Happy St. Patty's!

Chocolate Chip Cookies... with Coconut Oil

I was having a conversation recently about cooking/baking. I love the fact that recipes are endless. There is always something that could be made. There are always new ingredients to try. The need for food never goes away. I like to read about the latest "10 Greatest Foods" and the newest "Diets For Success" because, while I'm not a dieter (never have been, never will be), I do find value in learning from bits and pieces here and there as a way to improve upon our nutritional choices. And I'm continually amazed at the people (especially parents) who don't spend time, energy, and resources on becoming well-balanced and healthy. Our girls are eating machines. They love mealtimes and their food preferences are fabulous. I took them to The Merc last weekend to pick up some fun treats for dinner - Daddy was out for drinks and basketball with Uncle Travis, so I thought it would be fun for us girls to "eat out" (yes, getting goodies from The Merc constitutes eating out for us). Abby selected sushi (vegetarian rolls). Elise chose couscous (with roasted zucchini). I love it. 

So, as far as trying new things and testing out pieces of the latest and greatest... coconut oil. I've never used coconut oil but I'm reading about it on the internet, in books, and in magazines. I made cookies this week and substituted half of the butter with coconut oil. The result? Tasty McTasterson! Subtle coconut flavor that may have actually added to the texture and richness of the cookie. I used my favorite recipe that I've shared before but with the addition of coconut. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Coconut Oil

• 1/2 C (one stick) organic unsalted butter
• 1/2 C organic unrefined fresh-pressed virgin coconut oil
• 1 C organic sugar
• 1 C brown sugar
• 2 local eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 C organic white whole wheat flour
• 2 1/2 C organic regular oats (ground up in the blender first)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Dark chocolate chips (approx 3/4 bag)
• Organic cranberries (approx 1 C)
• Combine dry ingredients
• Combine wet ingredients
• Add all together; mix in chocolate chips and cranberries
• Bake at 375° for 8-9 minutes (do not overbake; I use a Silpat)
• This full recipe makes 5 dozen cookies, give or take depending on size. It can easily be cut in half, but I like to make the full recipe and freeze half. Remember: roll the cookie dough into balls, freeze on a cookie sheet until hard, and store in a ziploc baggie. Frozen cookie dough balls can be placed straight into the oven - they just might need a few extra minutes of baking time.

Wordless Wednesday: Prairie Park Nature Center (and super fun friends!)

Super Delicious Blueberry Muffins

The quest never ends for tasty baked goods that are better for you than they're not! I love Pinterest. I love how my hairdresser phrased it: "It's as addictive as Facebook, but at least you might come away from it with some degree of productivity." That motto provides me with some sense of comfort during my times of surfing. :) But here's the proof of productivity: I found this recipe for Cinnamon Sugar muffins and decided to modify it a bit for breakfast this morning. The girls and I whipped up a batch of Blueberry Muffins and there are none left. These were great muffins... I'd better go pin them. 

Blueberry Muffins

• 4 T. organic unsalted butter (softened)
• 1/4 C organic sugar
• 1/4 C pure maple syrup
• 1 local, free range egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 C organic applesauce (no sugar added)
• 1 1/2 C unbleached white whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 C organic 2% milk
• 1 C organic frozen blueberries (thawed)
• Cream butter and sugar; stir-in maple syrup, egg, vanilla, applesauce
• Add flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg
• Stir in milk - at this point, my batter was a bit thick so I added a bit more applesauce and milk until it was more of a muffin-consistency
• Gently fold in blueberries
• Bake at 350° (use muffin liners or spray muffin tin) for 18 minutes

Flashback Friday: March 1, 2009