There’s something so incredibly delicious about Mexican hot chocolate. If you’ve never had it, you must try it. At first all you taste is delicious, creamy chocolate and then, something special happens – a kick of heat. Oh yeah. It’s unexpectedly tasty and leaves you wanting another sip. That hot chocolate is great, but when it’s summer, I’m not in the mood for hot beverages. How else, then, could I celebrate those flavors? Well, through yogurt, of course – with this Mexican Hot Chocolate Yogurt with Berries.
I always have, and I likely always will. In fact, I’m convinced I’ll be the old lady at the nursing home hoarding cookies and scarfing them down in my rocking chair, collecting a pile of crumbs on my nylon pants. Hopefully it’ll be a nursing home with a good housekeeper. 😉
But, I digress. My point is, besides tasting awesome, there’s just something special about a good cookie. It evokes happy childhood memories and can make a day that wasn’t so great, pretty awesome. While my heart belongs to the chocolate chip cookie, I also have a big place in my heart for the oatmeal cookie. Oatmeal and chocolate is actually a favorite of mine too, go figure. But, because a certain someone in New York said she needed an oatmeal cookie recipe, I wanted to be creative and “think outside the box” with this recipe. It didn’t take long for me to come up with Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal Cookies. No chocolate, but still so delicious.
Are cookies a health food?
Oh no, no they’re not. But here’s the deal. Cookies exist because of that special-ness I mentioned above. So, you must enjoy them on occasion. How can I say this as a dietitian? Well, because I am a real person. I know that we all need to treat ourselves and I know that we can do it in a way that won’t destroy all of the other good things we’ve done to nourish our bodies. So, here’s the deal. Use some whole wheat flour, get rid of some of the sugar and keep the portion small.
Now treat yourself by making and enjoying these Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal Cookies!
And here, the beauty shots of my Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal Cookies:
A classic oatmeal cookie made with dried apples and plenty of cinnamon.
Ingredients
Scale
1/2 cup all purpose flour (75g)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (77g)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened (I used salted butter)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped dried apple (about 1 ounce)
3/4 cup rolled oats (183 grams)
1/4 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350’F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, whip the butter until creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the granulated sugar and the brown sugar. Blend about 1-2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined, about 20 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again, then add the flour mixture. Blend on low speed until just combined. Add the apple, oats and pecans and mix until just combined.
Drop dough by the rounded spoonful (about 20 grams per cookie) on the prepared cookie sheets, a couple of inches apart from each other. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool slightly on the pan before moving to a rack to cool.
