In Our Kitchen

Healthier Cookies

You don’t always have to banish (cookies) biscuits from your cupboards if you’re trying to lose weight. Nor do you have to cut them from your children’s lunch box because you are worried they are having too much sugar.

It is possible to enjoy a variety of different healthy homemade (cookies) biscuits, and keep the pounds at bay.

Here are some recipes to get you started:

Chocolate chip cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine

¾ cup of rolled oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

¼ cup of softened butter

¼ cup canola oil

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 cup of chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla extract

drop by teaspoons onto greased (or parchment paper) cookie sheet

Bake for approximately 15 minutes

and you can create 30 cookies worth only 99 calories each.

Ginger crinkle cookies
Preheat oven 350 degrees

Combine

2/3 cup of canola oil

1 ½ cups turbinado (divided)

1 large egg

4 tbsp molasses

2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp salt

drop by teaspoons onto greased (or parchment paper) cookie sheet

Bake for approximately 15 minutes

and in over an hour you’ll have 34 cookies, only 103 calories each.

Blueberry & white chocolate chunk ginger cookies

only 115 calories, these healthy homemade biscuits are relatively easy to make.

Simply blend 1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup wheat germ

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 large egg

¾ cup dark brown sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup oats

2 ounces white chocolate chopped

1/3 cup dried blueberries

¼ cup crystallised ginger

drop by teaspoons onto greased (or parchment paper) cookie sheet

Bake for approximately 15 minutes

Macaroons

just 85 calories, these fruity macaroons contain

1 ¼ ounce non-fat sweetened condensed milk

1tsp almond extract

2 cups sliced almonds

2 cups coconut flakes

½ cup dried cranberries

½ cup chopped shelled pistachios

2 large egg whites

½ tsp salt

Almond and honey butter cookies

these are healthier than they sound at just 94 calories. To make all you’ll need is:

1 cup whole almonds

1 ¼ cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1tsp baking powder

1/2tsp salt

2/3 cup plus

¼ cup honey divided

1/3 cup canola oil

4 tbsp unsalted butter

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

drop by teaspoons onto greased (or parchment paper) cookie sheet

Bake for approximately 15 minutes

And if you don’t fancy making homemade healthy cookies (biscuits) yourself, you can easily look online and find a range of healthy biscuits instead.

Take Bakers Pantry for instance. They have brought together a range of homemade healthy biscuits which are freshly baked in bakeries all over the UK and deliver them straight to your door in a hamper every month.

And we don’t know about you, but given the option to look for healthy biscuits at your supermarket or be sent a hamper after you order online, we’d rather pick the latter.

So if you are looking to improve your biscuit collection why not give the above homemade healthy biscuits a try. Alternatively why not get your biscuits delivered from Bakers Pantry.

Tips for Better Cookies

Have you ever wanted to make the perfect cookies? I know that I am constantly trying to get the best cookies that I can. I am usually not successful, but when I am, I am very glad that I worked so hard to get my perfect cookies. For me, when I get perfect cookies, my friends always want more of my cookies. When I am unsuccessful, no one really wants my cookies. And who could blame them? I have been striving to make a perfect cookie for as long as I can remember, and I think that I have found the secrets to success. Here are 8 rules to help you make the perfect cookie. 

1. Use the right amount of flour
Knowing how much flour is in a recipe is very important to baking cookies. You need to make sure that you use just the right amount. If you use too much, your cookies will be dry and very tough. If you don’t use enough, well, your cookies will be sad little lumps.

2. Cool the dough
I bet you’ve never heard of this little trick. If you chill the dough before you bake it, the dough will be softer and will keep it’s shape. This is perfect if you want to get the best shape for your cookies. You only have to wait for 15 minutes for the dough to be completely cooled. 

3. Use fresh ingredients
Make sure that all the stuff that you use for your cookies hasn’t expired. A lot of people don’t think to check their ingredients, but, it’s a pretty good idea to make sure that your ingredients haven’t expired. It will make your cookies taste a lot better. 

4. Soften butter right
Many people didn’t know that if you heat your butter in the microwave, it’s a good indication that your cookies won’t be too good. It’s better for the cookies (and you) if you soften your cookies by letting butter warm at room temperature. 

5. Under bake the cookies
If you want cookies that are tasty and moist, take your cookies 2-3 minutes before they should be done. Everyone will wonder how your cookies are so soft. You don’t have to tell them the secret though!

6. Extra vanilla
Adding more vanilla will make your cookies even better than you could think! Don’t worry, it won’t take away from the flavor of the cookies, it will just make it even better!

7. Add milk
You wouldn’t expect this, but if you add a tablespoon of milk to your cookie dough, it will make your cookies very soft! People won’t be able to stay away from them!

8. Use the right pan
Make sure to use the right pan to bake your cookies. The right pan will allow your cookies to cook completely and let them stay soft and yummy!

About the Author
Neltje Maynez is a writer for MyCollegesandCareers.com. My Colleges and Careers  is a great site for you if you have decided that you want to enroll in the best online master’s degree programs for you.

I am not a big fan of store bought preboxed cookies. But these Kroger brand cookies were awesome. They texture was crunchy and they had plenty of chocolate chips. The box suggests heating them. I can’t say that I like them any better that way, but they were still great tasting.

I really didn’t expect that these private label cookies would be better than a national brand, but they were without a doubt.

The pacakaging was excellant also. The packaging for these cookies reminds me of “premium” branded cookie products like Kashi cookies – a cardboard box with two plastic containers covered in a foil-like material to preserve freshness – 12 cookies per box which may not sound like many but it’s probably good there aren’t too many because you’ll eat them all pretty quickly.

Ingredients – The package claims that no preservatives were used and that adds to the plus side of the Truly Awesome Home Style Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Price – A good price. This week at my Kroger’s store there were on sale for $2.50. You could buy a box of many more cookies for the same price or less – or get a better cost per cookie but they are likely going to be lower quality.

Enjoy!!