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Monday, January 16, 2012

New Recipes for the Long Weekend: Part I

As an adult, long weekends have become my version of summer vacation. I look forward to them with great anticipation and love planning activities to make the most of my time away from the office. With my love affair with cooking in full swing, I decided one activity that was a must for my time off was trying out at least one new recipe...maybe two. 

The month of December was consumed making more varieties of cookies and chocolate-based treats than I care to remember, resulting in my usually dominate sweet tooth taking a slight hiatus. This weekend, however, it returned when I discovered a delightful new cookie recipe that incorporated two things I'm LOVING right now--dried cranberries and oranges! Definitely hit the spot. 

Cranberry-Orange Cookies



I adapted this recipe from one of my favorite recipe hubs (eatingwell.com), but made it healthier by substituting more applesauce in place of the oil. I also omitted the walnuts, but that's just because I hate nuts in cookies. The egg-free dough was delicious, but made me want to sample even more of it than usual! 

Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries
  • 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
  • 3/4 cup smooth, unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
  • 3 tablespoons orange juice
Preparation

  1. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Stir in dried cranberries
  2. Whisk 1 cup sugar, applesauce, orange zest and juice in a medium bowl until smooth. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until well blended. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes
  3. Preheat oven to 350°F
  4. Put the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar into a small flat-bottomed dish or pan. Roll the dough with floured hands (it will be very moist) into 1 1/2-inch balls, then roll in sugar to coat. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet
  5. Bake the cookies until barely golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on the pan for 1 minute; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely


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