Tag: peanut butter cookies

Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies

Healthy peanut butter cookies

For real…. these truly are HEALTHY peanut butter cookies! Didn’t think there was such a thing? Does no butter, no eggs, no flour, and no oil sound healthy to you?

Made with skim milk, peanut butter, a cup of whole oats, and a touch of sugar, you really can’t get much better than this. I ran out of Harper’s favorite organic kids Clif Z Bars, and didn’t feel like making a trip to the grocery store to buy more, so instead I thought I’d make a homemade granola bar/cookie for her.

With all the stuff online about eating healthy, and the dangers of processed foods, and plastic water bottles, anything wrapped up and sold in a box is probably not the best thing for you to eat or drink.

Healthy peanut butter cookies

I love that these cookies look and taste like cookies, but have the nutrition of a non-processed granola/energy bar.

You get protein from the peanut butter, hearty whole grains from the oats, and a bit of calcium from the milk. If you want to get creative, have fun substituting almond butter or cashew butter for the peanut butter. You could even add dark chocolate chips for some added sweetness.

Healthy peanut butter cookies

Healthy peanut butter cookies

Healthy peanut butter cookies

Fruit and cheese is my snack choice of preference for Harper, but I don’t always keep an ice pack on me to keep it cool. Lol. Granola bars and room temperature snacks are always easiest. Sure enough, while at the mall Harper got hungry and these peanut butter cookies came to the rescue.

Healthy peanut butter cookies
Harper and her little friend going for a stroll through the mall.
Healthy peanut butter cookies
“More!!” That or she’s pointing at something 🙂

Enjoy!

Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 1/2 dozen
Ingredients
  • 1 cup peanut butter (I used smooth Jif)
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup skim milk
  • 1 cup ground up oats (in the food processor)
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat. Set aside.
  2. In a stand mixer, beat the peanut butter, sugar, vanilla, and milk on low until creamy and smooth.
  3. In a food processor, process the oats until a flour mixture is achieved. Whisk together the oats, salt, and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Beat until just combined.
  4. Scoop out equal portions of dough onto prepared cookie sheet. Press a fork down onto each cookie in a criss cross pattern.
  5. Bake for 18 minutes or until golden. Remove and let cool before serving. Store in an airtight container.

 

Christmas All Through the South and Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

From ornament exchange and white elephant gift parties, to driving around looking at Christmas lights, the holidays are definitely something we look forward to. If you’re looking for inspirational ideas to decorate your mantel with holiday trimmings, or recipes for enjoying a Christmas morning brunch centered around red velvet pancakes, Southern Living’s “Christmas All Through The South:  Joyful Memories, Timeless Moments, Enduring Traditions” is one to impress!

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Woven throughout this stunning 400-full color book are stories of Christmas traditions in the south, like finding the perfect tree at a North Carolina tree farm, enjoying the sparkling lobby of the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans, decorating ideas from gorgeous southern homes, and menu ideas for every festive occasion.

Southern Living’s “Christmas All Through The South” would make a perfect keepsake for your friend or family member wanting that inspiration, or even as a gorgeous coffee table book. You can purchase the book via Amazon HERE.

While my family doesn’t have a ‘set’ tradition of picking out a tree at the tree farm, we do have a Christmas tradition of driving around the metroplex looking at lights. Whether it’s looking at the gorgeous homes in Highland Park adorned with Christmas lights, or looking at lights at The Shops of Legacy in Plano, Southlake Town Square, or Frisco Square – my personal favorite.

In Texas, you better go big or go home. Our Christmas lights are just one example of that. Below are two videos of lights in the Dallas metroplex, Frisco, that does it up right. One is a house in my old neighborhood that has lights synchronized to music. That same homeowner impressed so many people that he also synchronizes the lights at Frisco Square. Did I mention he’s an Aggie? lol. He even synchronizes his house to the Aggie War Hymn.  Enjoy the videos below:

 

 

 

 

Shops of Legacy
The Shops of Legacy’s Christmas lights

We will have new Christmas traditions with this little one that just arrived in October. She’s our little Christmas present!

baby

baby

And finally, you can’t enjoy the holidays without cookies! I made these peanut butter blossom cookies for a football watching party we had over at our house. The recipe, credit given to Land O’Lakes, is super easy to follow, and they taste amazing!!

I had some leftover Hershey’s kisses from a baby shower, and wanted to use them in a recipe so I wasn’t continuously munching on them. I’m a sucker for small candies. Only one candy is 22 calories, but before you know it, you’ve eaten like 10, and 22 calories turns into 200+ calories! With these cookies, I’ll eat just one and be done. 🙂

Enjoy!!

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 48
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 48 milk chocolate Hershey’s kiss candies, unwrapped
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Combine 1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar, softened butter and peanut butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, and salt; continue beating until well mixed.
  3. Add flour and baking soda. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed.
  4. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. If dough is too soft, refrigerate 30-60 minutes. Roll balls in 1/4 cup sugar. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
  5. Bake 8-10 minutes or until very lightly golden brown. Immediately press 1 Hershey’s kiss in center of each cookie. Remove to cooling racks.
Notes
Source: Land O’Lakes