Ginger Cookies with Essential Oils

Today I got together with some friends for a cookie exchange. I was so excited for it and knew I wanted to start experimenting again. It took several times to get this recipe just right. There isn't much out there to help with conversions when working with essentials oils. They are much more concentrated than dried herbs, so it's a little tricky when trying to substitute them. But it was worth it! I even had someone try one that didn't like ginger cookies and he liked these. I hope you like them as much and I did!

Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable oil *

1 1/2 cup evaporated cane juice

1/4 cup full flavored molasses

3 eggs

3 drops cinnamon bark essential oil**

2 drops ginger essential oil**

2 drops clove bud essential oil**

3 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350* F. In a mixer, combine oil, eggs, molasses, and essential oils and mix well. Then add the evaporated cane juice and mix for 1 to 2 minutes until light brown in color. In a separate bowl add flour, baking soda and salt and combine well. While the mixer is on, slowly add the flour mixture. Once all added, scrap down sides to make sure all ingredients combine well and mix again. The mixture will be sticky. Use a small ice cream scoop to form small balls. Roll each ball into a bowl of extra evaporated cane juice. Place 12 balls on a sprayed cookie sheet. Press each ball slightly with the bottom of a class cup. Bake for 8-9 minutes. If you over bake they will not be soft. Enjoy warm or cold, and Happy Healthier Eating!!

*if you use coconut oil, make sure it is in a liquid state and you will need to add a few more tablespoons or the batter will be crumbly.

**When adding essential oils while cooking measure them out on a spoon before adding them to any mixture. Some oils tend to come out quicker than others and you don't want to ruin a whole batch because you added to many drops. 

Fun Food Find Friday!!

I love cookies. I love to eat them. I love to make them. And when they are good enough I even like to buy them from the store. These KinniTOOS are really quite good. I was surprise to be honest. A lot of gluten free treats like these have funny textures to them. Especially when these are also dairy free, casein free, and nut free. These cookies are a little addicting and the cookie part isn't as crumbly as most gluten free cookies. I enjoyed them, my kids loved them.

I found them at the health food stores and you can also order them online at their website http://www.kinnikinnic.com/

Tahitian French Macarons

These are sinfully delicious!! I've made them several times and I've taken them to baby showers and to neighbors. All of the reactions are the same, "Don't these have tons of coconut in them" nope, "Are you sure these are gluten free?" yep, "They're not really fat free are they?" pretty close. The texture is so fun, crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. I didn't change that much from the original recipe for the macaron base except for the rootbeer variation (click here for original recipe), but I used a completely different filling to make them almost fat free. Try these you'll love them!! Oh and I've frozen them and they freeze great! Just thaw and they taste like you've just made them.
Tahitian French Macarons

Macaron Base

Ingredients

3 egg whites, aged*

5 tablespoons evaporated cane juice

2/3 cup almond flour

1 1/2 cups organic powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (amount will differ with variations)

Directions

In a food processor, mix almond flour and organic powdered sugar until well mixed. Sift the mixture through sieve, and divide in half.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, whip egg white until foamy. While beating on high, slowly add evaporated cane juice. When soft peaks form, add extract and food coloring if desired. Beat until stiff peaks form, has a glossy texture, and mixture doesn't drip from the beaters.

Fold half of the almond mixture into the whipped meringue. When just blended, add additional dry mixture, folding until mixture is blended. Don't over mix. Place mixture in a piping bag fitted with round tip, or a large zip lock bag and cut off one corner. On a parchment lined baking sheet, pip small circles, about the size of a quarter. Once cookie sheet is full, tap sheet firmly against the counter, or flat surface. This helps the macaron to get it's pied shape.

Let dry, uncovered for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 300* F. Once they have sat for 30 minutes bake for 15-17 minutes. Tap cookie sheet firmly against the counter one more time before baking. Cool completely. Pipe a small amount of meringue frosting (see recipe below) on flat side of macaron, top with other half making a sandwich. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

*Aged egg whites: covered and set at room temperature overnight. (left mine out for about 3 hours and they were at room temperature)

Meringue Frosting

Ingredients

6 tablespoons evaporated cane juice

1 large egg white

1 1/2 tablespoons water

1/4 teaspoons cream of tartar

pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (amount will differ with variations)

Directions

Bring a few inches of water to boil in a sauce pan that can hold an electric mixer bowl above the water. Whisk the evaporated cane juice, egg white, water, cream of tartar, and salt in the bowl by hand. Set the bowl above the boiling water and beat with an electric hand mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form, about 9 minutes. Remove from the heat; beat in the vanilla. Pour into a piping bag fitted with a round tip, or a large zip lock bag cutting off on of the corners.

Variations:

Rootbeer Float

-Use 1 teaspoon Rootbeer extract in place of vanilla to the macaron base

-Don't change anything with the meringue frosting

Guava Raspberry

-Use 1/2 teaspoon raspberry extract and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract in place of the vanilla, and 3 drops pink food coloring to the macaron base

-Use 2 -3 tablespoons frozen guava passion fruit concentrate to meringue frosting in place of vanilla, and 2 drops pink food coloring to the meringue frosting.

Kiwi Lime

-Use 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and zest of 1 lime in place of vanilla, and 5 drops neon green food coloring to the macaron base

-Use 3 tablespoons kiwi puree and 4 drops neon green food coloring to the meringue frosting. (For every 1 kiwi I pureed I added 3 teaspoons evaporated cane juice)

Pina Colada

-Use 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon banana extract in place of vanilla and 5 drops of yellow food coloring to the macaron base

-Use 2-3 tablespoons frozen Pina Colada concentrate (Bacardi's) in place of vanilla to the meringue frosting.

Banana Cream Pie

-Use 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon banana extract in place of vanilla and 5 drops of yellow food coloring to the macaron base.

-Don't change anything with the meringue frosting.

Double Chocolate-Peppermint Crunch Cookies

I always get excited to bake with chocolate or carob. Why you might ask. Well because I can use a black bean puree and cut the fat out almost completely! I just love being able to tell someone, after they have eaten one of my cookies that it is fat free and has fiber in it. They are always so shocked and I love it! So I was extra excited when I saw this recipe. I thought it would be a fun cookie for valentines day. We always make sugar cookies, found here, and we still will. But chocolate is a great valentines flavor so these will be great for that too! I hope you like these as much as I did. The peppermint flavor is just perfect and very addicting. I couldn't stop eating them, so I stuck them in the freezer. They freeze great! When I wanted another one, on a different day of course, I put it in the microwave for 15 seconds and it came out tasting like I just took it out of the oven! So delicious!

Double Chocolate-Peppermint Crunch Cookies

Ingredients

3 cups carob chips or bittersweet chocolate chips

2 1/4 cup low gluten flour mix

1/4 heaping cup carob powder or unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum or guar gum

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup black bean puree

1 cup evaporated cane juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

2 large eggs

4 organic candy canes (found here), coarsely crushed

Directions

Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Melt 1 3/4 cup of carob chips in medium glass bowl, go here for directions. In another bowl, whisk flour, carob powder, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum; set aside. Beat bean puree and evaporated cane juice using an electric mixer until smooth. Add both extracts; beat until smooth. Add eggs; beat to blend. Beat in melted carob chips. Add dry ingredients and blend. Stir in 1/2 cup carob chips. Dough will be sticky. Place dough in fridge while oven preheats.

Preheat oven to 375*F. Measure 1 level tablespoonful of dough; roll dough between palms to form a ball. Place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough spacing cookies 1 1/2 inches apart. With the back of a spoon, slightly push down on balls. Cookies will not spread very much. Bake cookies until cracked all over and a tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 12 minutes.

Cool cookies on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies on parchment paper to racks to cool completely. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Melt 3/4 cup carob chips in glass bowl. Spread melted carob on cookies, then sprinkle with crushed candy canes. When carob is set up, serve and enjoy!

Edit:

Lisa From "Sweet as Sugar Cookies" has invited me to put this recipe on her blog. Go check her out!

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Well, FINALLY here is my version of this recipe. I say finally because it has taken me a few tries to get them right. The flavor was always so delicious, but the cookie it self struggled just a bit. So here is the final recipe that did, and has worked.

I love this recipe not only because it is very tasty, especially if you like peanut butter, but it is also so easy to make and you can do extra things* to them to make them look like it took you hours to do. You can keep it a secret that it only took 5 minutes to mix up and then bake them. :] Have fun with them and enjoy this gluten free goodness of a cookie.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup organic peanut butter (make sure it is mixed up well, if separated)

1/2 cup evaporated cane juice

1/4 cup organic brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350*F. In a medium sized bowl combine all ingredients, the dough will be firm. Drop balls by spoon on cookie sheet. Form balls a little with your hands and then with the back side of a fork slightly press into ball making little squares. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet. Once cool remove from cookie sheet and enjoy! Makes just over 2 dozen cookies

*You can also melt carob and dip half of the cookie in melted carob. Place cookie on wax paper to cool after dipping.

* You can also drizzle melted carob over cookies while they are on wax paper for this affect.

Chocolate (Carob) Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

If you have any of your Peanut Butter cups left over this is a great way to use them. My kids love these. They also make a great gift or nice little treat to take to one of your holiday parties.

Chocolate (Carob) Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Ingredients

3 eggs

1 cup evaporated cane juice

1/2 cup organic brown sugar

1/4 cup coconut oil, solid form

3/4 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 1/2 to 4 cups LG flour mix

Homemade Carob peanut butter cups

Some carob chips just in case

Directions

Preheat oven to 375*F. Cream eggs, evaporated cane juice, brown sugar, and coconut oil. Then add salt, baking powder and soda, vanilla and 3 cups of flour. Stir in the rest of the flour adding a little at a time. The dough should still be wet but not sticky. Spray a small sized muffin tin with non stick cooking spray. Fill each hole 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 10 - 11 minutes. Remove from oven and push in the carob peanut butter cups before removing from pan. Let cool and enjoy! If you have some dough left over add some carob chips and bake them as carob chip cookies. Remember to let the dough cool in the fridge before baking them as cookies.

Chocolate (Carob) Peanut Butter Cups

I've made these a few times. This time I decided to actually write down how I was changing this recipe. It was also more fun making them this time because I went and purchased some small Peanut Butter cup molds from Fun Finity. They are so cute and perfect for another project I'm working on, post to come later. These are so delicious it will be hard to control your self and not eat all of them at once. I have to hide them from my children. They are a great little treat for this weekend, and they are a little more healthy than the store bought ones. :]

Chocolate (Carob) Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients

3/4 cup Carob chips

1/8 teaspoon coconut oil

1/4 cup organic peanut butter

1 pinch salt

2 tablespoons organic powered sugar

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Spray molds, or small muffin tin, with non stick cooking spray. Put 1 to 2 inches of water in a small pan, or bottom of your double broiler and cook on stove top on medium to low heat. In a metal bowl, or top of your double broiler, put the carob chips and coconut oil. Stir until completely melted. Spoon (or I like to use my clean finger) melted carob into molds, filling 1/4 of the way full. Using your spoon draw the carob up the sides of the molds until evenly coated. Place in freezer.

In the meantime: In a small bowl, combine peanut butter, salt, powered sugar, and vanilla. Place your bowl back on top of your pan or double broiler to keep carob melted.

Remove molds from freezer. Fill them with the peanut butter mixture, almost filling to the top. Stir melted carob, and spoon enough to cover each cup. When finished use a damp finger to smooth out the top of the cup. Then place in the freezer for a few minutes until completely set.

When set pop out of molds and enjoy!

*Makes about 28 small cups from the molds. Double recipe if using small muffin tins.

Sugar Cookies

My neighbor asked me for my recipe, really it's my mom's with some of my changes, for some sugar cookies that we had taken her. I told her it was on my blog. When I double checked I couldn't believe that it wasn't there! We make these several times through out the year. Our biggest times are Valentine's Day and Christmas.

These really are the best, and most healthy, sugar cookies you'll ever taste. They are perfectly chewy, soft, and moist, with a little extra hint of flavor from the spices. I am constantly getting compliments on them. Even if these in this picture don't look the best, not my finest hour in decorating, they do taste wonderful!

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

3 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cup evaporated cane juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup coconut oil, solid form

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

Preheat oven to 400*F. Cream together coconut oil and evaporated cane juice. Then add flour, salt, baking powder and soda. Mix in remaining ingredients until soft dough forms. Add more flour if necessary. Roll our on floured surface to 1/4" thick. Cut in desired shapes. bake for 8 minutes. These cookies do not need to brown to be done. Cool on cooling racks. Then frost and enjoy!

Mini Ginger Cookies

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Mine was fun, busy, tasty, and also tiring. :] I just love being with family!

I saw these cookies demoed on Studio 5. They looked so yummy! I like the flavor of ginger cookies but I don't like how hard they are. These cookies are very moist, chewy, and simply delicious. I've made lots already and given lots away too. :] They are very addicting and good for you. Did you know that Molasses has lots of natural iron in it? It does, so with my modifications you don't have to feel bad one bit about eating more than one of these.

Mini Ginger Cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 1/2 cup evaporated cane juice

1/4 cup full flavor molasses

2 eggs

3 cups spelt flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions

Preheat oven to 350*F. Melt coconut oil so it becomes a liquid. Add evaporated cane juice, molasses, and egg. Beat well. Sift together flour, baking soda, and spices. Add to fist mixture. Mix well; chill. Form into 1/2" balls. Roll balls in some evaporated cane juice and place on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten with the bottom of a glass. Bake for 8-10 minutes. DO NOT OVER BAKE! If you do then you will get hard cookies. Cool and enjoy!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you are in the mood for some Chocolaty (well really carob), deliciously chewy on the inside, slightly crunchy on the outside, melt in your mouth, should make you feel guilty but are practically fat free cookies, well then you've come to the right place! I love these cookies!! They don't last very long, and I never tell people what is in them until after they have eaten them. You would never guess that they are very healthy for you. When I first saw the original recipe here I just knew I could 'fix' it. Oh and after you make them, keep some hidden. On Thursday I'll tell you why you should, oh I can't to show you why!! You'll LOVE it!!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

3/4 cup LG Flour mix

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon guar gum or xantham gum

1 cup carob chips

3 tablespoons black bean puree

1/2 cup evaporated cane juice

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1/4 cup organic powdered sugar

Directions

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Melt 1/2 cup of carob chips over low heat. Cream beans and evaporated cane juice in a mixer. Add melted carob chips and vanilla; beat in egg. Then add flour mixture and remaining carob chips and mix. Cover bowl with plastic rap and place in freezer until firm, about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350*F. Put organic powdered sugar into zip lock bag. Take bowl out of freezer. Using a spoon, spoon out small balls of dough, about 1 inch. Put balls into organic powdered sugar, one at a time, close the bag, and shake until ball is covered. Place onto slightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

*I like to put the dough back into the freezer inbetween baking. That way the dough stays nice and cold before baking to prevent too much spreading.

Whole Wheat Version

Ingredients
3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup carob chips

3 tablespoon black bean puree

1/2 cup evaporated cane juice

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1/4 cup organic powder sugar

Directions
Follow the same directions as the Low Gluten Version

Hamp & Jean's Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is another amazing cookie recipe from my Grandma McArthur. I guess my Grandpa helped with these since his name appears in the title, but I'm not quite sure about that. Besides being very delicious, the dough of these cookies freezes very well. This picture was taken from frozen dough. I didn't let them warm up before I baked them. So that is why they look a little on the square side. What can I say I needed a cookie fix and I needed it right now!

Hamp & Jean's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

3 eggs

3/4 cup evaporated cane juice

3/4 cup organic brown sugar

1/4 cup coconut oil, solid form

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 package carob chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 375*F. Cream eggs, evaporated cane juice, organic brown sugar, and coconut oil together. Add salt, baking powder, vanilla and 1 cup flour. Stir in 1-2 cups more flour until dough is still wet but not sticky. Thoroughly mix in carob chips. Scoop spoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

Low Gluten version

Change: whole wheat flour to Low Gluten Flour mix.

Add: 2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon guar gum or xanthan gum

Make sure to cool in fridge before baking.

Low Gluten Butterscotch Banana Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies are sinfully yummy and very addicting without the sin because they are also healthy! The original recipe comes from my Grandma McArthur. She had a handful of truly amazing recipes. This one was by far one of my favorites and now with my changes I think they're even better! They do have the butterscotch chips in them so that makes them a little less healthy than I like. But butterscotch is my favorite so I had to leave a little in them. :]

Jean's (Gluten Free) Butterscotch Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups Low gluten flour mix

1/ 1/4 cup evaporated cane juice

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup solid coconut oil

2 eggs

2 cups mashed bananas

3 cups oats

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

3/4 cup butterscotch chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 375*F.

Cream evaporated cane juice, eggs, and coconut oil. Make sure to scrap sides and bottom of bowl. Add bananas and mix well. Add remaining ingredients except for the chips. When mixed well, stir in chips. Chill in fridge for 5 minutes. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto greased cookie sheet. Then bake for 10 minutes or until cookies are set in the middle. Cool on cooling rack.

Whole Wheat Butterscotch Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Here is the whole wheat version:

Ingredients
2 2/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup evaporated cane juice
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup solid coconut oil
2 eggs
2 cups mashed bananas
3 cups oats
3/4 cups butterscotch chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 375*F.
Cream evaporated cane juice, eggs and coconut oil. Make sure to scrap the sides of the bowl. Add bananas. Mix in remaining ingredients except for the chips. When mixed well, stir in chips. Spoon onto greased cookies sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool on cooling rack. Enjoy!

Hummingbird Nests

Now these are not what I would call healthy, just fun for the holiday.

In our family we do most of our Easter activities tomorrow, Saturday. So I made these bird no bake cookies today. I thought they looked cute and there wasn't much to change so my family could eat them. I thought they turned out just like the picture from familyfun.com (that is where I got the recipe). These were very easy to do and my kids were so excited to eat them. If you like coconut you'll like these.

Hummingbird Nests Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup carob chips

1 cup shredded coconut

Evaporated cane juice jelly beans

Directions

Melt carob chips, following the directions on the bag. When the carob is smooth, stir in the coconut, then drop the mixture by the heaping tablespoon onto waxed paper lined cookie sheets. While the nest are still warm, use your thumbs to poke an impression into the middle of each. If they are too sticky slightly wet you thumb first. Cool, then fill with jelly beans for the eggs.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

These cookies are so yummy! You can't even tell that they have added fiber in them! They are very chewy and have a cake like texture so they are wonderful to make homemade oreo's out of too. I got the original recipe from my Aunt Becky Oldham.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients
1/8 cup coconut oil, solid form
1/2 cup black bean puree * (you can use applesauce too**)
1 cup evaporated cane juice
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup LG flour mix
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup cocoa

Directions
Heat oven to 350*F. Cream coconut oil and Evaporated cane juice in mixing bowl. Make sure there are no large balls of coconut oil. Then add bean puree and mix well scraping the sides of the bowl. Add egg and vanilla and mix again. In a separate bowl combine LG flour, xanthan gum, baking soda and powder, salt, and cocoa. Add to wet mix a little at a time scraping the sides of the bowl as you go. The mix will be very thick and sticky more like a brownie mixture. Drop by spoonful onto a greased cookies sheet. If the batter is too sticky, cool in fridge for a few minutes, or wet spoon to prevent sticking too much to the spoon. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Do not over bake! Cookies will be soft. They rise during baking and flatten upon cooling. Cool on a cookie sheet until set 1-2 minutes then remove and enjoy!

*When making a black bean puree use the liquid from the can. If you don't you won't be able to puree the beans.

**Applesauce works just fine but you will need to put dough in fridge for a few hours before baking. If you don't then the cookies will not puff up like cookies, they will just go flat! Most cookie recipes made with low gluten or gluten free flour suggest putting the dough in the fridge first.