Low-Fat Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

LOW-FAT PUMPKIN OATMEAL COOKIES

Okay, so this is my 10th week on Weight Watchers. I weighed in yesterday and I'm down 17.25 pounds so far! I'm so excited. Then, to top that, I ran my first 5K today. I've ran the distance a few times on the treadmill and was running it in 38:00. Then I practiced outside with my friend, Jenny, and we were running a 5K in about 34:00-35:00. Well, today at our first official race, I ran my 5K in 29:52 and Jenny ran hers in 29:51! WOW! I can't believe I came in under 30:00. I never saw that coming!

Now, on to the recipe! I had a major sweet tooth today and picked up some canned pumpkin at the store. I searched online and came across this recipe. It turned out really good and hit the spot. The cookies are really dense, so they are filling. They aren't super sweet, but they have great flavor and for a low-fat sweet treat, these are perfect. Best part is, the cookies are only 1 WW point each! Can't beat that!

LOW-FAT PUMPKIN OATMEAL COOKIES (Michelle Jones)

INGREDIENTS:
1 c. pumpkin
2 egg whites, whipped
1 c. brown sugar, packed (I used half brown and half granulated)
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cloves
3 c. rolled oats
1 c. raisins (I omitted)

DIRECTIONS:
Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. In a large bowl combine pumpkin and egg whites. In a separate bowl combine sugar, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, oats, and raisins (batter will be very dry at first). Mix ingredients together just until moistened.

Drop cookies by tablespoonfuls onto a prepared baking sheet, 2" apart. You can leave the cookies in the shape of a ball (the baked cookie will still be a ball) or flatten them out with the bottom of a glass before baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Makes 30 cookies

Nutritional Information Per Cookie: Calories 81.8 / Fat 0.6 / Fiber 1.5

Banana Cookies with Chocolate Chips

BANANA COOKIES WITH CHOCOLATE CHIPS

I was standing in the kitchen starting at some ripe bananas today. I almost decided to make some banana bread, but then I remembered that I had seen a recipe the other day for banana cookies. This recipe is from Simply Recipes, one of my favorite sites to visit. These cookies were so good ... such yummy, cakey banana goodness! I highly recommend them!

Be sure to check out Simply Recipes for more great recipes!

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup of sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 cup of mashed bananas (about 2 ½ large bananas)
1 teaspoon of baking soda
2 cups of flour
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ground mace or nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
1 cup of pecans (walnuts and chocolate chips are fine alternatives)

DIRECTIONS:
1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.

2 In a bowl, mix the mashed bananas and baking soda. Let sit for 2 minutes. The baking soda will react with the acid in the bananas which in turn will give the cookies their lift and rise.

3 Mix the banana mixture into the butter mixture. Mix together the flour, salt, and spices and sift into the butter and banana mixture and mix until just combined.

4 Fold into the batter the pecans or chocolate chips if using. Drop in dollops onto parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until nicely golden brown. Let cool on wire racks.

Makes about 30 cookies.

Thin, Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies!

These are everything the title says they are. A seriously nice change from your every day soft, gooey chocolate chip cookie.

This recipe is from Cooks Illustrated and I followed it exactly!

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon table salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), melted and cooled
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 large egg yolk

2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Sift flour, salt, and baking soda onto large sheet of parchment paper; set aside.

2. In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat melted butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and corn syrup at low speed until thoroughly blended, about 1 minute. Add yolk, milk, and vanilla; mix until fully incorporated and smooth, about 1 minute, scraping bottom and sides of bowl with rubber spatula as necessary. With mixer running on low speed, fold up 3 edges of parchment around dry ingredients to form a pouch (see illustrations below) and slowly shake dry ingredients into bowl; mix on low speed until just combined, about 2 minutes. Do not overbeat. Add chips and mix on low speed until distributed evenly throughout batter, about 5 seconds.

3. Leaving about 2 inches between each ball, scoop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets with 1 1/4-inch (1 tablespoon capacity) ice cream scoop. Bake 1 sheet at a time, until cookies are deep golden brown and flat, about 12 minutes.

4. Cool cookies on baking sheet 3 minutes. Using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and let sit until crisped and cooled to room temperature. (Can be stored in airtight container for up to 1 week.)

Cookie Baking Extravaganza!

Jen and I got together this past Saturday to whip up some cookies. Everything we made was delish. What's better than making cookies with your best friend? Eating them, of course!

Katie's Cookies! - Chocolate Chip

Peanut Butter Balls

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Peanut Butter Cookies

Yep, it's Halloween. My husband's not home. No candy in the house. No trick-or-treaters.

Soooooo...I whipped up a batch of PB cookies. I found the recipe on Peabody's blog and halved it.

My halved recipe is below. It made approximately 2 dozen cookies.

Preheat oven to 350F.

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Cream butter and sugars in a mixer on high speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Beat for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs and vanilla, then add the peanut butter and mix well. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix on low speed until all the ingredients are incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and mix just until the dough is smooth.

Using a small ice cream scoop(or a tablespoon) form the dough into ½ inch balls and place on greased cookie sheet. Flatten cookies with a fork. Bake just until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Let cookies cool about 5 minutes and transfer to a rack to cool completely.