Dairy Free Breakfast Cookies

Today, I finally tried the soaked version of a recipe I've made quite a few times... Just never the soaked version.  Breakfast Cookies!  I found the recipe many years ago on Heavenly Homemakers, and I've adapted the recipe slightly (since I don't bake with dairy to allow my daughter to enjoy everything) based off my sister-in-law's version at Homemade Dutch Apple Pie.  And yes, you read that right... A cookie for breakfast.  Who's kid wouldn't love that?!  :) 

These cookies are cakey and filling.  You can load them up with all sorts of add-ins, dried fruit, nuts, shredded coconut, mini chocolate chips, etc.  We don't eat nuts at our house (my daughter is allergic), so we skip the nuts, but they'd be a delicious and nutritious addition.  

I think we all agreed that we prefer the soaked version, as it lends a softer, moister cookie.  Not to mention, soaking the grains allows your body to digest them much more easily.  

I love that this recipe makes quite a few breakfast cookies, so I can make a batch and freeze lots for future breakfasts.  Considering we've been really slacking on nutritious breakfasts lately, I can't even tell you how excited I am to have a stash of these in the freezer now! 

Dairy Free Giant Breakfast Cookies

1 cup coconut oil, melted
¾ cup honey (can sub some for maple syrup)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup water + 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups whole rolled oats
1 1/2 cups dried fruit, mini chocolate chips (the Enjoy Life brand is free of allergens), nuts, shredded coconut, etc.

Melt coconut oil on the stovetop. In a glass bowl, stir together flour, oats, coconut oil and water/lemon juice.  Be sure all of the grains are moistened.  If not, add another tablespoon of water at a time until everything is moistened.  Cover and let the grains soak overnight, or at least for 8 hours. 

In the morning, stir in the remaining ingredients.  Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough onto a cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Allow cookies to cool 3-4 minutes on cookie sheet before removing cookies to cool on a wire rack.  

Dairy-Free Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies

I've been wanting to make some dairy-free sugar cookies all month and finally had the chance to make some with my son yesterday.  He loves to cook with me, especially when we get to bake or make some of his favorite things.  I found a recipe online awhile back - but I don't know where I found it... I only saved the text.  It was for soft sugar cookies, which are my favorite kind of sugar cookies.  I'm not really a fan of crispy sugar cookies.  So I used that recipe as a base and subbed out ingredients a bit to bring them up to our standards.  These aren't super soft, but they're still really good.  You'd never guess they were whole wheat or dairy-free.  They have a crisp crust and a soft interior.  I want to try them again with some whole wheat pastry flour to see if that lends a softer cookie, but I didn't have any on hand yesterday.  We had planned to roll the dough and do Christmas cut-outs, but my infant daugther wasn't allowing for that yesterday morning.  :)  So we just used a cookie scoop and then flattened them a little with a glass.  They still taste just as good as they would as cut-outs... and they're way less work!  :)

Dairy-Free Sugar Cookies

1 cup palm shortening
1 cup organic cane sugar
1/4 cup almond milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat palm shortening, sugar, almond milk, eggs, and vanilla together in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add baking soda and salt.  Slowly beat flour mixture in to make a smooth dough.

Now you may either use a cookie scoop like we did, and flatten slightly with a flat-bottomed glass.  Or roll dough out 1/4-inch thick on a floured work surface and cut into shapes.  Arrange cookies on baking sheets.  Bake in the preheated oven until cookies are firm, about 8-10 minutes.  Let cool.  Frost and decorate once fully cooled.


Frosting

1/4 cup palm shortening
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, or more to taste
4 tablespoons almond milk, or as neededBeat palm shortening, confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and almond milk in a bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until frosting is spreadable and slightly fluffy.  Frost cooled cookies.  Add sprinkles or colored sugars if desired. 

Banana Walnut Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies

Carson and I made these cookies last week. He had been asking to do some baking all week, but since he was sick early in the week, I didn't want to do any and get his germs into them. I finally gave in on Friday, after he'd been asking every day all week. He was so excited we finally got to do some "bakin'." This recipe is from my Martha Stewart Cookies cookbook. These are so good! Carson just loves them with the bananas in them especially, though its a very faint taste. Even Kevin has been enjoying them - I don't think they'll make it to Christmas!

Banana Walnut Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temp.
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup mashed bananas
1 cup old-fashioned oats
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted

Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together both flours, salt, and baking soda in a bowl.

Put butter and both sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add egg and vanilla; mix until combined. Mix in banana. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in oats, chocolate, and walnuts.

Drop cookies onto baking sheets and bake until golden brown and just set, 12-13 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen cookies (I made mine smaller and got 4 1/2 dozen).

Raw Macaroons

Last night, Carson and I made some raw chocolate macaroons. My friend, Lina, had brought these in to work a while back and I thought they were so yummy, so I asked her for the recipe. The recipe comes from the book Raw Food, Real World. Lina let me borrow her cookbook and I copied down several recipes that I hope to try. These cookies are super easy to throw together and then the dehydrator does all the work while you sleep. We woke up to a house smelling like cocoa. :) These really taste great, too. They're very rich. Carson loves them... he kept sneaking tastes of the batter last night while we were making them and I let him have a bite of one as a treat after he ate his eggs and toast this morning. He immediately wanted more, but we'll have to wait till later in the day to indulge again.

Raw Chocolate Macaroons

3 cups dried, unsweetened coconut flakes (organic)
1 1/2 cups cocoa powder (organic, free trade certified)
1 cup pure maple syrup (local, organic)
1/3 cup coconut butter (extra virgin, organic)
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract (organic)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir well. You can also use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.

Using a small cookie scoop, your hands, or a big tablespoon, spoon rounds of the dough onto dehydrator screens. If you are using your hands, you may want to chill the dough a bit first.

Dehydrate at 115 degrees for 12-24 hours, or until crisp on the outside and nice and chewy on the inside.

For blonde macaroons, replace the cocoa powder with an equal amount of almond flour.

Lemon Blueberry Cookies

Add one more thing to my list yesterday - lemon blueberry cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod. I had wanted to make them for our Independence Day party today, but never got a chance during the day. Carson went to bed early last night, so I made them quick after he was sleeping. They were super easy to make and they are so yummy!! My glaze is a little thinner than I'd like, but they still taste great! Oh, and I forgot to add the egg - d'oh! I didn't realize it till I'd put the first tray in the oven. I thought they'd come out with a weird texture or be super crumbly or something, without the addition of the binder. But they actually seem to be totally fine. Good thing!

Lemon Blueberry Cookies

1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour (organic)
Zest of two large lemons
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. (3 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature (I used organic extra-virgin coconut oil)
¾ cup granulated sugar (organic and free-trade certified)
1 large egg (forgot this!)
½ tsp. vanilla extract (organic)
1/3 cup buttermilk
Fresh blueberries (I used frozen)

Glaze:
Confectioners sugar
Fresh lemon juice
Lemon zest

Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, add the sugar and lemon zest. Rub them together with your fingers until well mixed. This brings out the lemon flavor.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar/lemon mixture and beat until pale and fluffy. Add the egg, and beat well to mix. Add the vanilla, and beat on low. Mix in the flour mixture and the buttermilk in batches at low speed, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.

Drop the dough by level tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets, leave about 1 ½ inches between each cookie. Tuck 4-5 blueberries into each cookie. Try to make sure they are hidden. Bake one sheet at a time for about 11 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 1-2 minutes; then transfer them to a wire rack.

For the glaze, whisk together the sifted confectioners sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. I never measure, just guess until you get the right consistency and flavor. Drizzle the glaze over the cookies.

Sugar Cut-Out Cookies

I made up a batch of Christmas sugar cut-out cookies. I got this recipe from my friend, Michelle, at work. These are the best sugar cookies! They get so nice and "fluffy" as Kevin calls them. The best part is that they stay soft - they don't get crispy like so many sugar cookies do. (Maybe you like them crispy, but I don't.) Anyway, I know everyone has their "own" sugar cookie recipes, but I thought I'd post this one anyway since we think they're so good.

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter/margarine
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 1/2 cups flour

Cream the butter/margarine, sugar, and salt. Add eggs, sour cream, nutmeg, and vanilla; mix well. Add baking soda and powder with the flour, a little at a time and mix well. Let the dough stand in the refrigerator for a few hours for easier handling.

Roll out and cut. Or drop - make balls the size of a walnut and dip into colored sugars and press down.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until done. (They only took 9 minutes in my oven)

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

I tried another new cookie recipe over the weekend for oatmeal butterscotch cookies. I saw the recipe on Baking Bites, a baking blog that I regularly follow. I guess this is actually a recipe that Cindy McCain had submitted to Good Housekeeping magazine as a favorite cookie recipe. I love oatmeal cookies and I love butterscotch, so I had been looking for a good oatmeal butterscotch cookie recipe. This is definitely a great one! I think they're awesome! Kevin doesn't care for oatmeal and he doesn't care for butterscotch, so he wouldn't even taste a bite of one. This will definitely be a keeper for me, though! Next time I might even add a few chocolate chips to change it up a bit. Though they're awesome as-is.

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper or silpat.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Blend in eggs and vanilla until mixture is smooth.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir into butter mixture, then mix in the oats and butterscotch chips.

Drop rounded tablespoonfuls (large balls) of cookie down onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie to allow for spread.

Bake for 10-11 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. (It only took about 9.5 minutes in my oven. You want to pull them out as soon as you see the edge turning light golden brown. The centers will set up while the sit on the hot baking sheet for a few minutes.)

Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies. (I did a double recipe so I'd have plenty to bring into work on Wednesday and ended up getting about 10 dozen... so I'd say this recipe would produce about 5 dozen cookies with my cookie scoop anyway.)

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookies

First of all, thanks to our cousin, Melissa, for the cookie button code! I'm not sure I'll be doing 12 consecutive days of cookies, or even 12 different cookies right now, but we'll see how it goes.

Tonight I made up a batch of chocolate chip cream cheese cookies. Kevin had requested "some form of chocolate chip cookie" - so this is what he got tonight since I wanted to try out a new recipe. I got this recipe from my college buddy and Phike sister, Ranae. These are very good! They got a thumbs up from Kevin and myself, even with the couple changes I made to them.


Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookies

2 sticks butter, room temp
1 3 oz. package cream cheese, room temp (I actually used about 4 oz.)
1 cup sugar (I used half white sugar and half brown sugar)
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 12 oz. package chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate b/c that's what I like)
2 tsp orange zest (I left this out)
(I added 1 teaspoon baking powder)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix butter, cream cheese, and sugar until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla. Gradually mix in flour and salt until just blended. Fold in chocolate chips and orange zest. Place on ungreased cookie sheet (or parchment/silpat lined sheet) by rounded teaspoon. Bake 10-12 minutes. When they start to brown around the edges, they are done.

I ended up with 49 cookies.

Banana Cookies

Let the Christmas baking season begin! Tonight I made a batch of banana drop cookies. Although, I doubt this batch will make it to Christmas - I'd have doubled or tripled the recipe tonight if I'd had the flour on hand. These are very easy cookies to make, especially using my KitchenAid mixer. :) My family has been making these cookies for many, many years. I'm not really sure where the recipe came from, but I believe we picked it up at a cookie exchange many years back. These are so good. Probably my favorite cookie - though there are some close ties. Kevin loves these cookies, too. They taste like banana bread, especially with no icing. I didn't ice them tonight because part of my reason for making this particular cookie is that I thought it'd be a good cookie for Carson. He was in bed for the night when I made them, so we'll have to see what he thinks of them tomorrow.

I'll update later with a picture.

Christmas Banana Drop Cookies

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup ripe banana, mashed (about 2 medium-sized bananas)

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter and slowly beat in sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well until mixed. Stir in vanilla. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together. Add to butter mixture, alternating with banana, a little at a time. Mix well until smooth. Drop by the teaspoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 minutes, or until light-golden brown around the edges. Makes about 48 cookies. (I do mine with my cookie scoop, which is probably about a tablespoonful, so I get 36 cookies per batch when I make them.)

Icing

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon melted butter
milk

Sift powdered sugar to avoid lumps. Add the vanilla and melted butter to the powdered sugar. Add enough milk to make the proper spreading consistency. Spread over banana cookies. Sprinkle with red and green sugar.