Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you want a healthy alternative to the usual chocolate chip cookies, you can try this whole wheat oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe. It is a healthy alternative and still contains the sought after chocolate chips that every chocolate lover craves for.

Ingredients: 1 cup whole wheat flour, 2 ¾ cup rolled oats, 1 cup light brown sugar, 1 cup dark brown sugar, 2/3 cup wheat bran, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 10 oz semi-sweet chocolate bar, 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 cup unsalted butter

Preparation

• First, chop and shave the chocolate bar into sizable chunks and splinters.
• While getting the dough ready, preheat the oven up to 350 degree F.
• With a mixing bowl, mix the rolled oats, wheat bran, whole wheat, flour, baking powder and the baking soda together.
• Using another bowl, cream the butter until it is fluffy and light.
• Add sugar to the butter and continue beating up to 3-4 minutes. Add one egg at a time and beat well.
• Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Add the chocolate chunks and splinters into the mixture.
• Line the baking sheet with parchment paper and place similar sized cookies. Making sure that they are a few centimeters apart from one another.
• Allow them to bake until they are golden brown in color.
• Once they are fully baked, allow the cookies to cool down before serving.

With this easy oatmeal cookies recipe, you can have your very own whole wheat chocolate chip cookies. You can serve them during parties or special occasions. Your guests will be delighted to see a different kind of chocolate chip cookie. It is healthy and at the same time tasty and delicious. You can even create your own variety of oatmeal cookies that are easy to make and will be enjoyed by your family and friends.

Chocolate Chip Coconut Bars:

Ingredients: 1 stick butter melted, 1 pack white cake mix, 3 eggs, 1 pack fat free cream cheese, 2 cups confectioner’s sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ¾ cup chocolate chips, 2 cups flaked coconut

Procedure:

• First, preheat the oven up to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray a baking sheet.
• Place the cake mix and 1 egg in a mixing bowl, mix together until the dough is formed. Press the dough onto the baking sheet and up to the sides.
• Place the cream cheese in the mixing bowl and mix until it is fluffy and light. Add 2 eggs, vanilla extract and confectioner’s sugar and beat using a low speed until thoroughly combined. Mix in the coconut flakes.
• Pour the mixture over the dough and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top.
• Bake for 45-50 minutes until the edges are golden in color. Once done, allow to cool for 30 minutes before serving. Makes about 30 average sized bars.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Bars:

Ingredients: ½ stick of butter, 1 pack of caramel, ½ cup evaporated milk, 1 stick of melted butter, 1 pack German chocolate cake mix, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 cup chopped peanuts, 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Procedure:

• Preheat the oven up to 350 degrees and spray a baking pan.
• Place all the caramel in a sauce pan and add a half stick of butter and the evaporated milk. Stir it constantly over low heat until the caramel melts and it has a smooth appearance.
• Using a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, cocoa powder, 8 tablespoons of melted butter, and egg using low speed until thoroughly combined.
• Divide the batter in half and pour the half into a baking pan. Press the batter into the baking pan and place it in the oven for 10 minutes or until it rises.
• Place the chocolate chips and peanuts into the caramel mixture. Drop the mixture on the cake and spread it evenly up to the edges. Use the remaining batter and drop it over the top of the cake.
• Place it in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. Once done, allow it to cool for about 40 minutes before serving. This makes about 30 average sized pieces.

Sugar cookies are great because of that extra fluffiness that it offers in every single bite. This is so because of its ingredients which comprises, among other things, sugar and alternative sweeteners.

Grandma’s works of art.

All types of dry sugar, which include confectioners, powder, brown and granulated, tends to soak up moisture from the air and this is beneficial as they preserve the proteins and starch that are present in egg and flour from water and moisture. So because of this, sugar cookies have a longer shelf life than other cookies and they maintain the same moisture, softness and tenderness as when they were first baked. Just consider a situation where you lessen the quantity of granulated sugar, this will result in a bigger quantity of water in the sugar cookies. The cookies will turn out to be crunchy as the dough would not spread easily because it would be stiffer.

When thinking about the softness and crunchiness of the sugar cookies you may also want to consider that the finer granules are better to spread the cookies.  Also, remember that extra cornstarch is present in confectionery sugar and this will reduce the capacity of the cookie dough to spread. If the sugar is properly proportioned, it also evens out the egg whites that have been whipped. This is because:

• The process of the collection of the egg proteins and spreading out is slowed down.
• It safeguards air bubbles from breaking by creating a sticky, thick syrup.

Knowing the sources of granulated sugar improves your chances of combining the right ingredients. Sugar beets and sugarcane are usually the sources from which granulated sugar comes. The chemical name for granulated sugar is sucrose. It is commonly used in sugar cookies recipes.

Confectionery sugar is the combination of granulated sugar and 3% of cornstarch. The refinement of the sugar varies from 6x to 10x. As a result of the following reasons, confectionery sugar cannot substitute for granular sugar:

• You Cannot trap the air bubbles
• It is not as sweet

For a darker color and a softer texture, brown sugar is the way to go. The difference takes place during the process of baking where the sugar crystals, which are melted, rise to the top; this process provides the dark color.  Added flavor is provided as the sugar rises to the surface and caramelizes.

These healthy cookies are nothing like the traditional oatmeal chip cookies; instead, these are small, low sugar, granola clusters. Oatmeal cookies are just as tasty as traditional cookies, and they are also healthy enough to be a mid afternoon snack that will not cause a spike in your blood sugar levels.

Listed below is a basic recipe for healthy oatmeal cookies. You should note that this recipe will require parchment paper, or else it will be difficult to clean up the mess that the egg whites will cause.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of oatmeal
• ¾ cups of brown sugar (firmly packed)
• 2 medium sized eggs
• 2 egg whites (from medium sized eggs)
• Grated grind from 1 orange
• 1 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
• 1 cup of chocolate chips (Ghirardelli 60% cacao)
• 8 ounces of butter substitute
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• Parchment paper for cooking

Method:

1. Using the parchment paper line two cookie sheets.
2. Blend orange rind, coconut and oatmeal using a large spoon.
3. For thirty seconds melt the butter and brown sugar. You can use a saucepan on the stove, or a large measuring cup in the microwave.
4. Pour the melted sugar and butter into the dry blended ingredients.
5. Add the cinnamon and vanilla.
6. Add the two egg whites and the two eggs into the mixture.
7. Mix all the ingredients together, until they are well blended.
8. Add chocolate chips and stir until they are evenly distributed.
9. On the lined cookie sheets, spoon out clusters that measure two inches. Leave a small space between each cluster. Unlike traditional cookies, oatmeal cookies do not spread while baking; as such, you can place them closer together than you would traditional cookies.
10. Using two forks or using your clean hands, you press the clusters together and clean up the edges. This prevents the oatmeal cookies from turning into cereal.
11. You should bake at 325 degrees for approximately 20 minutes. They can be baked faster at 350 degrees; however, you need to be very careful, or else they will burn at the bottom. Once the cookies have turned golden brown, it is time to remove them from the oven.

Another thing that you should note is that the ingredients used in this recipe for healthy oatmeal chip cookies are quite flexible; as such, you can substitute ingredients such as the orange peel.

Freshly Bakes Chocolate Chip Cookies

A major turn off for those trying to lose weight is that traditional cookies are packed with lots of sugar. Cookies do not have to be made from Brussels sprouts in order to be considered healthy; you can actually use healthy substitutes for the high sugar content. Healthy chocolate cookies contain sugar substitutes, so you do not have to worry about whether or not you are consuming lots of sugar when you are eating these cookies.

The market is filled with a variety of brands of sugar substitutes that are safe for consumption. If you think that the ingredients of traditional chocolate cookies are unhealthy, you can use ingredients such as oatmeal, bran flakes, whole wheat flour and nuts, to make your healthy chocolate cookies. It is important to note that using healthy ingredients does not take anything away from the cookies; in fact, healthy substitutes actually improves the taste and nutritional value of your chocolate chip cookies.

Fat content is another thing that causes health conscious people to avoid eating cookies. Due to the fact that cookies have to be made with some form of butter or other type of oil, the fat content is generally high. However, there are chocolate cookies recipes  that substitute half of the butter or oil for apple sauce. Apple sauce does affect the taste and the texture of the cookies; however, it is a far better ingredient to use than butter. As a matter of fact, there are some people that say that chocolate cookies made with apple sauce rather than butter, actually tastes better.

There are other ingredients that you can use as healthy substitutes, in order to make the best chocolate cookies. Being health conscious does not mean that you automatically have to eliminate snacks from your diet. It just means that you have to find substitutes that will help make those snacks healthier. There are many recipes for healthy chocolate chip cookies available of the Internet. If you find that you do not like some ingredients that are used in these recipes, you can replace them with your favorite healthy substitutes.