Cranberry Almond Oat Breakfast Cookies ~ no added sugar ~ egg, flour & dairy free!!

In the Cook Lisa Cook home we go through a lot of oats.  Not only do we all enjoy oatmeal for breakfast but I also use oats in all of the granola bars that I make for Maisie and in a number of my cookie bars too.  So when I was contacted by Foodie Blogroll* regarding participating in a promotion for Better Oats, I of course said yes! 

Once the Better Oats were in the house we were all excited to give them a try.  Eammon immediately went for the MMM...Muffins Blueberry and said that it was the best flavored oatmeal he had ever eaten.  Maisie opted for the Oat Revolution! Apples & Cinnamon as that’s her favorite flavor.  Maisie liked the oatmeal though she said, not as much as her regular one, but I think that’s because her regular one tastes much sweeter.  I enjoyed the MMM...Muffins Oatmeal Raisin Cookie which was tasty, not too sweet and had a great texture.  We also tried the RAW Pure & Simple Pomegranate with Flax which was interesting and different from what we generally eat.  I set aside the RAW Pure & Simple bare to be used in the recipe below but honestly any of the flavors would have worked in the cookies but I wanted to keep them no-added sugar so I opted for the plain oatmeal.

I saw a recipe for breakfast cookies and tailored that recipe to flavors which we enjoy.  What’s really nice though about using this basic recipe is that it can be made to fit any taste you enjoy.  Don’t like cranberries or they contain too much sugar, try raisins.  Allergic to almonds or don’t like nuts?  Just use ones you like or leave them out.  Not a fan of bananas, use mango pulp…what about mango pulp, apple sauce, dried mango bits and some unsweetened coconut with the oats…sure sounds delicious and still wheat, egg and dairy free!  So grab some Better Oats and use your imagination to make some delicious Oat Breakfast Cookies of your own, they’re delicious.

Better Oats offers 23 delicious flavors in several lines, including RAW Pure & Simple, Oat Revolution, and MMM...Muffins.

RAW Pure & Simple: RAW Pure & Simple is a better way to eat. We start with the finest quality 100% organic, whole grain oats blended with organic whole grains and seeds, like flax, barley and quinoa, for a wonderfully wholesome and nutritious breakfast. You'll love all four thick, hearty multigrain texture and natural, robust flavors. RAW Pure & Simple is naturally good, straight from Mother Earth.

Oat Revolution: Raise your spoon and join us for an Oat Revolution! It starts with all natural 100% whole grain oats. We then add antioxidants and flax, a good source of Omega-3, and top it all off with a bold shot of flavor. All combine to create delicious oatmeal that keeps its rich, robust flavor all the way to your bowl. Take one bite and start your Oat Revolution! 

MMM...Muffins: Everyone loves waking up to hot, fresh muffins for breakfast.
MMM...Muffins gives you that same delicious muffin taste you crave in healthy and nutritious 100% whole grain oatmeal. Our thick and hearty oatmeal is also a good source of fiber and omega-3, so it's better than good, it's good for you. Start your day off right with the indulgent taste of real muffin flavor in every bite...mmm.

Cranberry Almond Oat Breakfast Cookies  ~ no added sugar ~ egg, flour & dairy free!! (Adapted from here)

• 3 pkts. Better Oats RAW Pure & Simple Multi-Grain Hot Cereal ~ Bare Flavor, or 1 1/3 c. whole or instant oats
• 2 large bananas, very ripe
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce 
• 2 tsp. almond extract 
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.  In a medium bowl mash the bananas.  Stir in the applesauce & almond extract.  Add the oats, dried cranberries and toasted almonds and mix well.  Allow the mixture to sit for about five minutes before proceeding.  With a large cookie scoop portion out the mixture making 12 cookies.  Flatten the cookies down a bit as they will not spread or puff as they bake.  Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden.  Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the pans before removing to a cooling rack.  Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

 

More about Better Oats: 

Better Oats instant oatmeal comes in many delicious varieties * 23 flavors in fact, including RAW Pure & Simple  *Pomegranate and MMM... Muffins  *Blueberry Muffin. Kids love Better Oats because it’s fun and delicious, and parents love it because it is not only nutritious, but also convenient. Better Oats uses up to 35 percent less packaging than traditional instant oatmeal boxes (so there’s more room on the pantry shelf), and the pouch doubles as a measuring cup!

Made with 100% whole grain oats and flax seeds, this complete line offers a simple and healthy option when it comes to instant oatmeal. But it's not only a great breakfast (or lunch... or snack...) but also a better ingredient to spice up a cookie or other baked goods.

You've got to try Better Oats. If you've been settling for ordinary oatmeal, then you're in for a treat because Better Oats is just... better! Try us and see for yourself.

Visit the Better Oats website!

* This sponsorship is brought to you by Foodie Blogroll who we have partnered with for this promotion.  I was provided with a box of products to sample.  This is a compensated post but all the views and opinions expressed are my own and based upon my experiences with Better Oats.

Skinny Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

I seem to have an addiction, but it’s not what you might think.  It’s not to muffins, blueberries or even to my much adored lemon, it’s an addiction to my monthly recipe challenges, The Secret Recipe Club, The Improv Cooking Challenge and today’s Crazy Cooking Challenge.  Here’s why I say that I have an addiction… The way that the Crazy Cooking Challenge works is that each month there is a dish that our hostess Tina, of Moms Crazy Cooking challenges the participating bloggers to make.  We all go out searching non-celebrity blogs looking for what we think is the ultimate recipe for that dish and once we find it, we make it and then on the same day we do our post featuring the recipe and the blog where it was found.  Well this month we were challenged to find the ultimate blueberry muffin recipe.  Sounds easy enough as the internet is littered with food bloggers who have posted gorgeous blueberry muffin recipes to their blog so finding one is up to what really just suits your fancy.  My problem though is that I’m anaphylaxis allergic to blueberries so as a general rule, I don’t cook with them.  But…BUT… I have participated in the Crazy Cooking Challenge since the beginning and I just couldn’t miss a month, so I was going to make it work.

My friend Lisa (yes Lisa is a popular name) is doing Weight Watchers (and doing great at it I might add) and she recently had surgery so while she was recovering I brought her dinner one night.  For her meal I decided to make Slimmed Down Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole and I also wanted to bring her some WW friendly sweet treats.  I decided that her sweet treats would be my blueberry muffin challenge.  Up front I knew that I wasn’t going to use fresh or frozen blueberries but rather blueberry yogurt as I felt it would be safer for me.  I then set out searching the internet looking for my, well really Lisa’s, not me Lisa but friend Lisa’s, ultimate blueberry muffin recipe.  I knew that the recipe I would choose needed to include yogurt and because of Lisa’s diet I wanted to avoid recipes which included a lot of oil, butter or eggs.  In my search I decided to look for recipes which included yogurt (my blueberry addition) and applesauce in place of the fat and as far as the sugar, well that I knew I could easily substitute.  When I happened upon Ruth’s She-Fit.com and her Skinny Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, well I knew that I had found my recipe.  I’ve heard that lemon and blueberry go fabulously together and with Ruth’s recipe all I had to do was swap out her lemon yogurt for my blueberry yogurt, easy-peasy!!  I held pretty true to Ruth’s recipe just switching out the yogurt flavor and I didn’t bother with the additional sprinkling of Splenda on top of the muffins.

As the muffins cooked the house smelled absolutely delicious and I do wish that I was able to sample one of the muffins but Maisie (because of her food allergies) and I (because of my blueberry allergy) had to just watch as Eammon was our taste tester. 

The results, both Eammon and Lisa had thumbs up for this recipe and said that even though it’s skinny and healthy you’d never know it as these muffins were moist, tender, delicious and full of flavor.  Sounds like a winner to me!

Skinny Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins   (Adapted from here)

• 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour 
• 1 tsp. baking powder 
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 c. Splenda
• 5.3 oz container fat-free Greek fruit-on-the-bottom blueberry yogurt
• 2 TBS. fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 Cup unsweetened applesauce 
• 2 large egg whites
• grated lemon peel of 1 fresh lemon
• 1 TBS. poppy seeds 

Preheat oven to 350F.  In a medium bowl mix the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and Splenda together.  Add the yogurt, lemon juice and applesauce, lemon peel and poppy seeds.  Stir to combine.  This will make a very thick batter.  In a separate bowl whip the egg whites to stiff peaks.  Add the egg whites to the flour mix and fold in.  Spray a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.  Using a large cookie scoop place approximately 1/4 cup of batter into each muffin mold.  Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes, until a tooth pick inserted in the muffin comes out clean.

Enjoy!

My previous Crazy Cooking Challenge entries:

Spaghetti with Red Sauce Challenge:  Tomato Sauce with Onion & Butter 
Chocolate Cake Challenge:  Double Chocolate Meyer Lemon Mousse Cake
Chicken Noodle Soup Challenge: Thai Chicken Noodle Soup 
Fudge Challenge: Biscoff Fudge 
Mashed Potato Challenge: Aloo Tikki 
Chocolate Chip Cookie Challenge: Chocolate Chip Gingersnaps 
Mac & Cheese Challenge: Velvety Mac & Cheese

Apple Pancakes

Do you ever see a recipe on a blog and have to instantaneously check your pantry to see if you have the ingredients on hand to make it…immediately?  Well that’s what happened last Sunday night when I saw Chaya’s recipe for Apple Fritters on her My Sweet and Savory blog.  Something about her recipe called to me and all I could think was that I had to make it…well my version of it.  I took great liberties with her recipe as I had to adapt the recipe based on what I had on hand in the pantry and also to make it Maisie “safe” as the original recipe called for an egg which Maisie can’t eat and then I didn’t want it too sweet so I omitted all the sugar…and the salt…and the nutmeg, but what a perfect quick Sunday night dinner.  I’ll bet that Chaya’s were wonderful and these were wonderful so make either one as these were easy and delicious.  We all really enjoyed the flavor, the texture and sweetness of the pancakes and honestly, had I not known these were wheat, egg & dairy free, I never would have guessed it.  Another wonderful thing about this recipe is that the pancakes stayed well wrapped in the refrigerator and then reheated beautifully in the microwave so Maisie was able to enjoy the leftovers a couple of mornings for breakfast. 

Apple Pancakes (Adapted from here)

1 cup gluten-free pancake & waffle mix
1 TBS chia seeds
2 TBS boiling water
2/3 cup Almond Breeze original
1 small apple, peeled, cored and grated
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 TBS. vegetable oil, plus more for pan

maple syrup

In a medium bowl mix together the chia seeds and boiling water, stir well and allow to sit for five minutes.  Then add the Almond Breeze, grated apple, applesauce, cinnamon and 1 Tablespoon oil and stir to mix well.  Add the pancake mix and stir to combine.  Heat a large cast iron skillet and lightly coat with vegetable oil.  Using a large cookie scoop measure out the batter into the pan.  Cook until golden brown and then flip to brown the second side.  Serve with maple syrup or additional applesauce.

Enjoy!