zucchini to them, but I think they would be perfect with about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup zucchini. 

Update: I made them with a whole zucchini (about 1 cup), one full cup of pumpkin, and 3/4 cup honey and everyone liked them. I also made the glaze to top them with. It's yummy. It is best to allow the muffins to cool before putting the glaze on them. 

Almond, Coconut, Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Best Cookies Ever!

These are absolutely my favorite cookies. I didn't even know about the existence of Almond Meal until I saw this recipe and now I love it! I found the recipe on Pinterest, although, mine always look different than the pinner's picture, and I had to tweak it a little. 

This recipe is easy, but it only makes about 18 pretty small cookies (perfect for snacking). So, if you need a good amount of them, you'll definitely want to double the recipe, especially if you want to have enough to last a day or two. They tend to disappear quickly. 

Also, for best results, the cookie dough needs to be refrigerated for about 30 minutes (a detail I didn't see until I was already into it the first time and hadn't accounted for). But other than that, these cookies go from in the bowl to yummy in your tummy pretty quickly. 

Ingredients:

½ Cup Sliced Almonds 
1 ¼ Cups Almond Meal
¼  Cups Non GMO Chocolate Chips 
½  Cup Organic Coconut Flakes
½  Teaspoon Non Aluminum Baking Powder
½  Teaspoon Salt
1/3 Cup Organic or Raw Sugar 
1 Organic Cage Free Egg
3 Tablespoons Organic Coconut Oil, Melted
½ Teaspoon Organic Pure Vanilla Extract  

 Getting Ready

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Toast the sliced almonds until fragrant and golden brown, 3-5 minutes. Let cool, and then chop well. (Keep an eye on them, they burn quickly).
2. Put 3 tablespoons of the coconut oil in a small saucepan and simmer over a low heat. As soon as it is melted, turn off and let sit until you are ready to use. 

Directions:

1.  Turn oven up to 375 F. 

2.   In a large mixing bowl, stir together the almond meal, chocolate chips, almonds, coconut, baking powder, salt and sugar.

3.   In another bowl, beat the egg very well with an electric mixer until it’s a uniform color and doubles in volume.

4.   Whisk in the melted coconut oil and vanilla extract.

5.   Combine wet and dry ingredients into one bowl and stir.

6.   Refrigerate covered bowl for at least 30 minutes.

7.   Roll the chilled dough into 1″ balls. Place on baking sheet with 1” space between them.

8.   Bake until edges just begin to brown, about 12-15 minutes.

9.   Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving.

Makes about 18 cookies

Organic Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Healthy cookies my 5 yr. old will eat. :)

This is the first recipe that I concocted somewhat on my own. I say somewhat because I looked at a lot of different recipes and couldn't find exactly what I wanted, so I used bits of different ones and then tweaked it until it resembled the right consistency. The true test was when my daughter tried one of the cookies and actually liked it. 

Ingredients:

2 ½ Cups Organic Rolled Oats

1 ½ Cups Organic Wheat Flour

¼ Tsp. Sea Salt

1 Tsp. Baking Powder

1 Tsp. Organic Cinnamon

1 Cup Non GMO Chocolate Chips

¾ Cup Organic Sugar

½ Cup Organic Honey

1 Tsp. Organic Vanilla Extract

½ Cup (1 Stick) Hormone Free Butter  

½ Cup Organic Coconut Oil (melted)

2 Organic Cage Free Eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.

1. Mix together dry ingredients.
2. In a separate bowl, use a mixer to blend butter, coconut oil, and sugar
3. Add eggs and vanilla until smooth. 
4. Blend in the honey.
5. Stir in dry ingredients. 
6. Drop a spoonful amount onto cookie sheet 
7. Bake for 9-12 minutes. 

Makes about 3 Dozen cookies

Some variations ~

You can substitute ½ Cup Organic Brown Sugar for the Honey. You can also use 2 sticks of butter (rather than one) instead of the Coconut Oil. Both of these substitutions will make for a much thicker consistency and you could probably leave out ½ cup of the Wheat Flour. 

I hope you enjoy them!