cranberry double chocolate cookies

these little dreams are from epicurious.com but of course littlefoodie and i changed it up to suit our tastes. they are soft, chewy, chocolatey and good.

enjoy!

1 1/4 cups organic white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup organic dark brown sugar
2 large organic eggs
1 bag dark chocolate chunks (used whole foods brand! good!!!!)
1 cup dried cranberries

preheat oven to 375°F.

whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.

Beat together butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, then add eggs 1 at a time, beating until combined well. reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Add chocolate chunks and cherries and mix until just incorporated.

Drop 2 level tablespoons of dough per cookie about 2 inches apart onto 2 ungreased large baking sheets. With dampened fingers, flatten cookies slightly.

Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until puffed and set, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.

vitamin water is poison.

(littlefoodie says, "vitamin water? gag me with a spoon!")


just wanted to link to a great post from Cleaner Plate Club about that nasty flavored water called Vitamin Water.
the breakdown- crystalline fructose is a fancy word for high fructose corn syrup. HFCS are bad bad bad for the body, especially little growing ones. and the companies are deceptive and find many a word to mislead you. do your homework before you put that junk inside you!!!!
and this disgusting sweetener also contains arsenic- ya know, poison... it is amazing how low companies can go and how uninformed people are.

applesauce muffins a la Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld

so i gave in and bought the book, Deceptively Delicious. i have seen many of the recipes floating around the internet for years and never really have a need to hide the veggies my littlefoodie is eating but curiosity bowled me over. i've already tried several of the muffins recipes, all which turned out horribly. the taste was good but they never baked. i realized that the recipes are just really poorly written and most need a lot of pep and love added to make the flavors more flavorful. i did however make these applesauce muffins and to my surprise they came out on time, not needing double baking time to produce a watery mess. i'll refrain from posting the other recipes cause they were so bad but this, with a little doctoring worked.


and on a side note, little foodie family is greatly reducing their footprint, as of tonight we will be the proud owners of a frybrid...a veg oil fueled car! i am so excited and feel like we are making a real difference... suck that oil companies!!!!!


(i added a little extra lovin' to this recipe so it is not adapted slightly.)


topping:
2/3 cup organic oats
1/4 cup organic pure cane dark brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbl organic virgin coconut oil, melted (could use unsalted butter instead but coconut oil is sooooo good for you! we use spectrum brand)

muffin batter:
1 1/2 cups organic whole wheat flour
1 cup organic oats
1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup organic sweet potato puree
1/2 cup almond milk (or whatever milky substance you have on hand)
1/2 cup organic carrot puree
1/2 cup organic pure cane dark brown sugar
1/4 cup veg oil (for the car and the muffins!!!! whoopee!!!!)
1 lg organic egg


combine topping ingredients in small bowl. set aside.

preheat oven to 400 F and line muffin tins with unbleached muffin liners.

for the batter: combine flour thru cinnamon and mix with fork in bowl. in a large bowl, combine vanilla thru egg and stir until combined. add flour and stir JUST UNTIL MIXED.

pour evenly into muffin tins and top with streusel topping. bake 20 min. now eat!

its been awhile... again.

life has been busy and all over the place. my time devoted to this blog gets slashed when the sun comes up and the kid wants to run. i've got a bunch of things ready to post and a little self review of the dishes from Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious cookbook.... curiosity got the best of me and we are trying out its worth. until tomorrow!!!!

(some pics for the folks)