Easy Diabetic Raisin & Oatmeal Cookies

When I get a craving for something sweet I used to go out and buy chocolate bars and be tempted to get other fattening and sweet items at the same time. These days I'm trying to fill any cravings with made from scratch foods. In addition to the diabetic friendly chocolate chip cookies I made here, I've found this super easy raisin and oatmeal cookies. I hope you like them.

Recipe Ingredients:

•  1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (OR 1/4 cup SPLENDA Brown Sugar Blend)
•  1/4 cup margarine, softened 
•  1 egg plus 1 egg white, lightly beaten 
•  1 tablespoon thawed frozen apple juice concentrate
•  1 teaspoon vanilla 
•  1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
•  2 teaspoons baking soda 
•  1/4 teaspoon salt 
•  1 1/2 cups uncooked quick oats
• 1/2 cup raisins

Recipe Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350'F. Lightly coat cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Set it aside.

Beat sugar and margarine in large bowl. Add egg, egg white, apple juice concentrate, and vanilla; mix ingredients well. Add flour, baking soda, and salt; mix ingredients well. Stir in oats and raisins. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are very lightly browned. I was able to make 26 cookies out of this dough.

Modifications:  I didn't have any apple juice concentrate so I omitted these but added an equal part of water.  Initially I reported here that the dough was somewhat dry so I added more water until the dough was a bit sticky. I now realize that I misread the recipe mix. I forgot to add the additional egg white so that explains why my dough wasn't wet enough.  Review:  The cookies were good. Not too sweet and that is how I like it.  They were a bit on the dry side but not too bad. Next time I will measure more carefully and add the extra egg white and see if it makes a difference. I have a hunch that the margarine was not soft/melted enough but another attempt at this recipe will tell.

My roommate usually eats half a dozen cookies at a time every day until all the cookies are gone. I want to have cookies on hand for awhile so I don't have to keep baking them so this time I decided to make a second batch of chocolate chip cookies  so I could freeze some.  This time they turned out better because the dough wasn't nearly as dry so I didn't have to add any water this time.  This might have to do with using an extra large egg (more liquid in the egg) and the fact that I didn't add any nuts.

This recipe made 27 cookies. I think last time I made 30 cookies out of the same recipe.  My cookies are never that uniform in size or shape.  I can't be bothered with that unless perhaps I was sharing them with colleagues or giving them as gifts.

 By the way, do any of you know someone who has been on medication for diabetes type 2 and then had to start taking insulin injections? 

I have a friend who has had Type 2 diabetes for about 18 years. She has only been on metformin tablets to control it and now is being told she needs to start insulin injections. If you know of a  person in a similar situation, I'd be interested in hearing about it.

Chocolate Chip Cookies for Those Who Love Chocolate

Welcome to my newest follower, Snow white who lives in Nara, Japan.

Dōmo arigatō (thank you). Hajimemashite (nice to meet you).

Every since I found out I was diabetic I have not been baking as much as before. I miss baking cookies and eating a cookie while drinking my tea.  Lately it has been cold and windy here and  Tuesday night was no exception. I went on line and found this easy recipe for chocolate chip cookies.  These cookies are different from others I have tried because you add cocoa to the mixture.

Recipe Ingredients:

3/4 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 tbsp water if dough is dry ( I had to add a bit of water)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts ( I added some leftover pecan nuts as I don't have any walnuts)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

The mixed cookie batter.

Recipe Instructions:

Beat together the oil, sugar, and egg. Add the rest of the
ingredients and stir to blend well. Let stand for 10 minutes. Drop
by spoonfuls, about 1 inch apart, onto a lightly oiled baking sheet.
Bake for about 8 - 10 minutes (or until done) at about 375 F.
My batter  made 30 cookies.

There are two cookie shapes here, one round and one flattened with a fork tine.

One cookie - 106 calories, 1 starch/bread, 1 fat exchange 2 g
protein, 18 g carbohydrate, 6 g fat, 124 mg sodium

Quick & Easy Diabetic Menus by Betty Wedman, M.S., R.D. 1993 ISBN
0-8092-3853-5

These cookies were tasty and not too sweet but flavourful enough with the added cocoa. The cookies are also a bit crispy.

Baking for a Season

Welcome to my newest follower, Rachel. 
It's so nice to have you :-)

When I was browsing blogs the other day after making the loaves of bread from a fellow bloggers recipe, I also came across a blogger who made and froze chocolate chip cookies. I can't remember exactly where now but she didn't have the recipe on her blog, just a note about making Hershey's chocolate chip cookies. So on Saturday I decided to google the recipe and make them.  I also made pizza dough and pumpkin pie for tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner.

I made 4 dozen cookies in 3 different sizes. The recipe says you can get 5 dozen cookies from this recipe but I tend to make mine a little larger.

Lots of cookies for the freezer!

Here everything is marked as to the contents of the bags and the dates of the packing though I hardly think they will last past due date in the freezer.

Another view of the goods all laid out for the freezer. I saw the steam was gathering on the bread so I let that out before closing up the bag and popping it in the freezer.

This is the recipe for Pumpkin Pie for Sunday's dinner.


Ingredients

* 1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
* 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon mace (I skipped the mace because I don't generally have it on hand).
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
* 2 eggs
* 1 (398 ml) can 100% Pure Pumpkin
* 1/2 cup cream or evaporated Milk
* 3/4 milk, scalded

# Combine sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs lightly in large bowl and add cream or evaporated milk. Stir egg mixture into pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Add scalded milk and stir just until blended. Pour into chilled pie shell.
# Bake for 15 minutes in 425 degree F. oven. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F.; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately with mounds of whipped cream or refrigerate.

My pie crust is a little dark around the edges. I think the problem was I used a very deep plate and it isn't really a pie plate. it exposed too much of the pie dough to the heat. That is my guess but I could be wrong. The big mark in the middle is made by my testing whether the pie was done. Once I cut it you won't see that. I hope the pie crust takes okay. If not to my liking I will have to keep looking for a recipe that works for me.

Taste test:  The pie was actually quite good and the crust didn't taste burnt in any way. The crust was soft but it wasn't what I would consider flaky. Perhaps if I didn't have to roll it out so thin it would have been much flakier. The filling was very nice. It was not very sweet.  It was creamy and very subtle in it's flavours. It was perfect for me but others might prefer a sweeter, spicier pie filling. In that case, add a bit more sugar and another 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of the indicated spices. I tasted mine without the whipped cream and I think this would be my preferred way to eat it because it's texture is already nice and creamy.  You will probably want to have whipped cream on hand for those who love to eat pumpkin pie this way though.

On Sunday, I will be making turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy and a side dish to go along with the pumpkin pie. This will be a smaller feast than usual. I am just happy to have the bird and will use the left overs for all sorts of wonderful dishes like turkey sandwiches, turkey soup and turkey casserole. Yum! This little bird will prepare a feast for a week.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL

CANADIANS

:-))

Strawberry Biscuits

 love strawberries. Most of what we get here that is affordable is shipped in from California. The sweeter, smaller, redder locally grown berries are an astronomical price.

I did grow a few strawberries myself this year. The operative word is few.  Though they looked good, there were barely enough for a taste. I think I might try growing more strawberries next year as I really like strawberry preserves and fresh or frozen strawberries to use as dessert.

My blogging friend Lynda in Tanzania, East Africa, loves strawberries too  The other day she shared a delicious recipe at her blog for strawberry cookies. I would never think to put strawberries into a cookie myself so I promptly decided to try the recipe out.  Here are my photos of the cookie making process (not every step.  Please click on photos to enlarge.) The recipe follows.

Creaming the butter.

The beaten egg, milk and brown sugar have been added.

Last step is add the wonderful strawberry.

The finished product. Yum!

Now here is Lynda's recipe.

Strawberry Biscuits (Cookies) (Adapted from the ‘Sugar Biscuits’ recipe in ‘Cook and Enjoy It’ by S.J.A. de Villiers)
½ cup Butter
1 cup brown Sugar
1 Egg, beaten
2 tbsp Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
½ tsp Salt
2 ½ cups Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder 
 1 cup fresh Strawberries, cleaned & roughly chopped

Cream the butter & sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the beaten egg, milk, vanilla essence & salt. Mix well. Sift the flour and baking powder in. Mix. Fold in the chopped strawberries. Knead the dough lightly and roll pieces into walnut sized balls. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet, press each ball down lightly with your thumb to flatten. Bake at 190’C/375’F/Gas Mark 5 for around 12 - 15 minutes until done. Makes +- 35 biscuits. 

My tips:


You should measure more carefully than I did. I think I put too much flour in my mixture as I was trying to hurry. My dough ended up being quite dry so I added several spoons of milk. It was still dry so I used my hands to hold the batter together into balls (thereby melting the butter and helping to form the dough balls). 


Also I did not get 35 cookies. I got 15 so I made my cookies on the large side. If you want more cookies, naturally you must watch the size.


The cookies were absolutely delicious! I will most definitely be making them again as I always have strawberries on hand. You can check out more recipes at Lynda's blog and also learn fascinating things about life in Tanzania. Bon appetit!

Tasty Chocolate Chip & Raisin Cookies

Do you ever get a craving for something late at night when you have no snacks in the fridge or cupboard?

The other day I had a craving for chocolate so made these chocolate chip cookies. The recipe was from an old Quaker Oats promotional mini-cookbook I sent away for many years ago. I added the raisins to the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter or margarine
1 1/4 cups of brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups uncooked Quaker oats (or other oatmeal brand)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup raisins


Beat the butter and sugar together until it is light and fluffy and then add the eggs and vanilla. Blend it all together. Next, combine flour, soda, salt & spice and mix well.Then stir in the oatmeal, the semi-sweet chocolate chips and raisins. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes in a 350°F oven. If you  fing that the dough doesn't stick together simply by stirring, use your hands to mix and form the balls to place on the cookie sheet. You can use the tines of a fork to press the balls of cookie dough down.  Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

I may have made these cookies once before. I don't remember as it has been awhile since I've used this cookbook or even made chocolate chip cookies. The cookies are not heavy or dense. They are quite light and have a bit of crunch. Yum.