Roasted Veggie Pizza

I saw a recipe for Grilled Veggie Pizza in Cooking Light and really thought it looked delicious. I decided to roast some veggies and make my own version of the pizza.

I roasted 2 huge half-sheets of veggies w/ olive oil, salt & pepper in the oven for 10-15 minutes @ 425 degrees F- which gave me enough leftover veggies for a quinoa/veggie dish and quesadillas later in the week.
The veggies I roasted were:
1 lb asparagus- cut in 2-inch pieces
1 eggplant-chopped
1 red pepper-chopped
1 green pepper-chopped
2 yellow/summer squash-chopped
2 zucchini-chopped

I used a whole wheat pizza dough from my local grocery store to make the crust.
I used my basic pizza sauce


The original recipe- Veggie Grilled Pizza
*I used fontina cheese and the fresh thyme/mint herb combination, like the recipe suggested but chopped my herbs before sprinkling them on top.

I really liked this healthy version of pizza and roasting that many vegetables at a time was great, because I had enough extra to last for a couple other meals during the week.

What is your favorite way to top your pizza?

Strawberry Mango Oatmeal Almond Muffins

It has been almost 2 months since my family came to visit from Utah, but I still have some of the recipes that I made when they were here to post.

My brother was begging me to make him muffins one morning and kept on coming up with all these crazy ingredient combinations.
I can't remember all of them but he wanted something like this: berry-oat-mango-applesauce-whole wheat-banana-nut muffins.

I remembered that we had leftover mango sauce from his birthday, so I decided to incorporate that into the muffins. Somehow I found a muffin recipe that included strawberries and a few other things and started messing around with it. I added the mango sauce, some whole wheat flour, oats, almonds- you name it and it was probably added to the batter.

The good news is that these muffins turned out tasting great. My brother was very pleased. Healthy tasting, not too sweet, but still with a great flavor and texture.

I wish he was here today so I could bake him more muffins. Nothing beats a teenage boy when you have baked goods to get rid of.

Strawberry Mango Oatmeal Almond Muffins heavily adapted from Cooks.com

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup quick oats

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

1 egg white

2 Tablespoons canola oil

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup chopped fresh strawberries

1 cup mango puree (I used the leftover mango sauce from this recipe)

1 Tbls granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

sliced almonds

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Grease and flour a 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper liners.
2. In bowl, combine flours, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt; make a well in center and set aside.
3. In separate bowl, beat together buttermilk, egg, and egg white. Add canola oil, vanilla, and almond extract and beat well. Stir buttermilk mixture, strawberries and mango puree into well in flour mixture, just until moistened.
4. Fill prepared muffin tin 3/4 full. Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over muffins. Sprinkle sliced almonds over top and lightly press them into the batter.
5. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Buttermilk-Quinoa Cakes with Rhubarb Blackberry Compote

I checked out Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone from the library a week or so ago and was intrigued by a variation of her buttermilk pancakes that called for adding quinoa to the batter.
I had some cooked quinoa in the fridge and decided to try it out.
I also had blackberries and rhubarb, so I decided to make a tart compote to top my pancakes with. I noticed that Maria had done a rhubarb berry compote to top some pancakes recently, so I was inspired to create my own compote creation.
I added some lime juice and zest to my fruit, a little sugar and water and then thickened it at the end with a little cornstarch. It was so tasty. Nice and tart.
The pancakes were really good too. My kids ate them plain that entire day as snacks- they loved them.

I used some of the leftover compote to top my oatmeal the other day and it was delicious. Also good with almond butter on toast. Yum.

Buttermilk Quinoa Cakes adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison 10th Anniversary Edition

1 1/2 cups flour (I used white wheat)
1 1/2 to 3 Tbls sugar
salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsps baking powder
2 egg whites
1 egg
3 Tbls canola oil
1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup cooked quinoa

Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl. Mix the egg whites, egg, oil, buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just to combine.
Gently fold in the cooked quinoa.

For each pancake, drop 1/4 cup batter onto a nonstick griddle or skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, without disturbing until fine bubbles appear on the surface. Flip over and cook until browned on the second side.

Serve immediately or keep warm in a low (200 degree) oven until all are finished.

Rhubarb Blackberry Compote by Mary Ann
2 cups chopped rhubarb
1 1/2 cups blackberries
zest and juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water +2 Tbls cold water
1 Tbls cornstarch

Combine rhubarb, blackberries, lime zest and juice, sugar and 1/4 cup water in a heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Mix 2 Tbls cold water and cornstarch in a small bowl.
Add the fruit mixture and lower heat. Cook for a few minutes more, until thickened.

Egg Vegetable Salad Wrap

This past Easter we hard-boiled a ton of eggs. We wanted to make sure that everyone had enough to dye and I wasn't too worried about using the extra eggs because we were making potato salad right around that time and my kids like to eat them for breakfast or snacks.

My son always requests egg salad sandwiches whenever we have hard-boiled eggs and the reason why is because he wants to turn them into Egg Salad Open Face Sandwiches.
We did that one night for dinner, but still had quite a few eggs, so I figured we would need another recipe to use some of them up.

I found this recipe in a little flyer from Publix and I wanted to try this spin on egg salad. A few more vegetables, dijon mustard and whole wheat tortillas made this a nice twist on egg salad.
My family still prefers the egg salad faces, but I really enjoyed this version.

Egg-Vegetable Salad Wraps adapted from a Publix publication
6 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1/4 cup chopped radishes
1/4 cup fat free mayo
2 Tbls dijon mustard
1/4 tsp crushed dried basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp pepper
6 lettuce leaves
6 6-7 inch whole wheat tortillas
2 plum tomatoes, chopped

In a large bowl combine eggs, cucumber, zucchini, carrot, and radishes.
Add the mayo, dijon mustard, basil, salt, paprika, and pepper.
Mix gently.
For each wrap, place a lettuce leaf on a tortilla. Divide chopped tomatoes evenly on top of the lettuce. Spoon about 1/2 cup of the egg mixture on top of the tomatoes. Roll up tortilla and secure with toothpick, if necessary.
Cut tortilla wraps in half and serve.

Snow Peas with Creamy Ranch Dressing

Here is another recipe from Eating Well magazine. There were just a lot of recipes in this issue I wanted to try!
They had a section about snow peas that had some different ideas about how to serve them.
I love finding new ways to eat vegetables, so I was excited about these recipes. I chose this recipe, which has you slice the snow peas into strips and then serve them with a creamy dressing, kind of like a salad.

I don't really like creamy dressings and typically either go with a homemade vinaigrette or lemon/lime juice to dress my salads. My husband and kids like Ranch dressing, but I really prefer homemade over anything bottled or packaged, so I thought I would try this dressing recipe.
I always have low-fat buttermilk in the fridge and happen to have some fat free mayo, so I had everything on hand for this dressing.
Since the snow peas were raw and the dressing was really easy to mix together, this whole dish was ready in a matter of minutes.
I loved the crunch of the snow peas with the creamy dressing. It was a really good combination.
The only problem was that I had a super spicy red onion! I didn't mind, but it was a little bit too hot for the kids. They still ate it, but had to remove the red onion pieces.

This would make a great side for a picnic or BBQ this summer!

Recipe for Snow Peas with Creamy Ranch Dressing

Sugar Cookie Bars

Once again, I was looking for an easy dessert that would serve lots of people when we made dinner for a local homeless shelter recently.
Bar cookies always seem to be one of the easiest things to make when it comes to crowds and I had a lot of pink frosting leftover in the fridge from a cake that I had made that weekend.

I had seen these sugar cookie bars on multiple blogs and they were the perfect way to 1- feed a crowd and 2- use a ton of pink frosting.
The cookie dough was really easy to mix up. I decided to add a little flavor by mixing in the zest of one lime to the sugar before creaming the sugar and butter together. That really added a nice little zip to these cookie bars.
These turned out to be perfectly chewy and delicious. A big hit with everyone who tried them.
I even snuck a little slice just to make sure they were yummy. They were.
I thought I would share a couple pics of the cake I made for a baby shower(which left me with all that leftover pink frosting). It turned out pretty cute.
I came up with the cupcake design by slicing the end off of jet-puffed marshmallows for the faces to match the cake.
Bad lighting since it was late at night when I took the pictures, but I heard that the cake and cupcakes were quite a hit at the shower.



Recipe for Sugar Cookie Bars
* I added the zest of one lime to the sugar-mixing it together with my fingertips until very aromatic, before creaming the sugar and butter together.
* I used a different frosting than the one the recipe called for

Basic Buttercream Frosting
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 to 4 Tbls milk

With an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract at low speed. Add in milk, bit by bit, until the mixture has reached a spreadable consistency.
Makes about 3 cups.

Vegetarian Taco Salad

The most recent issue of Eating Well had a section of great salads. I wanted to make every single one of them. So far I have made 2. The Spiced Eggplant-Lentil one that I posted a few days ago and this take on taco salad.
I liked the idea of a vegetarian taco salad and knew that if I played around with this recipe a little bit it would be a great dinner for us and no one would even notice that there wasn't any meat.

Usually when I make tacos I use lean ground turkey and reduce the amount by 1/2, adding a can or two of black, kidney or some other kind of bean to fill in for the "missing meat". Not that I miss it at all.
So, I was really happy when I saw this version which had beans, corn, whole grains and other things as the main event.

I had to make a couple of changes since my husband doesn't like tomatoes. I used red peppers instead and didn't combine all the salad ingredients. I just layered them on everyone's plates, since some of my kids don't like salsa, I just added that to my hubby's salad and mine.

I also used quinoa instead of brown rice just because I already had some that was cooked in my fridge.



Recipe for Vegetarian Taco Salad
* I used quinoa instead of brown rice
* I added cumin, subbed red bell pepper for tomatoes and mixed my salad together differently than the recipe advised.

Spiced Eggplant-Lentil Salad with Mango

This salad is perfect.
Spicy & Sweet.
Healthy & Delicious.
Crunchy & Salty.

Plus, it has many of my favorite things. Eggplant. Lentils. Mango. Romaine. Salad. Nuts.
Salsa.

I saw it in a recent copy of Eating Well and knew I had to make it.

A couple of weeks ago my church collected food for a local food bank.
We walked up and down our street and met all of our neighbors, who willing donated cans of food for the food bank.
After the collecting and transporting of the food to the food bank the next day, we had a picnic for all those who had helped.

I brought this salad to share.
I wasn't sure if anyone else would be as excited about it as I was, but it got rave reviews. Lots of people really liked it. I loved it.
I was sad that there weren't any leftovers for me to take home. I guess I will just have to make it again.

This recipe is gluten and dairy free.
Recipe for Spiced Eggplant-Lentil Salad with Mango
* I reduced the amount of oil in the dressing to 1 1/2 Tbls
* I used Herdez salsa- the only jarred salsa I like

TWD- Quick Classic Berry Tart and last week's Burnt Sugar Ice Cream

This week's TWD recipe, Quick Classic Berry Tart, was chosen by Cristine- who blogs over at Cooking with Cristine. You can find the recipe on her blog.
When I saw this pick my first thought was - Easy. Wierd, how Dorie's book has completely transformed me into a baker who thinks making pastry cream and a tart crust is a piece of cake. We have done it so many times with TWD that it is easy.

I took my girls to a local farm to pick strawberries, so I knew that strawberries would make an appearance on our tarts. I also found blackberries & blueberries on sale, so we had all three.
I decided to make mini tarts and give them away. I made 1/3 recipe of the pastry cream, using a combination of skim milk and half&half (I didn't have any whole milk) and the whole tart dough recipe. I made 3 mini tarts- pressed the dough into the pans and then pressed the rest of the dough into a larger tart pan. I put them all in the freezer. The next day, I baked the mini tart shells, filled them with cream and decorated them with berries. I used Simply Fruit (raspberry & blackberry) as the glaze on my tarts. The amount of pastry cream I made filled the 3 mini tarts perfectly.

I took one to my neighbor across the street who gives me fresh eggs from his chickens- since I used his eggs. And the other 2 to my in-laws.

Of course all those who tasted the tarts raved about their deliciousness. Who thought anything else would happen?

Go check out the other beautiful tarts that my fellow TWDer's made this week!
Since I had the eggs out and was making a mess in the kitchen anyway, I decided to mix up the custard for the Burnt Sugar Ice Cream that was chosen by Becky last week. It was the most fun I have ever had making ice cream. Watching the caramel seize into a big blob when you add the cold milk/cream (I used 1 cup of skim milk & 1 cup of half&half instead of 2 cups whole milk) and then having it come together into a smooth mixture was so fun to experience. Everyone raved about it last week and rightfully so- It is one of the best ice creams I have ever tasted. My husband was amazed by the silky texture and delicious taste.
The recipe is HERE. If you need more encouragement to make it, check out the links from all the TWD members who made it.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Ice Cream and my mom's Rhubarb Cake

Okay, I know someone is going to argue with me on this next one, but it is absolutely the truth- I have the best Mom that has ever lived on this planet. Hands down. No competition.
Sorry folks, it is just a fact.

My mom is amazing. She is awesome. She is nice. She is my best friend. Sometimes I wish she could raise my kids because she would probably do a better job of it.
She listens, she cares, she is soft-spoken and she is my hero. I can only hope that I will turn out as great as she is.

I feel lucky that she always made healthy food for us to eat. I remember when she weaned us down to skim milk. We ate lots of fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains, a little meat/poultry and minimal sweets.
I feel so blessed to have grown up eating this way because I really think it has made a difference in my own family's way of eating.
We were lucky to live close to my grandparents who had a huge garden and my dad had one too, so we always had tons of fresh things to eat. We canned them too, so they would last all year.

Rhubarb was one of the items we grew up eating. I remember this cake and when I bought rhubarb and was debating what to make with it, the final thing I thought about was this cake. I was also very curious about the Strawberry-Rhubarb Ice Cream in Cooking Light Magazine, so we made both.
First, the ice cream. It was really, really good. I was surprised because sometimes lower fat ice creams don't taste great, but this one used egg yolks and actually was made with a custard, so I knew it would probably turn out yummy. It did. I used cran-raspberry juice instead of wine to cook down my rhubarb (a suggestion included in the recipe) and my girls helped me make all the different parts.
I made the cake that afternoon and we invited some friends over to play, with this being our little treat. It was enjoyed by everyone. The little bit of ice cream that survived, was devoured by my girls the next morning for breakfast. (Fruit + dairy + eggs =Breakfast. Right?)

The cake originally called for shortening, but I don't use that, so I have adapted it to use butter instead. It is more like a coffee cake or upside down cake than anything else and sometimes the cinnamon-y topping sinks to the bottom. It is so delicious. I think it might be passed down from my grandma, but just call it my mom's cake because she always made it for us. You should give it a try- you won't be sorry. I promise.

Happy Mother's Day!


My mom's Rhubarb Cake
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup +2 Tbls buttermilk
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups chopped rhubarb
Topping:
2 Tbls butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 or 11x7-inch pyrex/glass pan with baking spray (with flour).
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl, until fluffy and well combined. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix well.
Add half of the flour mixture and beat until combined. Add half the buttermilk and beat until combined. Add remaining flour and then remaining buttermilk. Gently fold in the chopped rhubarb.
Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
Combine topping ingredients in a small bowl with your fingers, until mixed. Sprinkle evenly over the batter.
Bake the cake for 40-45 minutes, until the top is golden and the middle is cooked through.
Serve immediately or let cool and serve later.
This cake is good the next day too.


Recipe for Strawberry-Rhubarb Ice Cream from May 2010 Cooking Light
*Note- I did not strain the strawberry-rhubarb puree before I stirred it into the custard
and I used cran-raspberry juice instead of the wine

Couscous with Swiss Chard, Raisins, and Feta

I think swiss chard is my favorite vegetable right now. I love the flavor of the leaves and stems.
The color is so pretty too.
I saw this recipe in Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine and immediately tore it out. I knew it would be delicious just by looking at the combination of ingredients. Dark greens, beans, pasta and a little cheese- great meal right there.

This was the first time that I have ever cooked Israeli couscous, which I found in the bulk section of Earthfare. It is just a little bit larger than normal couscous, but I think I like it better.

I was unsure how my family would react to the golden raisins in this dish, but they really complimented the other flavors and textures, adding just the right amount of sweet.
My husband was really curious as to what they were, but once I told them he just kept on eating.

This is definitely my favorite type of dinner-lots of fabulous ingredients combined in a simple, delicious way.

Recipe for Couscous with Swiss Chard, Raisins, and Feta

Salmon, Asparagus, and Orzo Salad with Lemon-Dill Vinaigrette

This was a dinner that I saw on myrecipes a couple of weeks ago and when I saw the source, Cooking Light- Fresh Food Fast, I realized it was a cookbook that I had on the shelf.
I don't remember this recipe sticking out to me when I was flipping through the book, but that day when I saw the recipe on the computer screen, it looked really good.

My family loves asparagus and salmon and my husband also recently confessed that he really likes orzo, so I knew this was going to be a successful dinner experience for all of us.

Everyone loved it, especially my husband- he asked for seconds and even had the leftovers in his lunch, so it will be put on the "make again" list.

I left out the red onion, since I don't love raw red onion in these types of dishes and added a 6 oz bag of baby spinach that I wilted.

This was exactly what the cookbook claimed- fresh and fast, not to mention very delicious.

Recipe for Salmon, Asparagus, and Orzo Salad with Lemon-Dill Vinaigrette
* I added 6 oz of wilted baby spinach

Recipe for Lemon-Dill Vinaigrette

Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables

I love browsing through cookbooks. A few weeks ago we were at a book store and I was thumbing through one of Giada's cookbooks, I don't remember which one, but I saw this recipe for pasta with roasted veggies.

I love roasted veggies. It is the best way to eat any vegetable, in my opinion.
My parents and brother were still here when I made this pasta dish and it was really good.

I made a couple of changes to the recipe, but they were small ones. I subbed in asparagus for the mushrooms, mostly because asparagus was really cheap and my family loves it and because mushrooms aren't my favorite.
I also used whole wheat pasta because I always do and my family likes it.
I didn't use smoked mozzarella because it was too expensive for me to buy, but I am sure that adds something special to the flavor of this dish. I just used mozzarella.

The leftovers were fabulous. My brother and I were fighting over them to the very last bite.



Recipe for Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables
* I used 1 lb of asparagus instead of the mushrooms
*I used regular mozzarella instead of smoked
*I used whole wheat penne

Fruit Bruschetta

So, are you tired of hearing about the food we enjoyed on my brother's birthday?
I hope not, because this is a really yummy one.

I decided to make my brother a special birthday breakfast and had seen a couple of great ideas that I wanted to try.
My brother loves bread, cereal, muffins, and oats. He could live on those items. He eats a lot of bread. and cereal. and oats. And not just at breakfast time. When we lived in Utah, he would often come home from school and eat a bowl of cereal with a couple pieces of bread.

Anyway, he also loves yogurt.
So, when I saw this idea of fruit bruschetta- a toasted baguette with a little butter and cinnamon sugar, topped with delicious mixed fruit and drizzled with yogurt- I knew this was the breakfast I was going to make him.

I saw a couple of different version's and decided to use the one I saw on Annie's Eats. She used a combination of pineapple, kiwi, strawberries, and bananas. I added some lemon zest to the fruit mixture just to up the flavor a little bit.
I also used a whole wheat baguette. Usually I don't ever put butter on toast, but I figured a little bit for this special breakfast would be okay. I melted the butter before hand and then used a pastry brush to just get a dab on the toasted bread slices.

This was a delicious twist on bruschetta and breakfast. A little time consuming, but completely worth it. It would be great for brunch or Mother's Day or even a mid-day snack. Yummy, yummy, yummy.

The birthday boy was very happy.
I added lemon zest to the fruit
Recipe for Fruit Bruschetta on Annie's Eats

Recipe for Fruit Bruschetta on The Way the Cookie Crumbles

Angel Food Cake with Lime and Fresh Mango Sauce

For my brother's birthday cake, I wanted to make something fresh and light, since it was just the beginning of spring. We also had a busy day planned, so I had to choose a recipe that could be made in a few hours, without lots of different steps or fillings/frostings.

My brother loves mangoes and limes, and I had tons of egg whites in the freezer, so I decided to make an Angel Food Cake. I decided to flavor it with lime zest and then use the fresh mango sauce from Ellie Krieger's new book as the topping. I figured the lime and mango go well with ginger, so the cake and sauce would compliment the ginger ice cream.


Everyone loved the cake and the mango sauce. I thought the mango sauce overpowered the delicate cake a little bit and preferred the flavor of the cake plain, the next day. I doubled the mango sauce because I knew my brother would probably want to eat it plain. I decreased the amount of sugar in the sauce too, because our mangoes were really flavorful and sweet. I used some of the leftover sauce in a really fun muffin, but that will come later.

I don't know if you have ever made an angel food cake from scratch, but they are so delicious. One from a box mix or from the store just can't compare. I am definitely hooked.



Fresh Mango Sauce adapted from So Easy by Ellie Krieger
2 medium ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted and cut into chunks
2 Tbls fresh lime juice
1 Tbls sugar

In a blender or food processor, process half the mangoes with the lime juice and sugar. Dice the rest of the mangoes.
Serve with angel food cake.

Recipe for Classic Angel Food Cake
* I used the orange variation listed down below the recipe but change it to lime by added the zest of 2 limes to the batter

Ginger Ice Cream

When my family was here visiting a couple of weeks ago, my youngest brother turned 18. I was really excited about his big day because that meant I could make cake and ice cream!
I decided to use a couple of my brother's favorite flavors. He loves lots of things and ginger is one of them. My mom used fresh ginger root a lot in dishes growing up, so my whole family is quite familiar with its zing.

I found some crystallized ginger at EarthFare in the bulk section, which was much more affordable than the small bottles of it I have bought at other grocery stores before. Don't you love it when that happens? I know I do.

I had already bookmarked this particular recipe a few months ago, so I was excited to finally have an occasion to make it for.

The ice cream turned out perfectly- smooth and delicious, with that spicy bite that fresh ginger adds. The pieces of crystallized ginger added the perfect little something.
We all really liked this ice cream and later in the week we discovered that it tastes really good sandwiched between graham crackers. (I figured it was ok to buy them if we had company because then I wouldn't eat them all myself.)


Recipe for Ginger Ice Cream
*Note- I use my Microplane Grater/Zester to grate fresh or frozen ginger root. It makes the job much easier

TWD- Chockablock Cookies

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Chockablock Cookies, was chosen by Mary over at Popsicles and Sandy Feet.
You can find the recipe on her blog.

Honestly, I was going to skip this recipe. Cookies aren't my favorite thing to make and there wasn't a picture of these to entice me. They sounded fine enough, with tons of mix-ins, but I just didn't know. Plus, they call for shortening, which is a no-no for me. Meaning, I don't ever have shortening on hand because I don't buy it. I wasn't about to go and buy shortening just for a cookie.

Then I decided- why not? Playgroup was the next day, so I could just take them as a treat for the kids.
I mixed these up and let the dough sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes, while I put my kids to bed.
I made 1/2 of the recipe and got 25 cookies.
I used golden raisins, peanuts, coconut and chocolate chunks as my mix-ins.
I let them cool, plated and wrapped them for the next day and went to bed.

I was curious about the molasses flavor and I tried one out of pure curiousity.
Plus I figured that since my cookies were somewhat small and I had only used 6 Tbls of butter for 1/2 the recipe, that each cookie only had 1/4 Tbls of butter, which makes it sound perfectly okay to consume a cookie. Don't you love how much thought goes into whether or not I can try a cookie? HA!

I thought that the molasses flavor was almost non-existent, except when a bite w/out a chocolate chunk was taken. Then it was faintly in the cookie.

These turned out to be pretty good. Someone at playgroup thought they tasted like trail mix cookies.
Some kids just ate them. Some picked out the raisins. Some picked out the nuts. My picky son ate them with no complaints and no removal of ingredients, which surprised me.
So, overall I thought these were a success. Not something I would have picked to try without the help of other TWD'ers, but something that I will make again.

Go see what everyone else thought about these loaded cookies by checking out the TWD Blogroll!