Glazed Brown Sugar Cookie Recipe

There are SO many cookie recipes out there. Some are incredibly complex. Some use gourmet ingredients. Some are gorgeous works of art. Some require a culinary degree to create. Some will send you into a sugar coma after two bites.

But sometimes, you just want a simple, yummy cookie. Something that won't upstage your designer coffee. No frills. Just simple goodness.

This is one of those cookie recipes. Simple. Tasty. Healthy-ish. Whole wheat. 8 ingredients.

What are you waiting for?

Glazed Brown Sugar Cookies

by Raye

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 9-11 minutes

Keywords: bake cookie

Ingredients (2 dozen)

Cookie

• 1-1/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour (or white whole wheat flour)
• 1/2 c. organic whole cane sugar, such as Rapadura or sucanat (or a free-flowing brown sugar)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 Tbsp coconut oil (in solid state)
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze

• 1/4 c. organic whole cane sugar, such as Rapadura or sucanat
• 1 Tbsp whole milk (or more, if needed)

Instructions

• Cream together coconut oil and organic whole cane sugar. Mix in vanilla and egg.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well. Chill for 1 hour, or up to overnight.
• After at least 1 hour, preheat the oven to 375*F. Roll dough into 1-inch balls (approximately 1 rounded teaspoon; .75 oz ea).
• Arrange cookie dough balls on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Bake at 375*F for 9-11 minutes, or until edges are set. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool completely on the pan. They will look under-done when you take them out of the oven - that's ok! They will finish cooking and set up perfectly as they cool on the pan.
• While cookies are cooling, prepare the glaze. In a small bowl, combine milk and organic whole cane sugar. If the glaze seems too thick, add additional milk 1 teaspoon at a time until it reaches a 'drizzle-able' consistency. (Note, you can sub in a non-dairy milk here, if desired)
• Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies; allow glaze to dry. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

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Molasses Thumbprint Cookie Recipe

Food is so intertwined with memories for me. I smell these cookies baking and I'm instantly transported back in time to my mom's tiny kitchen, helping her roll out molasses cookies and spoon in the homemade mincemeat filling. YUM. The warm spices combined with the sweet molasses cookies are a perfect combination and a perfect treat for a cold, blustery, winter day.

Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

Chocolate has been (temporarily...I hope) outlawed from my life.  Gasp! Sad, but true.  Apparently, the caffeine in the chocolate makes Ry Guy wired. I've been staying away from coffee and black tea, but didn't really think about chocolate in that way until - oops - I had a craving and ate some chocolate chips.

And then paid the price for it.

Ry Guy decided to be REALLY awake after nursing. For hours. Almost all night, in fact. And he decided to keep Mommy and Daddy up with him.  He hasn't really gotten into the independently amusing himself thing yet.  Nay, nay.  Preferably Mommy must be looking at him constantly while he's awake.

Sigh. As much as I love chocolate, I love sleep more.

So, bye-bye, chocolate.  For now.  We WILL meet again.

In the meantime, I've been exploring other, non-chocolate desserts and treats.  The Hubby and I would be very sad if no chocolate = no dessert.  Not that I really need dessert...I have almost 30 pounds to lose. But sometimes you just want a treat.

I digress.  My point is, I'm being forced to be creative with the dessert options.  Here's my first attempt.

M is obsessed with peanut butter and I'm pretty fond of it myself.  I tweaked my No Bake Cookie recipe and came up with this little gem.
By the way, they're incredibly addictive.  I have to take a couple out of the fridge and go to another room to eat them, or else I'll just mindlessly keep munching.

They're pretty healthy, too!  The PB, of course, is a little fattening, but it's also high in protein...so as long as I limit myself to a couple of cookies a day, I don't feel guilty about eating them.

No refined sugars here. These little babies are honey sweetened.  They're also gluten-free (just make sure you're using certified GF oats that are guaranteed not to be cross-contaminated with gluten during processing/packaging), if that's a concern for you.

Check out the nutrition facts on recipage, here.  And without further ado, here's the PB lovers dream come true:

Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

by Raye

Prep Time: 1 minute

Cook Time: 3 minutes

Keywords: stove top snack dessert gluten-free vegetarian oatmeal peanut butter

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Ingredients (5 dozen small cookies)

• 1/2 c. refined coconut oil
• 2/3 c. honey
• 1-1/2 c. natural peanut butter (ingredients are peanuts only or peanuts and salt)
• 4-1/2 c. old fashioned (rolled) oats

Instructions

• In a medium saucepan, heat coconut oil and honey over medium heat until the mixture comes to a rolling boil. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
• Stir in peanut butter until it melts and the mixture becomes smooth. Add oats.
• Scoop by spoonfuls onto a parchment or wax paper lined cookie sheet. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving.
• Because of the coconut oil, keep these cookies chilled until ready to serve and store in the refrigerator.
• A serving size is 3 cookies.

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Quite Possibly The Perfect Cookie

These awesome cookies were a result of another pregnancy craving.  I wanted oatmeal cookies in the worst way... oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, to be precise.

I did a quick recipe search and stumbled across the Brown Eyed Baker's recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

After a few adjustments and "healthifications", I baked my masterpieces and then offered them to my #1 taste tester.  With a glass of milk on the side, of course.

I was stoked when he said, "these are the PERFECT cookies - not too sweet, just the right texture."

Awww... I love it when he's honest. :)

I have to admit, they turned out really well.  The coconut oil and almond meal keep the texture moist and chewy, while the butter just kicks the flavor into high gear.

The perfect cookie equation goes like this:

oatmeal + butter + coconut oil + almond meal + chocolate chips = total awesomeness.

Not convinced?  Need proof?

Take these little babies to your next potluck or get-together and experience the happiness first hand.  Just don't eat the entire batch in less than 2 days...unless you have help. Just sayin'.

Oh, and if you need the nutritional information, pop over to my recipage, here.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

by Raye

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 14-16 minutes per pan

Keywords: bake dessert chocolate oatmeal almond cookie

Ingredients (3-1/2 dozen cookies)

• 1-1/4 c. all purpose flour (or 3/4 c. all purpose, 1/2 c. white whole wheat)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 stick (1/2 c.) unsalted butter, softened
• 6 Tbsp coconut oil (use refined if you don't want the coconut taste)
• 1/2 c. brown sugar (I use Rapadura or Sucanat)
• 1/2 c. + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar (I use evaporated cane juice)
• 2 eggs
• 3 c. old-fashioned (rolled) oats
• 1/2 c. almond meal
• 1 to 1-1/2 c. semisweet or dark chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. In a small bowl, whisk together flour(s), baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together sugars, butter, and coconut oil (coconut oil should be in its solid state) until fluffy, about 1 minute. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Add flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and beat until combined. Stir in almond meal and oats. Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Feel free to use a non-stick baking mat, or parchment paper. (I used a cookie scoop and a stoneware pan).
5. Bake each pan for 14-16 minutes, or until the edges begin to turn golden brown. Cool on the pan for about 1 minute, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container up to 5 days, but beware... they may not last that long!

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Healthier Holiday Cookies

Who says the holiday season means you have to throw your diet/healthy lifestyle out the window?

Yes, I will admit, celebrations tend to equal sweets and treats, and my household is no exception.  The key here, people, is moderation... and modification...

We've all heard the moderation thing before.  That's right... leave that 14th cookie on the platter and have a glass of water... your straining waistband will thank you.  At least I know mine will.