DoughSeeDough

a balanced plate with room for dessert

Category Archives: Cookies


by 1 Comment

Dairy Free Chocolate Chunk and Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

The name of these cookies are a mouthful. The sight of these cookies is kind of atrocious… but they’re delish. And as a bonus, I got to try my hand at making my own chocolate chips! I haven’t had much luck finding dairy free chocolate chips. I saw some dairy free Guittard semisweet chocolate chips in a small town Walmart, of all places. I didn’t buy any because I was on a business trip and didn’t want to drag around chocolate chips and… well, because I’m an idiot. I figured I could go back to Appleton or Madison and pick some up. Wrong. Apparently dairy free chocolate chips are reserved for small, northern Wisconsin towns only. And not large cities.

Whatever.

I had some unsweetened chocolate bars in my baking supply stash and decided to make my own chocolate chunks out of the chocolate. They were super easy to make: melt ingredients, freeze, and break into pieces. Unfortunately, I didn’t see that the creator of these homemade chocolate chips warned her readers that they would most definitely turn any baked good into a mess. Whoops.

Even though the chips melted and made a spectacular river of chocolate over my Silpats and baking sheets, these cookies were fabulous. And the chocolate that stayed in the cookies was perfect. I guess I’ll be on the hunt for a more bakeable homemade chocolate chip. Or maybe Santa will bring me a very, very large box of dairy free Guittard chocolate chips.

dairy free chocolate chunk and walnut oatmeal cookies | doughseedough.net

Dairy Free Chocolate Chunk and Walnut Oatmeal Cookies
yields 2 dozen cookies

1/4 cup dairy free butter substitute
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup dairy free dark chocolate chunks, recipe below
1/3 cup chopped walnuts, lightly toasted

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars until well combined and fluffy. Mix in vanilla and egg until well combined. Stir in flour and oats. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.
  3. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before moving to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

 

recipe adapted from Cooking Light

Homemade Dark Chocolate Chunks
yields about 2 cups 

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
4 tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 teaspoons stevia powder

  1. In a microwaveable bowl, combine chocolate, coconut oil, and vanilla. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Stir in stevia.
  2. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper and pour chocolate on top. Use a spoon to smooth, being careful not to spread the mixture too thin. Freeze for about 30 minutes or until chocolate is hard. Break into chunks and use as desired.
  3. Keep leftovers in a freezer-safe covered container.

Note: I used Baker’s unsweetened chocolate in this. They don’t contain dairy, but the chocolate is made on equipment that also manufactures products containing milk.

recipe from Sugar Free Mom


by 1 Comment

Dairy Free Iced Pumpkin Cookies

dairy-free iced pumpkin cookies | doughseedough.net

Last week, my PCP suggested that I go 100% dairy free instead of just lactose-free. I’m happy to say that I made it through my first dairy-free holiday and business trip. My plates were a bit emptier this year, but I’m thankful for the food that I was able to eat. I got turkey and gravy thanks to my father-in-law, stuffing and kale thanks to my mom, and dessert thanks to me! I’ve just come back from a four day business trip in a small town. I love traveling for work, but being dairy-free definitely has its challenges when eating out. I’m blessed to live in Madison, a city that has a plethora of restaurants that can cater to special diets. Appleton has fewer restaurants. These little towns I’m staying in for work? Nothing. I’m relying on plain salads or, if I’m feeling adventurous, a plain chicken sandwich on a bun with some guacamole. After all, there’s only so much Subway a girl can eat! Even after all this, I end up getting “dairy-ed” once in a while. Not surprisingly, I’m more reluctant to eat out and to even eat food that family and friends cook.

I’m obsessively label-reading now and I’m doing my best to bring my safe foods with me so that I’m always guaranteed one thing to eat. My current favorite? These iced pumpkin cookies. They are ridiculous. I made a batch for Thanksgiving and they were inhaled by my family. I made a second batch a couple days later and ate all the cookies within a matter of days (with a little help from Mike). I plan on making some more this weekend. There’s no such thing as too many cookies, right?

dairy-free iced pumpkin cookies | doughseedough.net

Dairy Free Iced Pumpkin Cookies
makes 3 dozen cookies

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dairy-free butter substitute (I use Earth Balance)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the icing:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2-3 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
1 tablespoon dairy-free butter substitute, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand-held mixer, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until fluffy. Mix in pumpkin, egg and vanilla until smooth. Mix in dry ingredients until combined.
  4. Wet hands and roll dough into 1-inch balls. Dough will be very sticky. Place dough 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Flatten dough slightly with the palm of your hand. Bake for 15 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through.
  5. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely.
  6. To make the icing: Place sugar, 2 tablespoons almond milk, melted butter, and vanilla in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Add additional almond milk as needed to reach desired consistency. Drizzle cooled cookies with icing.

Storage tip: these cookies get really soft when stored in a covered container. I suggest placing them on a plate and lightly covering it with plastic wrap, not covering the cookies at all, or eating all the cookies in one sitting.

recipe adapted from allrecipes.com


by 7 Comments

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with Cinnamon Chips and Walnuts

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with Cinnamon Chips and Walnuts | doughseedough.net

I thought spending nights away from Mike would be easy. Turns out, it’s not so easy. Especially when it comes to photographing food for the blog. It’s hard to bounce light, get a good angle, and take a decent photo with two hands. It’s even more frustrating when dealing with a rapidly setting sun. And it’s even worse when I accidentally (almost) drop the camera and smash my fingers really, really hard trying to catch it. And on top of all that, I was dealing with a tower of toppling cookies.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with Cinnamon Chips and Walnuts | doughseedough.net

The upside is that the toppling tower(s) of cookies got damaged and had to get eaten. Immediately. By me. Alone. Yikes. Because I’m pretty sure that cookies can get bruised just like apples can. I think I ate 8 cookies the night I took these pictures. I 10000% blame this on Mike not being around.

I can still remember the first time I had cinnamon chips. It was on a loaf of freshly-baked banana bread made by the production manager at my old job. And it blew my mind. I may or may not have eaten all the cinnamon chips off the top of the bread and brought the rest of it home to Mike.

Fast forward a year: I get Ashley’s blog Cheese Curd in Paradise for a vegetarian recipe swap. I see the pumpkin oatmeal cookies and every entrée on her blog is no longer a consideration. I really, really , really wanted to use cinnamon chips in this recipe. If cinnamon chips + banana = awesome, cinnamon chips + pumpkin = more awesome. Right? Right. These cookies are light and fluffy and the cinnamon chips and walnuts are a perfect complement to the pumpkin cookie base.

Please, go make these cookies now. Especially if you’ve never had cinnamon chips before. Because I don’t want you to end up like me – a girl who lived without cinnamon chips for 25 years. It’s a sad, empty life. Trust me.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with Cinnamon Chips and Walnuts | doughseedough.net

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with Cinnamon Chips and Walnuts
makes 4 dozen cookies

2 cups flour
1 ½ cups old fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup pure pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup cinnamon chips
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in cinnamon chips and walnuts.
  4. Drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 12 – 14 minutes or until cookies are very lightly browned.
  5. Let cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

recipe very slightly adapted from Cheese Curd in Paradise, originally from My Baking Addiction

Thanks again to Sarah at Taste of Home Cooking for hosting! Click on the link to check out the other delicious swap recipes!


by 23 Comments

Wisconsin Badger Cut-Out Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

These cookies were my first attempt at making sugar cookie cutouts and decorating with royal icing. I obviously have a few kinks to work out (hellooo messy piping!), but I think my cookies will start to look better with practice. Even though these cookies were time consuming, the end result was so worth it. I’ve got new decorating tips and cookie cutters on my wishlist now – I can’t wait to make more!

Wisconsin Badger Cookies {sugar cookie cut-outs with royal icing} | doughseedough.net

Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature for one hour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

  1. Fit stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Place butter and sugar in the bowl of the mixer and cream until light and fluffy.
  2. Beat in egg and mix until well incorporated. Add in cream cheese and mix until well incorporated. Mix in vanilla extract.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add in one cup at a time to butter and mix until well incorporated.
  4. Cover dough and refrigerate for a minimum of one hour.
  5. Preheat oven to 350° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide dough into 6 even balls. Keep dough in fridge until ready to roll out. Working with one ball of dough at a time, roll out into 1/4-inch thick. Cut out cookies with cookie cutters (I used a football, Motion W, and Bucky Badger).
  6. Place cut-outs onto prepared baking sheets and bake for 8 – 12 minutes or until dough is no longer shiny. You do not want the cookies to brown.
  7. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before carefully moving to a cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookies.
  8. Once completely cooled, store cookies in a tightly covered container until ready to decorate.

adapted from The Kitchn

Royal Icing

3/4 cup warm water
5 tablespoons meringue powder
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2.25 pound bag of powdered (confectioners) sugar
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract

  1. Place warm water and meringue powder in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Whisk for 30 seconds or until thick and frothy. Add in cream of tartar and whisk for 30 more seconds. Carefully add in all the powdered sugar and vanilla extract.
  2. Fit stand mixer with paddle attachment and mix the icing on low for 10 minutes. Alternately, whisk by hand for 10 full minutes or use a hand mixer for 10 minutes. Icing will be thick and creamy.
  3. Place plastic wrap directly onto icing in bowl and cover bowl with a slightly damp towel until ready to use.

recipe from Sweetopia

Now, on to decorating these cookies! I used three gel icing colors to make these cookies (black, brown, and red) and kept a portion of the icing white. After mixing the colors, I thinned my icing to a “10 second icing”. 10 second icing means that when I run a knife through the icing, the line that appears smooths out completely in 10 seconds. If it took longer than 10 seconds for the icing to disappear, I thinned the icing out with a couple drops of water at a time until the 10 second consistency was reached.

Wisconsin Badger Cookies {sugar cookie cut-outs with royal icing} | doughseedough.net

For decorating, I used piping bags and #1, #1.5 and #2 tips.

Now for technique: I can’t even begin to explain the technique of outlining and flooding. I’m going to instead point you to Sweetopia’s really, really great post on cookie decorating tips. After you read through her post, read on to see how I timed out my decorating.

  • Day 1: outline and flood the cookies
    • Football: outline and flood in brown with #2 tip. Let dry 24 hours.
    • Motion W: outline and flood in red with #2 tip. Let dry 24 hours.
    • Bucky Badger: outline and flood Bucky’s face, hands, and legs in white with #1.5 tip. Let dry for 1 hour. Outline and flood Bucky’s shirt in red with #1.5 tip.
  • Day 2: detail work!
    • Football: pipe white details with #1.5 tip. Let dry 24 hours.
    • Bucky Badger: pipe black face details with #1 tip. Outline face, hands, and legs in black with #1 tip. Add black detailing to hands and legs with #1 tip. Pipe white stripes and W onto shirt with #1 tip. Let dry 24 hours.


by 2 Comments

Vegan Iced Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Vegan Iced Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping | doughseedough.net

I’ve finally given in to pumpkin. Pumpkin treats, that is. I suppose it’s that time of year – leaves are turning, it’s getting colder, days are getting shorter… there’s even a threat of snow around here.

I love all things pumpkin except for pumpkin pie. Pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin cinnamon rolls… you name it, I’ll eat it. This pumpkin cake has won over my heart. It is definitely the pumpkin treat of choice for me. I will eat and eat and eat and eat until it’s gone. Seriously, it’s that good. Pumpkin cake with a streusel topping and some icing – what can be better than that?

I came across this recipe when I was looking around for a brunch dish for a work party. I made the coffee cake and it smelled (and looked) so good that I knew I couldn’t wait until the next day to eat it. So, I made another one. Big mistake. Mike and I ate about a quarter of the cake that night. And then we kept eating it the next day… and the next. And then it was gone. I was heartbroken when it was gone because I was also out of pumpkin. I stocked up on pumpkin this weekend so I can make sure we have a steady supply of this amazingness for a couple weeks 😉

Vegan Iced Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping | doughseedough.net

Vegan Iced Pumpkin Coffee Cake
serves 10

for the streusel topping:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup dairy free butter substitute (I use Earth Balance)

for the cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pure pumpkin puree
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup plain almond milk

for the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8×11 or 9×9 baking pan and grease with butter substitute or nonstick spray. Set aside.
  2. To make the streusel topping, combine flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in butter with a fork, two knives, or a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Set aside.
  3. To make the cake, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, brown sugar, oil, maple syrup and milk until well combined. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, being careful not to over mix. Pour batter into prepared baking pan and use a spatula to smooth out the top.
  4. Sprinkle prepared streusel topping over the batter and gently press down into the batter. Bake in preheated over for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  5. When cake is almost done baking, make the glaze. In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar and almond milk and whisk until smooth. Drizzle over cake. Serve immediately, or keep at room temperature for up two three days.

recipe slightly adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction


by 1 Comment

SNAP Challenge: Day 4

Today’s Feeding America prompt: “Are you worried about your groceries running out before the end of the Challenge? Do you feel you are eating a healthy, balanced diet? What nutrition decisions did you have to make?”

In a word – yes. I am worried about running out of food. I think that’s something that I’ve mentioned on a daily basis in my summary posts. I have the tiniest bit of money leftover and I keep thinking about what I can do with that money just in case we run out of food.

I think the menu is healthy, but not as healthy as we normally eat. Our house is usually stocked full of fresh fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains. This week, we only have a few fresh produce items. We have free garden produce – tomatoes, zucchini, hot peppers and I purchased bell peppers, bananas, and grapes. I usually buy exclusively whole grain pasta, rice, and bread, but this week the only whole grains I purchased were the whole wheat bread and oatmeal. I was able to buy some boneless, skinless chicken breast, but I bought 85% lean ground turkey instead of my usually 93% or 99%.

I’m also not used to the lack of variety we have. For example – I don’t think I’ve ever eaten oatmeal every single day (sometimes several times a day) before this. I like to switch up my breakfast items! Before, I would choose between cereal with almond milk, a breakfast sandwich, egg and veggie scrambles, or half a bagel with Tofutti cream cheese and some fruit. I’m not huge on “sweet” breakfast foods (pancakes, waffles, and the like have no place on my plate during breakfast!), but I love savory breakfast foods! I got sick of eating oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar by the end of Day 2 and ended up making a savory oatmeal with spices mixed in. Mike found it revolting, but it was just the change I needed!

For the MyPlate recommendations, we’re pretty darn close to meeting all minimums except for dairy. I’m getting no dairy at all. Like I’ve mentioned before, I can’t handle it any more. I didn’t fit lactose-free milk into our budget. I’m not a big milk drinker anyway, so getting rid of that was no big deal to me. Mike’s getting some from cheese, but not nearly enough. Something to work on for next time, I guess…

All that said, I am so thankful that we have a garden. Even though it’s 2 hours away, Mike was able to bring down cherry tomatoes, zucchini, herbs and a few hot peppers from the garden the day before the Challenge started. In a way, it kind of feels like cheating… but when I think about it, we haven’t really used much from the garden “stash” at all aside from the hot peppers and my occasional cherry tomato snack.

Snack wise, we’re doing a lot better. I don’t have access to any of our popcorn supplies (gosh, I miss kettle corn), rice cakes, or baking supplies. Another thing I really miss? Chocolate from my favorite Appleton chocolate shop, Wilmar’s. I’m obsessed with their cherry pie chocolate bar: milk chocolate with Door County dried cherries, almonds, and sea salt. Swoon! I keep a bar in my desk drawer and I eat one piece almost every day when I’m in the office. Having the bar in my desk drawer and not being able to eat it is hard. Mike doesn’t have access to his go-to snacks either. Good for our waistlines, not so good for our mood.

What we ate today:

  • Breakfast: savory oatmeal with an egg (me), whole wheat toast with peanut butter and raisins (Mike)
  • Snack: cherry tomatoes and grapes (me), grapes and a cookie (Mike)
  • Lunch: three bean turkey chili with elbow macaroni,
  • Snack: nothing for me… I ate it all in the morning 😦
  • Dinner: sweet & sour chicken with rice (Mike) and pepper chicken with rice (me)
  • Snack: peanut butter with raisins (Mike)

I think Mike and I were both struggling with not having a snack or dessert, so I whipped up a batch of healthy cookies for us. I had to improvise with what we had purchased for the SNAP Challenge. They’re super simple (4 ingredients!!!) and surprisingly tasty!

healthy 4 ingredient banana oatmeal cookies | doughseedough.net

Banana Oatmeal Cookies
makes 1 dozen cookies

2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 ½ cups old fashioned oats
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
½ cup raisins

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease.
  2. Mix bananas with oatmeal and peanut butter until well combined. Stir in raisins until evenly distributed.
  3. Roll into 1.5” balls and place on prepared baking sheet 2” apart. Gently press down on each cookie with the bottom of a cup to flatten slightly.
  4. Bake in preheated oven until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.


by Leave a comment

Soft & Chewy Snickerdoodles

Well, I’m now closer to 30 than I am to 20. At first, I was distraught over this realization. Looking back on it, though, 26 is off to a pretty dang good start. I got to celebrate with my family over the weekend and then the actual day of my birthday was fabulous. In fact, my 25th birthday sucked in comparison.

Sushi!

 

This birthday was pretty great.

  • I had a good day at work (have I mentioned I love my job?)
  • Went for a nice run with Mike (instead of going out for drinks – how grown-up of me!)
  • Went to Takumi for a sushi dinner (totally amazing)
  • Annnnnd best of all – I was surprised with a dairy-free cheesecake by Mike. I melt a little every time I think about that cheesecake. Excuse the cell phone pic, but it’s the best I can do at the moment!

dairy free cheesecake | doughseedough.net

A little background: I’ve recently cut dairy out of my diet because I’ve been developing some not-so-fun reactions to it. I’m really struggling because I’m a dairy-lovin’ gal. Cheese, Greek yogurt, milk, cheese, cottage cheese, ice cream, cheese… you name it. After all, I do live in Wisconsin! Going cold turkey on dairy was hard. It’s still hard…

That delicious dairy-free cheesecake with raspberry sauce made everything better, though. It was so good – I still can’t believe that it was dairy free! I’m going to get him to remake it someday so I can blog about it. Yummmm.

So, while I don’t have the cheesecake recipe to share with you today, I do have some snickerdoodles! These cookies were one of three types of cookies that I brought in to work for my birthday treat. All three were delicious, but these turned out the prettiest. I don’t know about you, but I definitely “eat” with my eyes first. I’ll beautify the other two cookies and get those recipes up as soon as possible. Promise 🙂

soft & chewy snickerdoodles -- no shortening! | doughseedough.net

Soft & Chewy Snickerdoodles
makes 2 dozen cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

for rolling:
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. Fit a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or use a hand mixer to beat butter until smooth, about 1 minute. Add in sugar and cream until light and fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla until well combined, scraping down the sides as needed.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.
  4. Combine 2 tablespoons sugar with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon for the topping.
  5. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and roll in the prepared cinnamon-sugar mixture.
  6. Place cookies on prepared cookie sheet 2 inches apart and bake for 10 – 12 minutes, or until puffy and soft. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

slightly adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction


by Leave a comment

Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been craving cookies like crazy lately. On Sunday night the craving was so bad and I (sadly) didn’t have any cookies in the house. Wait, I take that back. I had Girl Scout cookies, but those weren’t going to cut it.

I decided to experiment and whip up some peanut butter cookies. Then I decided to make them better with mini chocolate chips and some chopped peanuts. Mini chips are my newest baking fave. I don’t know why I don’t use them more! They are perfect for cookies because they distribute more evenly in the batter than big chips. You’re pretty much guaranteed chocolate in every nibble!

If you’re a fan of soft, cake-y cookies, these are for you. They are so light in texture and absolutely delish. I was a bit hesitant to use the word “healthy” for this cookie, but this is probably one of the better-for-you cookies that I’ve made. After all, there is not a trace of added oil or butter in this recipe. And no butter or oil means I can eat more cookies, right? Right.

Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies | doughseedough.net

Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1/3 cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, beat together peanut butter, applesauce, sugars, vanilla, and eggs until smooth and well combined.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir into wet ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips and peanuts.
  4. Wet hands with water* and roll dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 12 – 14 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving to wire rack to cool completely.

*I had to wet mine with water because this dough is really darn sticky. Alarmingly sticky. But don’t fret. Wet your hands, roll the dough, and the cookies will bake up perfectly!


by 1 Comment

Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies | doughseedough.net

I think I have a problem. I can’t stop eating these cookies. Seriously. They are making their way into my mouth 3 at a time, several times a day. I’m eating so many of them that I haven’t really eaten a proper dinner in a few days because I’m seriously just stuffed full of cookies. The only time that I am sans-cookie is at work. And that’s only because I force myself to walk out the door without a bag full of them. I need to keep a few hours of my life cookie-free, after all.

I have 2 sad cookies left in my cookie jar. The good news is they are super easy to whip together. The bad news is that it’s a million degrees (and humid!) out and the thought of turning on the oven makes me want to cry. I think I’ll have to wait until it cools off so I can bake more of these. And this time I probably won’t share.

Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies | doughseedough.net

Oatmeal Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
slightly adapted from Cooking Light

1 1/4 cup all-purpose or whole wheat flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, gently whisk together flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a separate bowl with an electric mixer set on medium speed, beat together sugar, brown sugar, and butter until well blended. Mix in vanilla and egg until just blended.
  4. Stir in flour mixture by hand until just combined. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips.
  5. Roll dough into 1″ balls and place 2″ apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until edges of the cookies are lightly browned. Let cool on pan for 2 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool completely.


by 1 Comment

Healthy Oatmeal Craisin Cookies

Oatmeal cookies are the seems-healthy-but-are-not-really-healthy cookie. Sure, it’s got oatmeal, but that oatmeal is usually accompanied by a lot of butter and sugar. But these oatmeal cookies are different. These just might be the healthiest cookie I’ve ever made. They are chock full of the good stuff: bran, whole wheat flour, and even some flax.

In fact, these little cookies are almost too packed full of healthy ingredients that it seems wrong to call them cookies… but they look like a cookie. And they taste like a cookie… so a cookie it is!

Healthy Oatmeal Craisin Cookies | doughseedough.net

Healthy Oatmeal Craisin Cookies
makes 24 cookies

1/3 cup wheat bran
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon flax seed meal mixed with 3 tablespoons water
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together wheat bran, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  3. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars together on medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Mix in flax, applesauce, and vanilla until combined. Mix in flour mixture, oats, and cranberries until combined.
  4. Drop byrounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet. Gently flatten with palm of your hand. Bake in preheated oven for 12 – 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely on baking sheets and store tightly covered.