Carrot Cake Cookies!

We're going to visit "the in-laws" (aka my boyfriend's mom and step-dad) this weekend for Easter, and I wanted to bake them something Easter-y, so of course I made carrot cake cookies! :)

I guess carrots and Easter don't technically go together, but it was one of those "honey rhymes with bunny and bunny rhymes with....rabbit?" moments; (The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh).
You get where I'm going with this....I hope.

ANYWAY! I saw this recipe on a blog called Yummy, Healthy, Easy for Carrot Oatmeal Cookies, and tweaked it a little to make own version! I'm sure the original is just as tasty, I just substituted some of the ingredients for what I had available, and switched out half the fat for applesauce to make them a little healthier.

Here is my recipe:

Ingredients: 

2 ½ cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup quick oats (not instant)
¾ cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter (softened)
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups grated organic carrots (4-5 carrots)
¾ cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Use a food processor (or grater) to grate the carrots. (I used a food processor). 
Combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, oats, nutmeg and cinnamon). 
In a separate bowl, beat the sugars and wet ingredients (butter, applesauce, eggs and vanilla).
Mix in the carrots and walnuts. 
Scoop spoonfuls onto a lightly greased pan (I sprayed mine with the Misto). 
Bake for 13-14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack. 
ENJOY!

I LOVED these just the way they were (as did the BF) but my mom and brother said they could use some frosting.......(oy...) so feel free to dip yours in a quick frosting or eat them with ice cream!

Please leave a comment if you try this recipe! They're practically healthy so I think you should! :)

Mmm :)

My (soon to be famous!) Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Today, I successfully convinced my boyfriend that it would be much wiser to allow me to bake him cookies instead of going to the gym together.
Best argument win ever.

Anyway, cookies = blog post! YAY!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

2 eggs 

1 cup+1 TBS. brown sugar

1 TBS. vanilla extract

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

6-12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips (I used ~6 aka half a bag)

1/2 pecan pieces (optional) 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375℉. In a mixing bowl, use a mixer to beat the softened butter and brown sugar. Add in the eggs and beat until fluffy. Add in the vanilla extract. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture a little bit at a time.  Add in the chocolate chips and nuts (we happened to have pecans some so I used them). Drop by small rounded spoons onto sprayed (we use a Misto filled with olive oil) cookie sheets.  Bake for about 9-10 minutes. EAT. 

Chocolate Coconut Crinkle Cookies

Hello again!
I know I said I'd be posting mostly "healthy" recipes and DIY things, but turns out most of my recipes are dessert related...
I like to think these cookies are fairly healthy as far as cookies go, since they are made with coconut oil instead of butter, and cocoa powder which I keep telling myself is in the health-food category. They also happen to be vegan! I didn't intend for them to be, there just happens to be no dairy in them. Don't get me wrong, I like dairy as much as the next 'Merican (most notably cheese), but it really is not good for you, like at all, so it's nice to unintentionally eat vegan once in a while.
So here's the recipe!

Ingredients: 

1 3/4 cups sugar (I used organic)

1 cup cocoa powder

1 cup applesauce

1/2 cup coconut oil (I used organic)

2 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 cup flour (whole wheat or all-purpose)

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

powdered sugar for rolling

Directions:

Mix sugar, cocoa, applesauce, oil and vanilla in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and blend with a hand mixer. Put the mixture in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight. (This allows the coconut oil to harden enough to make dough balls).

Preheat oven to 350℉. Pour powdered sugar in a bowl. Take dough out of fridge. Roll dough into small meatball-sized balls. Roll balls in sugar. Place on cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool on cooling rack. 

On the cookie sheet ready to be put in the oven!

I brought some of these to work around Christmas time and everyone loved them! The coconut flavor is subtle to me, but if you absolutely hate coconut, then use another kind of oil. Also, you probably won't like this blog because I'm kind of obsessed with coconut things. My boyfriend is still undecided about the whole coconuts taking over the grocery story thing, but he really loved these cookies. Like I said, the coconut flavor is subtle. 

I hope you try them! :) 

Fresh out of the oven! They smell amazing!