Gluten, Dairy, and Egg Free (Vegan) Cookies!
Okay, that’s a big title. But, to just say these are ‘healthy cookies’ isn’t enough. I was definitely a bit skeptical when I was making these. First, the cookie batter was pretty wet, so I thought they were going to flatten like a pancake! I was a bit worried to use my 2 tablespoon scoop for this reason, but I took a chance. I’m glad I did, because the complete opposite happened! They didn’t flatten AT ALL. At first, I was going to call these a ‘smashed’ cookie, because that’s essentially what I did with the first batch, to help flatten them after they came out of the oven. But, smashing a warm cookie with melty chocolate in it also means that you’re going to smoosh the chocolate everywhere. See? Still tasty, but not so pretty.
The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of EITHER raisins or chocolate chips. I decided to put 1/2 cup of BOTH raisins and chocolate chips. Also, I used my homemade apple sauce in this recipe which has a bit of sugar in it. I didn’t mind. 🙂 But, unsweetened apple sauce would be great, especially since there’s already sweetness from the ripe bananas and raisins….and chocolate chips.
I had 2 of these almost every night after dinner with a tea until they were gone! They really hit the spot. I am loving finding new recipes to use up all of my bananas and this one will be added to my growing rotation!!
Enjoy!
Gluten, Dairy, and Egg Free (Vegan) Cookies!
Ingredients
- 2 mashed ripe bananas
- 1/3 cup apple sauce sweetened or unsweetened will work
- 2 cups quick cooking oats
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips original recipe calls for either 1/2 cup of raisins or chocolate chips - use your own discretion
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Using a 2 tablespoon scoop, place cookies onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 - 20 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool slightly before removing them from the pan.
Blueberry Breakfast Cake with Lemon-Mascarpone Cream
Who wants cake for breakfast?? ME! I confess….I actually made this for dessert the night before. It was tasty, but was meant for breakfast, or actually, brunch, in my opinion. This would be the perfect, beautiful addition to your brunch menu. Imagine how impressed your family and/or guests will be when they see that you baked a cake for brunch! It’s really just one large blueberry muffin. It’s genius, actually.
I’ve made blueberry cakes with frozen blueberries, when the original recipe calls for fresh blueberries, and the cook time increases by over triple the time, in some cases. The moisture from the frozen blueberries throws off the balance of ingredients. Even though this recipe calls for frozen blueberries, it’s really important to allow them to thaw and allow some of the water to escape from the berry itself.
This recipe is unique, in that you don’t ever fold the blueberries into the batter. Pretty smart, actually, because frozen and thawed blueberries become quite mushy and if you did mix them into your batter, it might just turn the cake purple. Which may not be a horrible thing.
Any liquid you see within the blueberries is actually lemon juice. I let these blueberries drain long enough that they didn’t have excess liquid to release. It’s an important step in this recipe to rinse the berries before you let them drain. This will help the thawing process and they won’t all clump together.
The batter for this cake is pretty thick. Once you pour it into your pan, you will need to help smooth it out. It almost has a cookie-like texture to it.
Even though the majority of the blueberries stayed on the top of the cake, enough sunk down to help even things out.
This cake is easy and pairs really well with a nice cup of coffee or tea. I hope that you make this and that you enjoy it as much as we did!
Enjoy!
Blueberry Breakfast Cake with Lemon-Mascarpone Cream
Equipment
- 9 inch Sprinform pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter Salted or unsalted will work,
- 1 cup granulated (white) sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups frozen blueberries, rinsed and drained
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- icing (or powdered) sugar for dusting (optional)
Lemon-Mascarpone Cream
- 1 cup 1 cup mascarpone, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, at room temperature
- 3 teaspoons honey I will add more honey the next time I make this.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla Original recipe calls for 1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise and scraped. Use this if you have any on hand.
- Zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
Blueberry Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter your pan and dust with flour.
- Whisk 1 cup of the flour with the baking powder and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
- Combine the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating until well combined. Beat in the vanilla.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture, beating until smooth.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula.
- In a bowl, combine the berries with the remaining 1 teaspoon flour and the lemon juice, lemon zest and cinnamon; spoon over the batter.
- Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully slide a thin knife around the edges of the cake to release it from the pan.
- Transfer the cake to a platter, berry-side up, and dust lightly with confectioners' sugar.
Lemon-Mascarpone Cream
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the mascarpone and whipping cream until just combined. Fold in the honey, vanilla, and lemon zest.
- To serve, spoon a dollop of the lemon-mascarpone cream on top of a slice of blueberry cake.
Skor and Chocolate Chip Cookies
I made these cookies on a whim for Christmas this year and they were so popular, I made another batch for New Year’s Day! I had picked up skor bits and milk chocolate chips when I was buying ingredients for Christmas cookie baking, but had no real plan for them. Thought I would throw the two ingredients together and make a new cookie! How bad can milk chocolate and skor bits be together, right?
The first time I made these, I thought I should’ve added some pecans to help break up all the sweet that is going on in these cookies. but they were so well received, I decided to leave well enough alone. That and two of my nieces are allergic to pecans. But, I still may add those to half the recipe next time to see how they taste.
Enjoy!
Skor and Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 package milk chocolate chips
- 1 package skor bits
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and add to the butter mixture. Fold in chocolate chips and skor bits.
- With a teaspoon scoop, place cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Cool before removing from cookie sheet.
Notes
Cookie Dough (flourless) Muffin Bites
A friend of mine from Sherry Thacker’s 6 week challenge – actually she was my amazing coach throughout my 6 weeks! – posted this recipe on Facebook and I made it that very same day! The trouble is, I made it all wrong! I like the blogger who posted this recipe. I’ve followed her in the past, but I found her page busy this time and I had trouble following the recipe. So, I messed it up! But, they turned out to still be tasty, in the end. Enough that I made them again (the right way) and have been making them ever since!
You MUST make these and keep them in your freezer! They really do taste like cookie dough, right out of the freezer! They are my little Sunday early morning treat, and I love them.
The original recipe calls for store bought (sugar added) peanut butter. I did use JIF on my first go at this recipe and it was good. The second time I made them I used natural peanut butter, and there was no difference in flavour (or sweetness, which is weird). Don’t waste your calories using the store bought, sugar laden peanut butter. The honey in this recipe does the trick for the sweetness (as does the chocolate chips) and they taste so good! You’ll feel even better knowing you’re using a natural peanut butter!!
I did make a batch of these using almond butter instead of peanut butter. It was interesting how different the consistency and texture was. I didn’t like them as much as the peanut butter variety when at room temp, but I’ve liked them from the freezer much the same.
If you don’t own silicone mini muffin pans, you need to buy them now. 🙂 They work brilliantly for this. I wouldn’t trust getting these little guys out of the metal pans. As you can see, I filled them generously. They don’t puff up too much, so don’t be shy. I added some chocolate chips on top for effect, but you really don’t need to.
Enjoy!
Cookie Dough (Flourless) Muffin Bites
Equipment
- Blender (or food processor
- Non-stick mini muffin pan
Ingredients
- 1 medium ripe banana
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup almond butter Can also sub for natural (no sugar added) peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch of salt to taste
- 1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips Plus more for sprinkling on top, if desired.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray mini muffin pan with nonstick spray.
- Add all ingredients except the chocolate chips to the blender and blend until combined well.
- Remove the mixture into a bowl and stir in the chocolate chips.
- Using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop, drop a mound of batter into each prepared muffin cup.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes or until the tops are set and ‘springy’. Allow muffins to cool slightly in the pan, before removing them.
The BEST Granola!
It’s a SNOW DAY today! Snow days in Toronto NEVER happen! In my 14 years of teaching, this is my first! It’s an exciting day. To celebrate, I made more of this amazing granola!
My husband loves granola, even more than my kids. I’ve always had intentions of making it, so they could have a homemade variety, but I never found one that really motivated me to make it. That was until this recipe showed up in my email.
When I read how simple it was, and how natural the ingredients were, I knew I had to make it! I actually went out during my lunch break to get the ingredients, so that I could make it that very night!
My second batch turned out darker than my first, but that’s okay! Still tastes just as good. And I actually think it’s supposed to be this colour more than my first picture.
This granola is really good with some yogurt and fresh berries. I often eat it plain or with just berries and/or grapes. It’s sooooo good.
The original recipe calls for 1 cup of walnuts and 1 cup of sliced almonds, but I’m not a big fan of walnuts, so I just doubled the amount of almonds. You could do any nut in here. You could also add chia seeds, dried cherries/cranberries or anything you want. I like to keep it simple.
Enjoy!
The BEST Granola!
Ingredients
- 5 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 cup good olive oil
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 cups sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a silpat sheet.
- In a large bowl, combine the oats, syrup, olive oil and salt. Toss well to coat evenly. Spread the mixture on the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through (at the 15 minute mark) to ensure the oats get evenly coated.
- Remove the tray and stir in the almonds.
- Bake for another 30 minutes, stirring halfway through again.
- Cool completely on tray.
- Can be stored in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks (but it won’t last that long! :))
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
As I sit here at 7am on a Saturday morning with a tea in my hand, the fire lit and debating eating an oatmeal raisin cookie that I made last night, I thought it might be a good time to write a post about them! And eat a cookie. It’s basically breakfast ingredients, right??
For Christmas, my husband got me a Le Creuset cookie jar! Cute gift, since cookies are kinda my thing. At least at Christmastime. Little did I know, he had a plan that I should keep this cookie jar full of cookies all the time! Sneaky.
He’s been asking for oatmeal raisin cookies for weeks! I promised him I would make them once the jar was empty of the rice krispy treats I had made previous. Now that report cards are done, the pressure is off, and it’s the start of the weekend, I thought that last night was the perfect night to make them!
I found this recipe over 10 years ago on a bed and breakfast site that I can no longer locate. I have tweaked this recipe quite a bit over the years. At Christmastime, I make these cookies, with cranberries and white chocolate chips. They have been a long time favorite.
The original recipe is made with shortening, which I generally don’t like to bake cookies with. I’ve tried this recipe with both salted and unsalted butter. Either is fine. I, honestly, don’t notice much of a difference. In truth, I think I prefer these cookies made with salted butter. I have also cut back on the sugar in this recipe, as I found 2 cups to be way too much. I opted to add more brown sugar, because I like my cookies chewy. But, if you like a crispier type of cookie, just switch the amounts of white and brown sugar.
Oatmeal Raisin Cokies
Ingredients
- 1 cup or 2 sticks, butter (softened at room temperature)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups quick cook oatmeal
- 2 cups raisins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 Farenheit
- Cream butter and sugars together.
- Add the eggs and vanilla.
- Slowly add flour, baking soda and salt until combined.
- Add oatmeal and raisins until all is combined.
- With your cookie scoop, or spoon, drop cookies onto a parchment or silpat lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes - A medium sized cookie yields 3 dozen.
- Enjoy!
Whipped Shortbread Cookies with Raspberry Jam
I have been making shortbread cookies since I was a kid, helping my mom press out the molds and decorate the cookies. But, I never liked eating them. I’m sure my taste buds have changed since then, but my memory of shortbread cookies is that they taste like flour. Blech!
10 years ago at work, we had a cookie exchange, and my good friend and colleague, Alex, made these whipped shortbread cookies, minus the jam. Since I had my preconceived notions, I didn’t try them at first, but took them home to my mom, who I knew would love them. She liked this recipe enough that I tried one, and I liked them enough to ask my friend for the recipe! I have been making them ever since.
When I was a kid, we always made two kinds of shortbread cookies – ones that the kids could decorate and ones that my mom, especially, liked to eat, with jam. So, ever since I was given this recipe, I have made these shortbread cookies for my mom. And other people too, but my mom is my motivation.
So, let’s get to it!
After forming the cookies into balls, I use the handle of a wooden spoon to help make the centers for the jam. I dip the wooden spoon in icing sugar, so that it doesn’t stick to the cookie dough. BUT, you could easily use your thumb to make the indent.
This is what the cookies look like before they are baked. Be more generous with the amount of jam than you might feel comfortable with. The water in the jam evaporates and the jam spreads out. More is more, in this case.
Baked. Cooled. Yummy!!
Whipped Shortbread Cookies with Strawberry Jam
Ingredients
- 1 pound of salted butter
- 1 cup corn starch
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 cup raspberry jam*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 F.
- In a mixer, cream butter.
- Slowly add all the dry ingredients.
- Blend until combined.
- With a tablespoon scoop, measure each cookie, and roll into a ball.
- Using the end of a wooden spoon, or your thumb, dipped in icing sugar, make an indent for the jam.
- Fill the center of each cookie with about a 1/4 teaspoon worth of jam, depending on size of indent. Don't be afraid to be generous with the jam.
- Bake for 15 minutes. They are fragile, so allow to cool for a couple of minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Merry Mints
I was given little cookie cutters several years ago, that I have never used for cookies. Last year, I had the thought of using them as chocolate molds. I did a little research, because I was worried that, given there was nothing to secure the melted chocolate, it would all seep out from underneath. As long as I hold the cookie cutters in place as I put the first layer of chocolate in, it works!!!
It’s important that you use a good chocolate for this. After all, it is the only ingredient, minus the peppermint. I used Lindt chocolate.
Speaking of peppermint, it is (also) important. You can certainly use peppermint extract, but if you can get to your local cake decorating store, they will carry what you need. Peppermint oil.
You do not need to add much of this stuff to get the right amount of mint in your chocolate. For 4 bars of white chocolate, I used 6 drops. Also, I only added mint to the white chocolate, and left the milk chocolate alone. I add crushed candy cane on top of the chocolate, so between that and the mint in one of the chocolates, it’s enough!
Here’s a breakdown of what I did:
To get started, get your candy canes ready. I wish I had taken an after pic of these suckers. No pun intended! Just bash them babies up small enough that the chunks aren’t too big.
Picture a bottle of melted milk chocolate in a similar bottle. Oops!
FYI….I melted the chocolate, slowly, in the microwave (30 seconds at a time, until melted) and then transferred the chocolate into these bottles. So easy!
I dipped the cookie cutters in oil before I put the chocolate into them, so that they would release more easily once frozen.
After dipping cookie cutters into oil, fill them up halfway with chocolate, and put them into the freezer to set. About 5-10 minutes. You’ll notice the ripples in the chocolate in this picture. You can bang those out if you want to, but its only the first layer, so it’s no big deal.
Second layer! Bang the ripples out now!
Finish second layer with candy cane and put back into freezer to set.
Ta-da! So good! Try them!
(Source: Boss of the Apple Sauce)
Royal Icing
Since I’m on day 18 of the Whole 30 plan and I can’t eat any sugar, I thought it would be a good idea to post a very sugary icing that I can’t currently have! Make sense? Thought so.
Many years ago, my sister, mom and I took a cake decorating course together. My mom and I continued on to take a wedding cake decorating course. I think my sister was in Vancouver when we did this, or she would’ve joined us for the second course. Over the years, we have made a lot of cakes! With that, a lot of icing! Buttercream icing, of course, but we’ve also made royal icing, as it hardens well and works well when making adornments, such as flowers.
Royal icing is also excellent when baking cookies. Which is what I used this recipe of royal icing for. So, let’s get started! Here’s what happened…
To begin, in a separate bowl, sift all of your icing sugar, so that you don’t have any lumps. If you are like me, and you don’t have a sifter, use your whisk to break up some of the lumps. It’s not perfect, but it does the trick!
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the meringue powder and warm water until frothy.
Add your cream of tartar and all of your icing sugar at once to the meringue mixture.
On the lowest setting, using your paddle attachment, mix the ingredients for 10 minutes. My mixer conveniently has a timer and automatically shuts off after 10 minutes.
The consistency should look something like this.
Store, at room temperature, in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
Here’s what you need to do…
Royal Icing
3/4 cup warm water
5 tablespoons meringue powder
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 kg bag of powdered sugar (I measured it out to be about 7.5 cups)
Sift your powdered sugar in a separate bowl and set aside. In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk the meringue powder and water until frothy. Add cream of tartar and powdered sugar all at once. Mix on the lowest setting for 10 minutes. Store in an airtight container, at room temperature.
Enjoy!
(Source: https://www.hanielas.com/2010/04/royal-icing.html#.VUKDXCFViko)
Milk Choco Chunk Cookies
Seemed appropriate that my first post on my blog be cookies, since I bake so many of them! This recipe is your basic cookie dough recipe, and you can substitute any chocolate or add other yummy additions! Unless you’re adding oatmeal, as you would then need to adjust your flour. In this recipe, I used 2 Dairy Milk chocolate bars because that’s what I had at home. I was going to just eat some of the chocolate with my tea, but with a sick 3 year old napping upstairs, I decided to bake her some cookies to wake up to instead. Here is what happened….
Cut up chocolate last to ensure you still have some left by the time you need to add it into the batter! 🙂 Of course, I added this picture first as a reminder to do it last. Make sense? I thought so.
Mmmmmm…that is all.
If you don’t have this tool, get it. It comes in several different sizes. This one here is the 1 1/2 tablespoon size. The best tool I’ve ever had for drop cookies!
See how perfectly uniform each cookie is? Makes me happy. Note to self: Get silpat in prettier colour.
Unless you need to bake up the whole batch, freeze some for later! Place a tray with parchment or waxed paper, scoop as many on the tray as you’d like to freeze. Place in the freezer to firm up, about 20 minutes. Note to self: Rotate camera.
Ta-da! I only made a dozen and froze the rest. There are only 4 left since I made them yesterday. I know my husband has had none, my daughter has had two, that means…. This is why it’s a good idea to freeze some for later!
Once the risk of each cookie touching the other and sticking together and destroying any chance of future cookies has passed (aka they’re frozen enough), place them in a freezer bag and put them in your freezer for the next time you have a cookie craving!
Here’s what you need to do:
Do your ‘mise en place’ and get all of your ingredients ready before you start. You will thank yourself later. Or, thank me now. You’re welcome!
Milk Choco Chunk Cookies
1 cup softened butter*
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs**
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 milk chocolate bars of your choice cut up into chunks (I used Dairy Milk)
Preheat oven to 375 F. Cream your butter and add both sugars until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and beat about one minute. Next, add your salt and baking soda, which you can combine with your flour and add slowly all together. I’ve added the salt and baking soda separately from the flour, as well. Both work. Make sure all dry ingredients have been added and well mixed before you add your chocolate, which is your last ingredient.
Scoop your cookies onto a lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. If making smaller cookies, adjust your time by one or two minutes. Transfer to a wired rack and let cool.
Enjoy!
*I used salted butter in this recipe because that is what I had on hand. This is really a personal preference, in my opinion. If you feel more comfortable using unsalted butter, go for it! I haven’t felt the need to adjust the salt in this recipe.
**Don’t crack your eggs directly into your batter. You don’t want to risk getting egg shell into your batter or possibly a bad egg.
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