Playgroup Granola Bars

Since Husband is a full time student and I work to support the family we don't have a lot of extra funds for sweet treats and snacks and are forced to make them. I searched the web for a healthy granola bar recipe since that is a snack we will all eat and I found this one. I've always had this negative opinion on homemade granola bars for some reason but not any more. These literally taste like Oatmeal Raisin Cookies!! Hooray! I didn't have wheat germ so I called my sneaky chef sister in law and she had some milled flax seed she said I could use. It seemed to work great especially since I have never used either and wouldn't know the difference anyway. Thing 2 devoured it and thing one humored me with a bite. When I said it tasted like a cookie he fought me on it saying cookies don't have raisins they have chocolate chips. Someone needs a cookie education class. I'm definitely interested in what Husband will think of these... Anyway, these are great and made a bunch which I put in snack baggies to store for easy snacking. 5 out of 5 stars.

Source: allrecipes.com

Prep Time: 15 Min
Cook Time: 35 Min
Total Time: 50 Min

Serves: 24

Ingredients

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup raisins optional
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 egg beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, raisins and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla. Mix well using your hands. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 161
Fat: 5.5g
Cholesterol: 9mg
Sodium: 79mg
Sugar: 15.7g
Carbohydrate: 26.6g
Fiber: 1.4g
Protein: 2.4g

Pecan-Topped Pumpkin Bread

Let me start out by saying how much I LOVE pumpkin. It's probably one of my biggest temptations this time of year so don't be surprised if you see plenty of pumpkin recipes on here. That being said this pumpkin recipe certainly did not disappoint. I cut back on the nutmeg a bit since even just smelling nutmeg gives me heartburn and all we had in the way of all spice was Jamaican all spice. It smelled fine so we used it and didn't notice any strange flavors. The spices in this are full of flavor and you can almost taste every spice in every bite. It is super moist and yummy and the best part is the second loaf in the freezer! A great cheaper alternative to my usual protein bar for breakfast and roughly the same number of calories. 5 out of 5 stars and delicious.

Source: Cooking Light

Serves: 24

Ingredients

• 3 ¹⁄₃ cups all-purpose flour (about 15 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• ¹⁄₂ cup egg substitute
• ¹⁄₂ cup canola oil
• ¹⁄₂ cup low-fat buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• ²⁄₃ cup water
• 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
• Cooking spray
• ¹⁄₃ cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 6 ingredients (through allspice) in a bowl.
3. Place sugar, egg substitute, oil, buttermilk, and eggs in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until well blended. Add 2/3 cup water and pumpkin, beating at low speed until blended. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Spoon batter into 2 (9 x 5-inch) loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle pecans evenly over batter. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack.
4. Note:
5. This recipe makes two loaves. Freeze the extra bread, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to one month. Omit the nuts or substitute chopped walnuts, if you prefer. Check the bread after 50 minutes of baking--you may need to cover the loaves with aluminum foil for the last 10 minutes to prevent overbrowning.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 198

Fat: 6.6g

Cholesterol: 18mg

Sodium: 287mg

Fiber: 1.2g

Protein: 3.4g

Monkey Bread

This does not look or taste healthy but if you question it look at the comparison at the bottom of this post. I believe this was the first time I ever made dough from scratch and it wasn't too bad. I think I kneaded it a little too long in the kitchenaid and my sister in law suggested I try finishing the kneading by hand next time to make sure it doesn't get too dry. Agreed. That was really the only flaw to this. It was really fun to make rolling the little dough balls and then waiting for it to rise. I will definitely make this again but I will eat it right out of the oven because it was better when we popped it in the microwave for a bit. All in all a fantastic Sunday breakfast or Saturday night dessert! Somewhere between 4.5 and 5 stars (the half a star would only be because of the dry-ish dough so the recipe actually gets a 5 and my execution gets a 4.5.)

Source: Cooking Light

Serves: 16

Ingredients

• 13 ¹⁄₂ ounces all-purpose flour (about 3 cups)
• 4 ³⁄₄ ounces whole-wheat flour (about 1 cup)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 package quick-rise yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1 cup very warm fat-free milk (120° to 130°)
• ¹⁄₄ cup very warm orange juice (120° to 130°)
• ¹⁄₄ cup honey
• 2 tablespoons butter melted
• Cooking spray
• ¹⁄₂ cup granulated sugar
• ¹⁄₂ cup packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 4 ¹⁄₂ tablespoons fat-free milk divided
• 2 tablespoons butter melted
• ¹⁄₂ cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, salt, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attached; mix until combined. With mixer on, slowly add 1 cup milk, juice, honey, and 2 tablespoons butter; mix dough at medium speed 7 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.)
2. Combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a shallow dish. Combine 3 tablespoons milk and 2 tablespoons butter in a shallow dish, stirring with a whisk.
3. Punch dough down; divide into 8 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent drying), roll into an 8-inch rope. Cut each dough rope into 8 equal pieces, shaping each piece into a 1-inch ball. Dip each ball in milk mixture, turning to coat, and roll in sugar mixture. Layer balls in a 12-cup Bundt pan coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining 7 dough ropes. Sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until almost doubled in size.
4. Preheat oven to 350°.
5. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until golden. Cool 5 minutes on a wire rack. Place a plate upside down on top of bread; invert onto plate. Combine powdered sugar, remaining milk, and remaining ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Microwave at HIGH 20 seconds or until warm. Drizzle over bread.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 234

Fat: 3.4g

Cholesterol: 9mg

Sodium: 184mg

Fiber: 1.9g

Protein: 4.5g

Classic Monkey Bread                                         This Monkey Bread

556 calories per serving                                                    234 calories

960 mg sodium per serving                                              184 mg sodium

13 grams saturated fat                                                    2 grams saturated fat

Peanut Butter Cup Blondies

Before I even get into my review take a look at how many people this supposed to serve. 20. Just remember that and cut them into 20 immediately. This was really good but it was undercooked and we even kept putting it back in to cook longer. I thought there was way to much peanut butter cup and even Husband who LOVES peanut butter cups thought so too so we will scale back next time. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Source: Cooking Light

Serves: 20

Ingredients

• 5 ³⁄₅ ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon baking powder
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
• ¹⁄₃ cup creamy peanut butter
• ¹⁄₄ cup butter melted and cooled slightly
• 2 tablespoons 2% reduced-fat milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs lightly beaten
• ¹⁄₄ cup semisweet chocolate chips
• Cooking spray
• 4 (0.75-ounce) peanut butter cups coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients (through salt), stirring well with a whisk. Combine peanut butter and next 4 ingredients (through eggs), stirring well. Add peanut butter mixture to flour mixture; stir until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Scrape the batter into a 9-inch square metal baking pan lightly coated with cooking spray, and arrange the peanut butter cups over batter. Bake at 350° for 19 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs clinging. Cool in pan on a wire rack.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 153

Fat: 7g

Cholesterol: 28mg

Sodium: 98mg

Fiber: 0.7g

Protein: 3.2g

Rocky Road Brownies

We haven't made a dessert in a while so of course our sweet teeth were driving us mad! I didn't want to go to the store so I searched for recipes of healthier desserts that used ingredients that I have on hand and this is what I found. I had to borrow some marshmallows because Thing 1 depleted my stash a while ago but we had everything else. We only had a little less than a cup of cocoa powder left and a little more than a teaspoon of vanilla so we were worried these would lack in flavor. Not so. We didn't even notice anything missing. We didn't have a ton of walnuts but when we started putting them on it looked like there were tons on there so we went a little light on them anyway and we regretted it. You could hardly taste the nuts and it would have been much better with the full amount. I asked Thing one how much he liked them and he said "Three Much" which I think is more than too much. Just make sure that you separate out the servings immediately and ONLY EAT ONE. That means you husband... 5 out of 5 stars.

Source: www.eatingwell.com

Serves: 16

Ingredients

• 1 cup less 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon baking powder
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
• 4 ¹⁄₂ tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¹⁄₂ cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder preferably natural (see Note)
• 1 ¹⁄₄ cups sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 8 regular-size marshmallows
• ²⁄₃ cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
• ¹⁄₃ cup chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate or large chocolate chips

Directions

1. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch-square baking pan with parchment paper or foil coated with cooking spray. (Leave enough of an overhang to be able to lift the brownies out of the pan later with the liner.) If you don’t plan to let the batter rest at the end of Step 3 before baking, position a rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F.
2. Thoroughly whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan until sizzling. Remove from the heat and stir in cocoa, then sugar. (The mixture will look like a mass of very dark brown sugar.) Add egg, egg whites and vanilla. Stir briskly until smooth and glossy. Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Then stir briskly for about 50 strokes. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly. The batter will be very shallow in the pan. If you have time, cover the pan and refrigerate for a few hours or up to 12 hours. (This hydrates the cocoa powder and flour and brings all the flavors into sharper focus.) Remove from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking; preheat oven to 350°F.
4. Quarter marshmallows with an oiled knife. Distribute the pieces over the batter, pressing them in. Distribute nuts and chocolate (or chips) around the marshmallows.
5. Bake the brownies until the marshmallows are golden brown, 25 to 35 minutes. (If you can find a place to test for doneness where there is no melted chocolate or marshmallow, a toothpick should come out with some moist, gooey batter clinging to it. Brownies in a metal pan will bake faster than those in a glass pan; if you’re unsure, bake a few minutes longer to make sure the brownies are done in the middle.) Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack for about 2 hours. Lift the ends of the pan liner and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 16 brownies.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 190

Fat: 8 g

Cholesterol: 22 mg

Sodium: 60 mg

Carbohydrate: 29 g

Fiber: 2 g

Protein: 3 g

Watermelon-Jalapeno Ice Pops

"On Saturday he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice cream cone, one pickle, one slice of swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one cupcake and one slice of watermelon. That night he had a stomach ache."

If this combination sounds weird to you then don't make it. If it sounds good you might like it. Husband took about 3 bites (forced by me) and didn't want any more while I finished the popsicle and still wasn't sure how I felt about it. It wasn't spicy but you could definitely taste the jalapeno. I would probably give it 2 out of 5 stars.

Source: Cooking Light

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 3 cups fresh red or yellow watermelon cubes chilled
• ¹⁄₂ cup sugar
• ¹⁄₄ cup fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon light-colored corn syrup
• 1 tablespoon liquid pectin
• 1 large jalapeño pepper halved and seeded
• 2 teaspoons grated lime rind

Directions

1. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a blender, and process until pureed. Stir in lime rind. Pour into 8 (3-ounce) ice pop molds. Freeze 6 hours or until firm.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 76

Fat: 0.1g

Cholesterol: 0.0mg

Sodium: 3mg

Carbohydrate: 19.7g

Fiber: 0.4g

Protein: 0.4g

Fresh Cherry Cheesecake Bars

"On Saturday he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice cream cone, one pickle, one slice of swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie..."

Today is Husband's birthday and he loves cheesecake so I took the opportunity to change the pie to a cheesecake and make this for him. I am not usually a big fan of cheesecake since it is usually too rich but this was SO good. It is lighter than normal cheesecake and the cherries are a great flavor to tie it all together. It does take some time to make but it is not too difficult and definitely worth the time spent. Everybody who ate it enjoyed and I think it would be kid friendly as well. 5 out of 5 stars.

Source: Cooking Light

Serves: 15

Ingredients

• 4 ¹⁄₂ ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons chilled butter cut into small pieces
• 3 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons ice water
• 1 ¹⁄₄ cups chopped pitted fresh cherries
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon cornstarch
• ³⁄₄ cup (6 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
• ¹⁄₃ cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
• ¹⁄₃ cup granulated sugar
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. 2. Line an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish with parchment paper. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour, powdered sugar, and salt in a food processor; pulse 2 times to combine. Add chilled butter, and drizzle with ice water. Pulse 10 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. Pour the mixture into prepared baking dish (mixture will be crumbly). Press mixture into bottom of dish. Bake at 350 for 23 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely. Reduce oven temperature to 325. 3. Place cherries, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, and 1 tablespoon water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until cherries are tender. Combine lemon juice and cornstarch in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Stir cornstarch mixture into cherry mixture; cook for 1 minute or until thickened. Cool mixture slightly. Spoon the cherry mixture into food processor, and process until smooth. Spoon pureed mixture into a bowl, and set aside. 4. Wipe food processor clean. Place cream cheese and remaining ingredients in food processor; process until smooth. Spoon cream cheese mixture over cooled crust; spread evenly. Dollop cherry mixture over cream cheese mixture, and swirl together with a knife. Bake at 325 for 36 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill at least 3 hours.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 136

Fat: 6.9g

Cholesterol: 33mg

Sodium: 92mg

Carbohydrate: 16g

Fiber: 0.5g

Protein: 2.9g

Raspberry-Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt

"On Saturday he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice cream cone..."

One of our favorite but least used wedding gifts was an ice cream maker so when I started thinking about the ice cream cone possibilities I got really excited. In fact I found SO many possible ice cream recipes that we have decided to make ice cream all summer long! My recommendation for this one is to freeze it over night. It was super melty but delicious. Husband is not a huge fan of raspberries so he didn't like it as much since the raspberries are definitely the main flavor in this frozen yogurt. It is super tart which is a plus for me and the mini chocolate chips are a great contrast. Thing 1 enjoyed helping to make this with us and was VERY interested in the ice cream maker. I loved it. Great low cal dessert! 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Source: Eating Well

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 3 cups fresh or frozen (not thawed) raspberries
• 2 cups low-fat plain yogurt
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ cup chocolate chips preferably mini

Directions

1. Place raspberries, yogurt, sugar and vanilla in a food processor and process until smooth.
2. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker (or see “No Ice Cream Maker?” below). Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions, or until desired consistency. Add chocolate chips during the last 5 minutes of freezing. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until ready to serve. No Ice Cream Maker? Pour the mixture into a 9-by-13-inch pan and place in the freezer. Stir every few hours, until the mixture is firm along the edges and semi-firm in the center, 2 to 6 hours (using frozen berries will shorten the freezing time). Transfer to a food processor and process until smooth. Transfer to an airtight container, stir in chocolate chips, cover and freeze until ready to serve.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 147

Fat: 4 g

Cholesterol: 4 m

Carbohydrate: 25 g

Fiber: 4 g

Protein: 4 g

Strawberry Italian Ice

"On Thursday he ate through four strawberries, but he was still hungry."

Chalk this up as an execution problem. Doesn't really look like Italian ice does it? It was more of a jam smoothie. Oops. Husband made this and he thinks he used too much apple juice. Could be why it didn't set like it should. I think we'll try it again sometime. Good flavor though. As is it was a 3.5 out of 5 stars but we will rerate it when we try again.

Source: Nikee Huntington, Santa Rosa, CA

Ingredients

• ¾ cups unsweetened apple juice unsweetened apple juice concentrate
• 1 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 2 pints of fresh strawberries hulled and halved
• Fresh mint (optional)

Directions

1. In a blender or food processor, combine the apple juice concentrate, lemon juice and strawberries; cover and process until blended. Pour into an ungreased 8 inch square dish. Cover and freeze for 1 - 1 1/2 hours or until partially set.
2. Spoon into a large bowl; beat on medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Return to dish; freeze for 2 - 3 hours, until firm.
3. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh mint leaves if desired.
4. Makes 5 servings
5. 1 serving = 3/4 cup

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 109

Fat: 1g

Cholesterol: 0

Sodium: 12mg

Carbohydrate: 27g

Fiber: 3g

Protein: 1g

Guilt Free Double Chocolate Brownies

This is the first of our contest recipes and it will be hard to compete with! We decided to make brownie bites in a mini muffin pan instead of using a regular Pyrex. It cut the calories by about 20 since the servings were smaller. I also cheated and melted the butter in the microwave instead of on the stove. Karyn told me that these "got better with age" which is definitely true. We made them Thursday night and each tried one then and then took them on our anniversary picnic Friday night and they were a way better consistency. I ate mine with raspberries because I think everything tastes better with fresh raspberries. Since I typically only like brownies from a mix I was pleasantly surprised that these were a 5 out of 5 stars!

Source: Karyn Snodgrass, Manchester, NH

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 4 TBSP Butter
• 2/3 C. Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 C Cold Water
• 1 TSP vanilla
• 1 C. All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 C Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1 TSP Baking Powder
• 1/4 C. Mini Semisweet Chocolate Pieces
• 2 TSP Powdered Sugar

Directions

1. Makes 16
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Coat bottom of 9x9 baking pan with nonstick spray. In a medium saucepan, melt butter; remove from heat. Stir in sugar, water, and vanilla. Mix in flour cocoa powder, and baking powder until combined. Add chocolate pieces. Pour batter into pan; bake for 15 -18 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 111

Fat: 4g

Carbohydrate: 18g

Fiber: 1g

Protein: 1g

Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

Ever since I was pregnant with Thing 2 I've been craving good Oatmeal Raisin cookies. I tried a different recipe when we started this healthy eating thing and it was only ok. I decided to google 'cooking light oatmeal raisin cookies' and this is what I found. Since we had all of the ingredients thing 1 and I strapped on our aprons and tried it out tonight. It is a great kid-helper recipe since it is mostly just measure, dump and mix and of course then you have someone who actually needs the extra calories to lick the beater. Husband non-verbally protested oatmeal raisin when I suggested it but later said they "hit the spot." He and thing 1 both had 2 cookies. 4.5 out of 5 but remember to only eat one cookie... per day.

Makes 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup butter or stick margarine softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup regular oats
• 1/2 cup raisins
• Cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Beat first 6 ingredients at medium speed of a mixer until light and fluffy. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Add flour and oats to egg mixture; beat until blended. Stir in raisins. Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on pan for 3 minutes. Remove cookies from pan; cool on wire racks.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 101

Fat: 28%

Cholesterol: 16mg

Sodium: 43mg

Carbohydrate: 17.3g

Fiber: 0.6g

Protein: 1.5g

Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Since tonight was left overs night you get your weekly dessert recipe. Instead of cutting out sweets altogether we try one "healthy" dessert a week. If you are someone who cannot eat just one cookie you might just want to skip it but if you are craving something sweet and can eat one and take the rest to your coworkers or neighbors than this is a great recipe. Everyone that has tried these cookies (with the exception of our super sweet super picky 11 year old niece) has loved them. And the good news is one cookies is under my acceptable snack calorie allowance. Just be aware that this recipe is supposed to make 24 cookies and one cookie is a serving. They are not going to be large. An overwhelming 5 out of 5 stars.

 

Recipe from Cooking Light

Ingredients

• 1 cup flaked sweetened coconut
• 4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 2 ounces dark chocolate (70% cacao) chopped
• Cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Arrange coconut in a single layer in a small baking pan. Bake at 350 for 7 minutes or until lightly toasted, stirring once. Set aside to cool.
3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk until blended. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Beat in vanilla and egg. Add flour mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Stir in toasted coconut and chocolate.
4. Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until bottoms of cookies just begin to brown. Remove from pan, and cool completely on wire racks.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 88

Fat: 3.8g

Cholesterol: 12mg

Sodium: 38mg

Carbohydrate: 13g

Fiber: 0.4g

Protein: 1g