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Stuffed Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

YumSugar — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:08:11 -0700

YumJimmy recently had a birthday, and to help him celebrate, I thought I'd send him off to work with some sweet treats for his co-workers. Last year's treat was an intense labor of love, so this year I decided to take it easy.

I was inspired by the million-dollar winning Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe and used it, along with a delicious peanut butter recipe from Melissa Murphy's new book, to come up with some treats. The cookies are deliciously chewy peanut butter cookies, with chocolate chips and a surprise mini Reese's Peanut Cup in the middle. To make these treats for yourself, read more.

I used the recipe below and made three different types of cookies. First I used 1/3 of the dough and made regular peanut butter cookies as instructed. Next I used another 1/3 of the dough and shoved a mini peanut butter cup in the middle. Finally I used the last of the dough, added a few handfuls of chocolate chips, and then shoved a peanut butter cup into that. These were the favorite, although the plain recipe is quite delicious.

The baking time didn't change: It was about 12 minutes for all three types. In total I made 18 cookies. There are captions on all of the photos if you're wondering how to make the variations.

Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
From The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy

Ingredients

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Position a rack in the top and bottom thirds of your oven. Preheat the oven to 325F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the peanut butter with the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in the egg.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture and mix until combined. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl so that everything is combined evenly.
Scoop dough by the rounded tablespoonful and roll into balls. Place the balls about 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets, and press down slightly. Using a fork dipped in flour, press down on the cookies first one way and then the other to form an "X" pattern, creating the crosshatch effect. (The cookies should now measure approximately 2 inches in diameter.) Bake for 10 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden. Overbaking will cause these chewy cookies to become crunchy, so try to avoid it.

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Your Healthy Food Swaps

FitSugar — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:00:27 -0800

Since decadent foods like ice cream, baked treats, and fried foods tend to be high in the calorie department, it's good to have a few healthy food swap ideas up your sleeve. Here are some shared by fellow FitSugar readers.

"Avocado instead of mayo . . . sure it may have fat in it but it's healthy fat and tastes delicious. Hummus instead of cream in sauces and soups . . . adds a ton of flavor and protein." - mamasitamalita
"I use balsamic vinegar (not vinaigrette) on my salads without any oil. It gives the same powerful flavor kick but for a lot less calories." - laellavita
"Replace ranch dressing on my salad with cottage cheese." - genipher85

For more great ideas, keep reading

Stuffed Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

YumSugar — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:36:49 -0700

Full captions on the pics!

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Cookies For Breakfast? The Children's Table Says Yes

LilSugar — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:00:40 -0700

Kids are lil cookie monsters, but before you think chocolate chip, peanut butter, or snickerdoodles, consider whipping up a batch of the breakfast variety. Over at The Children's Table, one of LilSugar's community groups, GirlC posted this healthful recipe for the mom-tested and tot-approved breakfast drop cookies.

The munchies contain high fiber and nutrient-rich ingredients like bran cereal, carrots, and raisins. The perfect handheld morning meal can be munched on at preschool or anytime kiddos are on the go. If you're looking for a place to share recipes (like bean burgers and lasagna mash) or tips and tricks about feeding children, join The Children's Table!

Healthy Recipe: PMS Banana Oatmeal Cookies

FitSugar — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 05:50:05 -0700

When monthly moodiness strikes, I fight back with baking. Having fought the symptoms of PMS in the past by making a batch of banana muffins, I went to the kitchen to see if I could bake a cookie to ease my symptoms. I created a pretty healthy oatmeal cookie that you can eat relatively guilt-free when the craving strikes.

Calcium, magnesium, and vitamin B6 have been found to fight the moodiness that often rides in on the "crimson wave," along with breast tenderness and bloating. Aside from the cramp-busting mineral potassium, bananas contain vitamin B6, as does oatmeal. Peanuts are high in magnesium and add a little protein to these cookies as well as a bit of calcium. Omega-3s ease cramping, so I added some flax meal into the mix. Flax also adds a bit more B6. Nothing related to PMS would be complete without a bit of chocolate, so I added some chocolate chips too.

Check out the recipe and the nutritional information on these cookies when you read more.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies For PMS
Inspired by Cooking Light

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas
1/2 cup butter softened
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup flax meal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup peanuts
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray cookie sheets with cooking spray.
Cream together bananas, butter, and sugars with a mixer. Add vanilla and eggs, stir until well combined.
In a separate bowl whisk together flour, flax meal, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Add dry ingredients to banana mixture and mix well. Stir in oats, peanuts, and chocolate chips.
Drop tablespoon-size balls of dough onto greased cookie sheets. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until browned. Cool on sheet for two minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

Makes 48 cookies.

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I halved the sugar content in these cookies, since it is best to avoid simple sugars in the battle with PMS. The banana provides sweetness and lowers the fat content, so the cookies require only one stick of butter rather than two. Enjoy one or two cookies with a glass of milk to get even more calcium. Sure do hope they help stabilize your mood and satisfy your craving for something sweet.

All-Natural Cookie Love

FitSugar — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:45:00 -0700

Nestle's refrigerated cookie dough is an brilliant idea, and it's tempting to buy because they make it so easy to make "homemade cookies" in a flash. If you peek at the ingredients though, you'll find the dreaded partially hydrogenated oil. So what's a cookie lover in a rush to do? Check out Cookie Love. It's a family-owned cookie company that sells all-natural frozen cookie dough.

The cookie dough contains only ingredients you would use to bake the cookies yourself. This way you can get that fresh out-of-the-oven taste, without all the work. If you don't have the time to bake them, you can also order premade cookies.

I baked up a batch of the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies. Want to see what they look like and check out the nutritional info? Then read more.

Believe me when I say that these were one of the best cookies I've ever tasted. They were sweet and chewy, and they had a smooth peanut butter taste.

The roll of dough made 12 cookies. Check out the nutritional info for one cookie in four of their most popular flavors.

I know these aren't exactly healthy and something you'd eat every day, but for a treat, they really satisfy your cookie craving without hydrogenated oil. Plus I feel good eating them knowing they're made just like my grandma would make them.

	Chocolate Chip	Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip	Triple Chocolate Chip	Oatmeal with Dried Cranberries
Calories	170	180	180	160
Total Fat	8g	10g	9g	7g
Saturated Fat	3.5g	4g	4g	2.5g
Cholesterol	20mg	25mg	20mg	20mg
Sodium	160mg	90mg	115mg	135mg
Carbs	23g	20g	22g	23g
Fiber	less than 1g	1g	1g	1g
Sugar	14g	12g	15g	12g
Protein	2g	3g	2g	2g

You can order frozen dough (that gets shipped to you the next day) or fresh baked cookies by calling 802-425-8181. One roll of frozen dough costs $7 plus shipping, or you can order a dozen cookies in a cute lunch box tin ($29.95), or an 18-cookie sampler ($21.95). I know these are a little pricey, but their homemade taste and ingredients make them totally worth it.

A Month of Cookies Roundup

YumSugar — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 09:01:52 -0700

Last month was National Cookie Month and, in case you didn't know, we featured a different cookie recipe each day. If you missed any of them, then you're in luck, we've compiled them all for you right here. There were some basics like snickerdoodles and shortbread, but there were also some new finds like potato chip cookies. So check out the list - there are 32, one for each day and one extra! - and see what strikes your fancy!

Introducing the One and Only

YumSugar — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:03:51 -0700

A little while ago, I was browsing the candy aisle at Circuit City - I know, weird place to look for candy, but I was there waiting for someone else to make a purchase - when I came across a candy I had never seen before. Called 1&Only, it was a monstrous offering of Chocolate Chip Cookies, Peanut Butter Cups, Oreos, M&Ms, white chocolate chips, and more chocolate. It sounded a bit awful, so naturally I had to buy one.

So how was it? To find out and see close-up pictures, read more.

Well for starters, there are two individual stacks inside. One is a piece of chocolate, stacked with a peanut butter cup, stacked with a chocolate chip cookie and then dotted with some M&Ms. The other is chocolate, stacked with a peanut butter cup, an Oreo, and the sprinkled with white chocolate chips. And based on the description, it should have been delicious. Yet somehow it was just not. It was more gluttonous than anything else. One big sugar bomb, no individual flavors. The calories (240 for both pieces) were comparable to several other candy bars, but personally I'd rather eat a regular Reese's Peanut Butter Cup than this one.

However, if you want to give it a try, here are some retailers that stock the products. Or, you could buy your own, and sandwich them together yourself. Check out what they look like by clicking on the photos below.

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Girl Scout Cookie Breakdown

FitSugar — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 04:00:00 -0700

It's that time of the year again. They're posted on nearly every street corner, and with more stands than there are Starbucks these sweet temptations are unavoidable. Yes, I'm talking about Girl Scout Cookie season.

I am not going to tell you to avoid them, since I've got a box of Thin Mints chilling in my freezer as we speak, but just be aware of the choices you make with this breakdown and practice moderation and self control. In case you didn't know, there are two bakers that make the cookies, ABC and Little Brownie, so I've added all variations from both bakers.

To see the full breakdown then read more.

Cookie	Serving Size	Fat (g)	Saturated Fat (g)	Calories	Sugar (g)	Carbs (g)	Fiber (g)
All Abouts	3 cookies	7	4	150	9	21	less than 1
Caramel deLites	2 cookies	7	6	140	13	19	1
Cinna-Spins	15 cookies	2	1	100	8	19	less than 1
Do-Si-Dos	2 cookies	5	1.5	110	8	15	less than 1
Lemon Chalet Cremes	2 cookies	6	2	160	12	24	0
Lemonades	2 cookies	7	4	150	9	22	0
Peanut Butter Patties	2 cookies	8	5	150	10	17	less than 1
Peanut Butter Sandwich	3 cookies	6	2.5	160	8	26	less than 1
Samoas (Little Brownie Bakers)	2 cookies	8	5	150	11	19	less than 1
Shortbread	4 cookies	4.5	2	120	4	19	less than 1
Sugar Free Chocolate Chips	3 cookies	9	3	160	0	22	2
Tagalongs (Little Brownie Bakers)	2 cookies	10	4	150	8	14	1
Thanks-A-Lot	2 cookies	6	3.5	150	9	22	less than 1
Thin Mints (ABC Bakers)	4 cookies	8	6	160	11	22	less than 1
Thin Mints (Little Brownie Bakers)	4 cookies	7	4.5	150	10	20	1
Trefoils	5 cookies	7	2	150	6	20	less than 1

Alternative Baking Company

FitSugar — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:45:00 -0700

Are you a cookie lover? Then have I got a cookie for you. If you haven't yet, you've got to try the cookies made by Alternative Baking Company, Inc.

All their cookies are vegan, which means they are made without eggs, honey, milk, or butter - but I tell you, you wouldn't know it unless I told you. Since the cookies contain no animal products, they are also cholesterol free. Even though it is a vegan cookie, it is still a cookie with fat and a considerable amount of calories.

Alternative Baking Company uses no artificial ingredients, refined sugars, hydrogenated oils, or preservatives. The cookies are made with organic wheat flour, but they also make wheat free cookies using organic barley flour.

Check out the multitude of flavors: Explosive Espresso Chip, Peanut Butter Persuasion, Phenomenal Pumpkin Spike, and Outrageous Oatmeal Raisin. My two favorites happen to be wheat free - Mac the Chip (made with chocolate chips and whole macadamia nuts) and Snickerdoodle (delightfully cinnamon flavored).

Want to see the nutritional breakdown for one of these cookies? Then read more

Serving Size	1/2 a cookie
Calories	250
Total Fat	10g
Saturated Fat	4g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	200mg
Carbs	35g
Fiber	3g
Sugar	20g
Protein	4g

So really it is the breakdown for 1/2 a cookie!!! The Alternative Baking Company has faith in you that you can eat just half a cookie. These cookies will satisfy your sweet cravings and they are made with ingredients you trust and have heard of (unlike other cookies).

Fit's Tips: Look for them at your favorite health food store. Can't find them? You can order them directly from the Alternative Baking Company website.