A Healthy, Hearty, Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie (Great for Kids!)

While looking for a cookie to make for playgroup a few months ago, I found the following recipe on www.wholesometoddlerfood.com:

Farmland Flax Cookies - A popular cookie that everyone loves.
Butter 1 1/3 cups
Granulated sugar 1 1/4 cups
Brown sugar 1 1/2 cups
Flax seed- 1 1/2 cups
Large eggs 3
Vanilla 1 1/2 tsp
All-purpose flour 3 1/2 cups (try a mix of whole wheat flour/all purpose)
Baking soda 1 tbsp
Oatmeal 3 cups

In a bowl, cream butter and sugars; add flax seed. In another bowl, beat eggs and vanilla together. Combine with flax mixture. Sift together the flour and soda. Mix in oatmeal and combine with other ingredients. Form dough into 4 cm (1 1/2 inch) round logs. Place in freezer and chill. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Slice into .5 cm (1/4 inch) medallions. Place on baking sheet leaving about 5 cm (2 inches) between cookies.
Bake 13 to 15 minutes. Remove from sheet and cool Yield: 108 cookies (5 cm/2 inches)

Changes I made:

I used all whole wheat flour, only 1.5 sticks of butter, added a cup of applesauce, and added about one cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (not enough to really make them super chocolatey, but enough to give them a little chocolate kick).

I made a few "logs", ended up baking one for play group, saving one for later (in the freezer), and giving two of them to friends. These were great for the kids, and for the adults as well!

Toddler Veggie Cookies (Great For Adults, Too!)

Goldfish, puffs, melts, etc, etc, etc. These toddler snacks are getting old in our house, and I really don't feel like they have much substance. I always end up cutting up some fruit to go with them(pears and strawberries are Audrey's current faves), so I was interested in making something that would be sort of an "all-in-one" healthy, substantial snack. After our dog, Wilson, ate the remains of our last loaf of banana bread, one of Audrey's favorites, I was motivated to get started on the following:

I took the following recipe from www.sheknows.com, and made quite a few changes.

ZUCCHINI AND CARROT COOKIES
Ingredients

3/4 cup margarine
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup shredded zucchini
1/2 cup shredded carrots
2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon


This is the list of ingredients I used:
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 t vanilla
1 cup shredded zucchini
2/3 cup shredded carrots
2/3 cup applesauce
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
2 T cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl.
Add egg and vanilla, mixing thoroughly.
Mix in shredded zucchini, carrots, and applesauce.

Combine remaining ingredients in a separate bowl.
Add these dry ingredients to the large bowl, stirring until well combined.
Drop teaspoons of dough approximately 2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheet.
Use 2 spoons to drop the dough by teaspoonful onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.
Bake 12 minutes.
Makes about 20 cookies.

Whole Wheat Lemon Blueberry Muffins

I found the following recipe for blueberry muffins on http://www.allrecipes.com/:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, diced
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
Combine 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. In a small bowl, sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons flour over blueberries, and set aside. (This simple trick will keep you from having "purple" batter)
In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter with 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, and stir in vanilla and lemon zest. Fold in dry ingredients alternately with milk. Fold in blueberries. Remember, fold gently, don't stir. Spoon batter into prepared cups.
Combine 2 tablespoons flour, 5 tablespoons sugar ,and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in 2 tablespoons butter with fork or pastry blender until mixture resembles course crumbs. Sprinkle over batter in muffin cups.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack. These muffins freeze really well, and re-heat in the microwave successfully.


I made the following changes to the ingredients:

whole wheat flour instead of white
2 cups frozen blueberries (I still did the flour trick to keep them from turning the batter blue)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 t lemon zest
a squirt of fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup applesauce

All other ingredients were kept the same. I did use skim milk. Although the recipe doesn't specify what kind of milk to use, baking recipes usually call for whole milk.

The muffins turned out great and everyone at our Wednesday baby playgroup gave them a thumbs up! :)