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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, November 5, 2008

A seasonal cookie better for your waist

 •  Time for Take-out turkey

By Kathy Manweiler
McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Today's seasonal cookie recipe will treat both your taste buds and your waistline well.

The original cookie landed on Epicurious.com's most-popular recipe list recently, so I wanted to see if I could keep cookie's flavor while making it healthier.

First, I reduced the amount of butter and added some drained applesauce. Using a little extra vanilla let me subtract some sugar.

My alterations to this recipe trimmed the calories by 30 percent and cut the fat by 41 percent.

You can have two of these pumpkin applesauce cookies for 96 calories and 2 grams of fat.

KATHY'S PUMPKIN APPLESAUCE COOKIES

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour

  • 1 cup white whole-wheat flour

  • 1 1/3 cups quick-cooking oats, uncooked

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

  • 1/4 cup butter, softened

  • 1/2 cup no-sugar-added applesauce, drained (you'll need about 3/4 cup applesauce from the jar to get this amount)

  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed Splenda brown sugar blend

  • 1/2 cup sugar

  • 1 cup canned pumpkin

  • 1/4 cup egg substitute

  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

  • 3/4 cup raisins

    Put a fine sieve into a bowl large enough so the sieve doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl, then spoon the applesauce into the sieve. Let the applesauce stand for about 30 minutes, then scoop 1/2 cup of the drained applesauce from the sieve.

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

    In a medium bowl, combine flours, oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg and mix well. In a second larger bowl, beat together butter, 1/2 cup of drained applesauce, brown sugar blend and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in pumpkin, egg substitute and vanilla extract. Gradually fold in flour mixture until well combined. Gently fold in raisins. Drop teaspoons of batter onto nonstick cookie sheets. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until cookies are light brown on the bottom. The cookies will have a cake-like texture. Let cool on wire racks, then store in an air-tight container.

    Makes 5 dozen cookies.

  • Per cookie: 48 calories, 1 g fat, 9 g carbohydrate, 0.6 g fiber, 1 g protein, 2 mg cholesterol, 43 mg sodium

    This recipe was adapted from one at www.Epicurious.com.