Amazing Cherry, Almond Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Cookies!

So, ok, technically cookies aren’t healthy. But that doesn’t mean I don’t eat them! As most of you know – my philosophy is: everything in moderation. So one or two amazing freshly baked cookies once in a while (especially during the holidays) is totally warranted! Life isn’t about deprivation – it’s about enjoying real, whole foods and delicious treats on occasion 🙂 And for me – I will totally indulge in sweet treats – but I just try to pick things that are made with real butter and real sugar and doesn’t have any weird ingredients that I can’t pronounce. Which makes homemade goodies some of my favorite desserts to enjoy!

When my friend brought over these cookies, I thought they were freaking amazing. And even better with a tall glass of milk! So I had to share the recipe with all of you. The recipe comes from Epicurious, and I love all the variety in the ingredients! Here’s how they turned out…

How good does THAT look?? I couldn’t decide which lighting I liked better so I put both pictures in haha. I love how the cookies are so chunky and delicious – every bite has a surprise in it!

Here are the ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup dried tart cherries
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted

And for the directions, just go to the recipe on Epicurious. I think I’m going to whip up a batch of these and take them to my next holiday party over the weekend! What are your favorite cookie recipes?? I’d love to hear from you!

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And if you’re looking for amazing gluten-free chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies, be sure to enter my giveaway here!

Foodie Friday Giveaway: Mary’s Gone Crackers Love Cookies!

Hi Everyone!! So it’s that time again – Friday giveaways! Wooohoo! These giveaways have seriously been so much fun to do – I love hearing from all of you – thank you so much for entering the last giveaway! We had over 40 entries which is awesome!! 🙂 So that begs the question – who won the 479 Popcorn giveaway?

Congratulations goes to…. Small Footprints!!

Small Footprints – I just need your address – and you will be receiving your very own Globetrotter Sampler Pack in the mail! Thanks again to all of you who entered – I appreciate your interest and support more than you know 🙂 And now all of you have a chance to win again – with the awesome cookies from Mary’s Gone Crackers!

Mary’s Gone Crackers probably have some of the best tasting and healthiest cookies around. And yes – cookies can be healthy and still taste amazing! Mary’s Gone Crackers creates gluten-free, wheat-free, dairy-free (so basically allergy free!) cookies made with all organic ingredients, no hydrogenated oils, no trans fats, non-GMO, and only low-glycemic sweeteners!

You might be thinking – do the cookies even taste good? Are they “flavor-free” too? Absolutely not! These cookies are delicious. You can’t even tell how healthy they are for you – they are super moist, totally satisfy your sweet tooth, and are less dense than most gluten free products I’ve tried.

Oh and in addition to being really yummmmy, they’re also guilt free too! 2 cookies weigh in at around 120-140 calories, and even have a bit of fiber and protein because of all the “good for you” ingredients!

Mary’s Gone Crackers were kind enough to send me TWO boxes of their delicious cookies to try: The Chocolate Chip and the N’Oatmeal Raisin flavors. The Chocolate Chip is slightly crispy – kind of reminds me of the perfect cookie to dunk in milk, and the N’Oatmeal Raisin is soft and chewy.

How good do those cookies look?? And one lucky reader will WIN two boxes of Mary’s Gone Cracker’s Cookies: the Chocolate Chip and the N’Oatmeal Raisin!

Now the important part:

To Enter: You can enter in one of three ways –

1. Subscribe to The Picky Eater via RSS or via email
2. Follow me on Twitter (@pickyeaterblog)
3. Like The Picky Eater on Facebook

Leave a comment letting me know which option above you chose, and I’d love to hear what your favorite cookie flavor is as well! Note – if you already are a subscriber, follower, or like The Picky Eater on Facebook, just leave a comment indicating that – it will count as one entry

For Extra Entries:

• + 1 Entry if you share this post on Facebook or Twitter
• + 2 Entries if you invite 5 or more of your friends to like The Picky Eater on Facebook!

This giveaway will close on Thursday, December 16th at 5:00pm PST. I will be selecting the winner at random (via random.org) and will contact them via email. I’ll be announcing the winner on Friday, December 17th when I launch my next giveaway!

Be sure to enter – it’s super easy and these yummy-licious cookies are totally worth it!

 

 

Awesome Recipe for Grab and Go Breakfast Cookies!

Today I got my daily email from HungryGirl (a healthy food site that I LOVE), and I was reminded of a recipe for high fiber, low calorie breakfast cookies that were great! I thought the idea to increase fiber while still maintaining great flavor was super creative. The recipe is below – I completely credit this post to HungryGirl – I didn’t come up with this recipe myself 🙂 If you like this recipe, you’ll probably like a lot of HungryGirl’s other recipes – so definitely visit the site and check them out!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup regular oats (not instant)
• 6 tbsp. whole-wheat flour
• 1/4 cup Fiber One bran cereal (original), ground to a breadcrumb-like consistency in a blender or food processor
• 1/4 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated)
• 1/3 cup Gerber Peaches (or another brand of pureed peaches, found in the baby food aisle)
• 1/4 cup canned pure pumpkin
• 1/4 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original)
• 1 tbsp. golden raisins
• 1 tbsp. Ocean Spray Craisins (original)
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar, not packed
• 2 tsp. Coffee-mate Sugar Free French Vanilla powdered creamer
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Chop raisins and Craisins into small pieces. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine the oats, flour, Fiber One crumbs, Splenda, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well.

In a separate bowl, dissolve Coffee-mate into 2 tbsp. hot water. Add all other wet ingredients (pureed peaches, pumpkin, and egg substitute), and mix well.

Add liquid mixture to the dry ingredients, and stir until completely blended. Slowly sprinkle chopped raisins and Craisins into the batter, making sure they don’t all stick together.

Spray a large baking pan with nonstick spray, and spoon batter into 4 evenly spaced circles. Spread batter out a bit with the back of a spoon. Place pan in the oven for 12 – 14 minutes (until tops of the treats are just slightly crispy). Remove pan from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Then grab ‘n go!

Nutritional Information

Makes 4 servings, 1 serving = 1 cookie

154 calories, 1.5g fat

5g fiber

5g protein