Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Healthy (and Delicious!) Cookies

Dear Jess,

Words cannot express how much I long to see you. I feel like we have so much to catch up on and share with each other.

Today has been lovely. It has been a wonderfully sunny and breezy day. I have all my windows wide open and fresh air is seeping into my house. This inspired me to browse my cookbooks, and within one I found an intriguing recipe that I had to make to see if it was any good. The result: success!

I found this one in the Quinoa 365 The Everyday Super Food cookbook that my mom picked up for me from Costco. Well... truth be told... I'm not sure it was for me... but it has ended up in my kitchen... so I'm going with it!

On page 131 you will find a recipe for Healthy Cookies. The only part of this recipe I don't like happens to be the name. They should be called Energy Bites or something a little more attractive. I, however, did not write this book. And thank goodness too, because I never would have been able to think this puppy up! As you already know, Quinoa is full of so many good things (it's a full protein, and a big source of fibre etc etc) that to add even more good things to these cookies is just a bonus! I look forward to sending these in Jason's lunch. They promise to give him lots of energy for his laborious days.



Healthy Cookies
from Quinoa 365, page 131

2/3 cup water
1/3 cup quinoa
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 cup flaked unsweetened coconut
1 1/3 cup sunflower seeds, unsalted
1/3 cup flax (ground or whole seeds)
1/3 cup sesame seeds

Bring the water and quinoa to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off and leave the covered saucepan on the burner for an additional 6 minutes. Remove the lid and fluff with a fork. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a large baking sheet, or line it with parchment.

Cream the butter with the brown sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Add the oats, cooked quinoa, coconut, sunflower seeds, flax and sesame seeds to the flour mixture and stir until well blended. Combine with the butter mixture and stir until well mixed. Roll the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Flatten each cookie slightly with the palm of your hand. Bake on the center oven rack for 8-10 minutes, until the bottoms are light brown. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet. Store the cookies in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.


My house smells so good right now from these little darlings. (That's right... I couldn't wait another moment before sharing it with you... the last tray is still cooling behind me.) So easy. So yummy. Such a good idea.

Love,

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