Kid Bake Vegan Cookies

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and saved it for a rainy day. I didn't know the rainy day would come so soon but luckily we had the ingredients on hand.  The recipe claimed that this was a great recipe to let kids do on their own because there were no eggs involved (meaning kids could lick away on the spoons without any worries).  

I let my 4 year old try this thing out. She did the dumping, stirring, mixing, and even putting on the pan.  My son was invited but he was more interested in:

1.  playing trains

2.  aggravating his sister while she did the cooking

Alas, we were able to make them and surprisingly enough they were delicious!!! My husband had at least 4 after dinner (I'm not condoning that I'm just saying he did it).

So the pictures for the post are not really of the recipe but more of my daughter cooking and the mess she made. But you know what? It was storming and this made her forget that we were stuck inside so I call it a win/win!

Here's What You Need:

-1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 1/8 tsp salt

- 1/2 cup salted butter softened (Ok I didn't have a whole stick of butter but it was close and I melted it because I am lazy)

- 1/4 cup white sugar

- 1/2 cup honey

- 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Here's What You Do:

1.  Preheat oven to 300 and grease a cookie sheet to prepare

2.  Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside (be prepared to see flour fly!)

3.  Combine the butter, sugar, and honey and blend.

4.  Add in the chocolate chips and stir or blend but don't over mix

5.  Drop onto baking sheet (these will spread so spread them out - we didn't and we had a lot of separating to do) and bake 18-20 minutes (mine took 20)

I really was surprised at how yummy these are. I just figured it would be something the kids would nibble on for fun but I enjoyed them. I think it will be my go-to chocolate chip recipe from now on.

 

See no worries? They can lick away and I don't care. Pardon that we are in our swim suits in these pics. We made it half way to the pool before the thunder kicked in.  Let me know what you think if you try these out. And show me the mess your kids make baking!  Mine had a blast but it did require some clean up for sure.

Enjoy!

 Original recipe here:  http://www.smartschoolhouse.com/eats-and-sweets/chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe-for-kids/2

Peanut Butter Cookies

I pack my hubby's lunch for work every night. It is an easy way for us to use dinner left overs and save a few bucks (plus I figure if I have to eat at home - he can't be going out every day too right?) I digress.  I usually pack him a couple of cookies as an after lunch treat and we were out of his favorite kind this week, Fig Newtons. In a scramble, I looked up easy cookie recipes and found this gem. They are super easy to make, dairy free, grain free, and delicious.

Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

These breakfast cookies are a big hit in my clean eating challenge groups. They are filling, delicious, and kid friendly.  Not only that but these cookies are completely clean and vegan so you know what you are eating and you know it is good for you.  I give these to my kids without any concerns.  I do need to admit - we don't actually eat them for breakfast - we eat them all day long!  I think they would make a great breakfast warmed up with a dab of peanut butter on top but we haven't tried it yet. We usually have these as an afternoon snack or a treat after lunch.  They really are a versatile cookie and you can use whatever you have in the pantry to make it work for you. I am going to include the original recipe but I'm writing up how I make them personally (and you know it is going to include some chocolate).

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookie for Kids (or you!)

So you know I eat my three ingredient cookies everyday (ok usually two a day!) But I don’t feel guilty about that. They are only about 45 calories a piece and made from completely clean ingredients –no dairy, no oil, just deliciousness. 

Well while scrolling through pinterest during our snow days here recently I saw a new twist on the same cookie idea. The difference? These are peanut butter and jelly cookies instead of chocolate chips cookies. Now I love chocolate chips but not everyone in my family is quite as addicted so I thought this might be a good change for them.  And my kids love pb&j so why not a pb&j cookie?

So here is the recipe. It is easy, quick, and you can feel great about your kids having one or two cookies a day if they are made with these ingredients!

Simple & Sweet Sugar Cookies

DH and I have had the conversation recently about sugar cookies.  They're his favorite.  We've been together for over 13 years and this is the first I've heard of it.  You learn something new every day, right?  I've got to admit I love his classic style because I'm all about "doctoring" up everything to the max... you know like triple chocolate fudge and chocolate chips and Oreos AND almonds in my ice cream ;)  The man loves himself a simple sugar cookie with a sugary crust.  Ahh, I'm in love. In honor of his recent birthday, I decided I'd try to make him these.  I have never made homemade sugar cookies, thinking they'd be really hard to make.  We've been settling for the slice and bake variety.  Which albeit are good, but have some weird ingredients.  Yeah. These have sugar, butter, flour, eggs, vanilla, baking soda & the weirdest thing... cream of tartar ;)  I think he about died when he tasted the first one hot out of the oven.  Crunchy from being rolled in sugar and a sweet buttery vanilla flavor... Swoon.  Birthday score for me! This recipe makes A TON.  I got 46 medium sized cookies to be exact.  So... I made 20 and froze the rest for my very own homemade version of the slice and bake variety!  Disclaimer:  I don't have pictures of steps along the way in case these didn't turn out.  The original recipe calls for a stand mixer and mixing "just so" and I didn't have time last night to do all that.  Well, folks, I'm glad to say you don't have to!  These turn out FABULOUS with a little elbow grease!! YAY!

"Two" Ingredient Cookies

Ok for some reason I have had a SERIOUS sweet tooth this week. I mean the - hide the bag of chocolate chips or I will inhale it - kind of sweet tooth.  So since I do NOT believe in deprivation (only leads to over eating later), I decided to satisfy my sweet tooth in a healthy way. This leads to a quick bonus blog post for you!  I found these on Pinterest and I have always loved them. I kinda forgot about them so I was happy to pull out the recipe and try again this afternoon.

Here is the low down. They are called two ingredient cookies but for me they are always three ingredients because I always always make them with chocolate chips.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal No-Bake Cookies

Happy Holidays!!  Yes.  The season has officially begun - it's my favorite time of the year!  We are having our first ever cookie swap.  So excited!  My wonderful DH was more than happy to be the guinea pig for my new recipe ;)  Let me tell you... we ate pretty much the entire recipe in one weekend.  I made these Friday night - Monday night there are 3 left.  Yep.  Good thing they're calorie free on the weekends... ah hem.  Haha!  Needless to say these scrumptious cookies are the ones I'm taking to the cookie swap.  Hope you have a happy and healthy holiday season - take some time to enjoy the small things this time of year!

Update - Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie

An update worthy of another post.  Mmmmm {insert drooling mouth here}... My in-laws are in town and the Little One is asleep.  Yes, I said ASLEEP.  He's been asleep since 7:45.  A HUGE FEAT for one who holds out until 10:30 or 12:30, sometimes 2:30 at night.  I'm still holding my breath. I had a sudden urge for chocolate.  Surprise surprise.  I quickly searched the blog labels and found the 1 cookie recipe.  Ooh yeah.  This little baby right here. The updates I used: instead of 1 cup dark chocolate chips ----- 1 cup MINI semisweet chocolate chips instead of baking 11 minutes ----- bake 13 minutes for an even crispier cookie instead of melting the butter ----- I softened the butter with 15 second bursts in the microwave {because I was too stubborn to wait for butter to soften on the counter - a girl's gotta have her chocolate Friday night, heck - any night - fix :)} Cheers to Friday night! ~ p.s. ~   I had some dough left over - enough for about 4 cookies - and I stuck it in the freezer for a little experiment.  I'm trying it out for all you lads out there to see if we can freeze this delicious batter.  A frozen cookie readily available might just make any bad day better!  I'll let you know how it turns out!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Be still my heart.

These things are fabulous!  Not too sweet ... annnnd they have oats and dark chocolate chips, so it makes them healthy, right??  Please join in the collective chorus "Yeeessss" :)

No, seriously, I was looking for something for desert tonight.  I wanted something good.  {Insert: hands-on-hips-staring-at-pantry-while-whining look here}

I did a google search that lead me to these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  They are devine! Not too sweet, not too heavy.  They certainly hit the spot!  This is the first time I've ever made homemade cookies by myself.  I looooooove looooove love oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  I love the oatmeal part of oatmeal raisin, but hate the warm raisins.  This is the perfect complement.