Honey-snap cookies

I've been having trouble finding inspiration for stuff to write here lately, so lets just skip right to the cookies. I think I'm going through a "cookie phase" right now, because I just made those chocolate ginger cookies, and now I have a batch of honey-snap cookies in the kitchen. These have toasted millet, which are supposed to be very healthy due to its rather abundant B-vitamin content (look at the WHFoods: Millet page for more info). Here's how they were made...

The Recipe:
Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup minute oats (any rolled oat will probably work as well)
• 1/3 cup wheat bran (can substitute oat bran, small flaked coconut, or psyllium husk if you don't want gluten)
• 2 tbsp toasted millet (toasted in dry pan until they popped)
• 2 tbsp skim milk powder
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• (optional) 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Sift and stir together cornstarch, milk powder, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. In a small pot, heat honey and butter until the butter melts and mixture is runny. Take off heat, and allow to cool slightly. Add sifted mixture, oats, bran, millet, and egg, and stir to get an even mixture. Add cocoa powder if desired. Place spoonfuls of batter on a lined baking sheet, making sure to leave at least a 2 inch (~5 cm) border around each spoonful because cookies will spread while baking. Bake at 350F (or ~175C) for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and cookies will become crispier as they cool. 

Note: Cookies can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature to preserve crispness; they will turn into a moist, cake-y texture if stored in the fridge. 

Millet and oats, with milk powder, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon on top

Spoonfuls of batter before baking (these ones have cocoa powder)

The baked cookies. Again, these have the cocoa powder and appear darker. 

Valentine's Cookie

If there's one food we have a lot of at home right now, it'd be cheap, store-bought biscuits. You know, the kind that's made in some factory, and comes wrapped in plastic with twenty-four other identical ones? Sure you can get four packages for a dollar, but they taste chalky and they have a bunch of ingredients you don't really want to eat in it (care for some trans fat shortening anyone?). So why do we have so many packages at home? My dad likes to be a smart shopper and when he sees a great deal, he just can't miss out on it. Plus, he enjoys his cookies. So my challenge was to make a batch of cookies that would be more flavourful, healthier, and not cost a whole lot more than those store-bought ones. Inspired by the upcoming Valentine's Day, I came up with these heart-healthy cookies.

They've got walnuts and flaxseeds (these are the only fats in the recipe), and oats and psyllium fibre (these are the only 'flours' in the recipe). They're crispy, nutty, and healthy. Here's the recipe...

The Recipe:
Ingredients:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2/3 cup psyllium cereal (I used All-bran Buds)
• 1 cup walnut halves (no shell)
• 1/4 cup flaxseeds
• 1/4 cup skim milk powder
• 3 egg whites
• 1/3 cup golden syrup (can add up to 1/2 cup if you prefer sweeter cookies)
• 2 tbsp skim milk
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• (optional: up to 1 tsp flavourings, eg. vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, coffee, cardamom...)

Toast walnut halves in the oven or a dry skillet. I find heating the oven to 350°F, placing in the tray of walnuts on a cookie sheet, and then shutting the oven door and turning it off works well. 

Pulse oats and cereal in food processor until it becomes the consistency of wholemeal flour. It's alright if small flecks of oats remain. Add salt and baking powder and pulse again to mix evenly. Empty into a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients into the food processor and mix until a smooth paste forms. Simply add the paste to the bowl of pulsed flours and knead until a dough ball forms. Roll out dough into a 1/8 inch thick layer, cut out the shapes you desire, and place on a lined cookie sheet. They don't rise or spread very much so you can place them quite closely. Bake in a 300°F (~150°C) oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until cookies have the slightest colour on the edges. Cool on a rack lined with paper towel. Cookies will crisp up as they cool. 

If you like, try spreading some jam on them and sandwiching two together!

The dough before kneading

Just out of the oven and cooling

Since it's almost Valentine's Day: a sweet treat for a sweet couple

Oatmeal Citron Macaroons

I don't know what to say about these cookies; they speak for themselves. You just have to try one. It's a simple recipe, easy and quick to make, and delicious to eat. They are crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside, thanks to the citron preserve.

The Recipe:
Dry ingredients:

• 1 cup desiccated unsweetened flaked coconut
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 tbsp pea fibre (optional, to increase fibre content)
• 1 tsp five spice powder (you can also use pumpkin pie spice)
• 1/2 tsp salt

Wet ingredients:

• 3 large egg whites
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup citron preserve (you can substitute with any marmalade)

Stir dry ingredients together in one bowl. Beat egg whites and sugar to a stiff peak. Add dry ingredients at once to egg whites and fold until all dry ingredients are completely coated with egg white. Add citron preserve and fold in until thin streaks of preserve remain. 

Scoop spoonfuls (~1tbsp) of cookie batter onto a lined cookie sheet. Press to flatten cookie a little. Bake at 350 °F (~175 °C) for 15 to 20 minutes or until sides are golden brown and crispy. Allow to cool on a rack. Hope you like these as much as I do. 

Dry ingredients without salt and five spice

Just before baking

Just out of oven

They look so beautiful, so I thought I'd put a close-up here too