No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Without The Sugar (Vegan)

Last night I had a chocolate craving. I wanted no-bake cookies. But when I searched for recipes I didn't want all of the sugar and butter. So I was thrilled to find this recipe on AllRecipes.com These are great snack cookies as well as breakfast cookies. They are made with Maple Syrup instead of sugar. They are YUMMY!

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup 100% maple syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup peanut butter (I suggest Adam's Chunky Brand)
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
In a saucepan over medium heat combine the maple syrup, oil, cocoa and cinnamon. Boil for three minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter, rolled oats and vanilla until well blended. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto waxed paper and chill to set, about 30 minutes.

Oatmeal Cookies with Whole Wheat

This recipe stems from the Bobs Red Mill website recipe database. This is a great resource for recipe ideas using whole grains, beans, and natural baking products. We made these delicious cookies tonight for an after dinner snack. They are a great mixture between sweet and tasty and healthy enough to not cause too much guilt! They were a hit with everyone! I will be cooking more without Chocolate Chips in the morning for breakfast.

Oatmeal Cookies with Whole Wheat

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup Butter (we use Smart Balance Extra Virgin Olive Oil brand)
1 cup Brown Sugar, packed -OR- 3/4cup Sugar and 1/4 cup Black strap Molasses (mixed)
2 large Eggs (Free Range)
2 cups sifted Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Allspice (ground)
1 tsp ground Cinnamon
1 tsp ground Nutmeg
10 Tb Milk (Organic)
2 cups Oats, Rolled, Quick Cooking
1 cup chopped Walnut Halves (I used chopped almonds)
-Optional Add In's-
1 cup Dark Chocolate Chips (we used 60% Cocoa. Just make sure the first ingredient is Cocoa in your chocolate chips.)
1 cup raisins (organic)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet, set aside. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat shortening and brown sugar until creamy. Beat in eggs until well blended. In another bowl sift together flour, salt, soda, and spices three times. Add flour and milk alternately to shortening mixture; fold in the quick oats, raisins and chopped nuts. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheet, spacing about 2" apart. Bake until cookies are golden, but center are still soft (10-12 minutes).

Transfer cookies to racks to cool. Serve, or store airtight up to 3 days. Makes 48 cookies.

Please Note: I made a few adjustments to the ingredients, so these nutritional calculations are not 100% accurate.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION Serving Size: 1 Cookie Calories 120, Calories from Fat 60, Total Fat 6g, Saturated Fat 1.5g, Cholesterol 10mg, Sodium 35mg, Total Carbohydrates 14g, Dietary Fiber 6g, Sugars 6g, Protein 2g.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Fiber Bars

These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars taste WAY too good to be good for you! We made these delicious treats to welcome in the Fall season. They surely did the trick!! They taste just as sweet and deliciously spicy as they smell.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Fiber Bars

1 2/3 cups sugar
1 cup olive oil
4 eggs (try to find the eggs with Omega 3's)
16-ounce can pure pumpkin
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup bran flour (OR powdered Original flavored Fiber One cereal OR Soy flour)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2-1 cup dark chocolate chips (try to use the darkest chocolate you can find)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. spray a 10 x 15 x 1 inch pan with cooking spray.
Mix sugar, oil, eggs and pumpkin until smooth.
Combine flours and spice in separate bowl
Combine mixtures
Mix until smooth
Stir in chocolate chips
Spread batter onto pan
Bake for 25-30 minutes
Serves approximately 15 bars

This recipe is full of protein, fiber, and Omega 3 fatty acids. It does have sugar in it. However, when you add fiber to recipes with sugar it counteracts the ill effects of sugar somewhat.

Can Chocolate Be Good For The Body?

According the renowned medical doctor and pioneer of nutritional medicine, Doctor Andrew Weil, good dark chocolate (with at least 70 percent cocoa) really is a healthy treat you could consider... Chocolate is a source of polyphenols, the same kinds of antioxidants found in red wine and green tea. The fat it contains is mostly stearic acid, which doesn't raise cholesterol levels. And the flavonoids in dark chocolate are good for the heart - they reduce the stickiness of platelets, inhibiting blood clotting and reducing the danger of coronary artery blockages..."

Omelets: Eggs Are Your Friend!

For years eggs have been set on the health conscious person's "Danger" list. Hopefully, this is no longer the case in your diet. Eggs are filled with many needed nutrients that the body can not produce on it's own. The vitamin B's are among these nutrients. Eggs have several B vitamins which aid the body in the metabolism of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Vitamin B's are also known for helping the Adrenal system (helping with stress and depression.) There are farmers who have started to feed their eggs Omega 3 rich diets (flax seed) which makes the eggs they produce rich in Omega 3 fatty acids. Look for these in your grocery store, request them if they don't sell them yet.

According to WorldsHealthiestFoods.com an egg breakfast helps promote weight loss.
In a randomized controlled trial, 160 overweight or obese men and women were divided into 2 groups, one of which ate a breakfast including 2 eggs, while the other consumed a bagel breakfast supplying the same amount of calories and weight mass (an important control factor in satiety and weight loss studies). Participants ate their assigned breakfast at least 5 days a week for 8 weeks as part of a low-fat diet with a 1,000 calorie deficit. (Dhurandhar N, Vander Wal J, et al, FASEB Journal)

Compared to those on the bagel breakfast, egg eaters:
Lost almost twice as much weight -- egg eaters lost an average of 6.0 pounds compared to bagel eaters' 3.5 pound loss.
Had an 83% greater decrease in waist circumference
Reported greater improvements in energy

No significant differences were seen between blood levels of total, HDL and LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides in either group, confirming what other studies (Ballesteros MN, Cabrera RM, Am J Clin Nutr) have shown, including a relative risk study presented at the Experimental Biology meeting: healthy people can safely enjoy eggs without increasing their heart attack risk. The relative risk study, a thorough scientific review of the major studies concerning heart disease causation, which was conducted by Washington, DC-based scientific consulting firm, Exponent, found that eggs contribute just 0.6 percent of men's and 0.4 percent of women's coronary heart disease risk.

I could give a whole list of reasons why eggs are good for you. But I just wanted to give you an idea of why it's not necessary to avoid such an easy meal maker.

Here are some ideas of how I use eggs throughout the week's menu:

Winter Squash Omelets (crookneck or zucchini): Mix several eggs in a bowl with pressed garlic (or garlic salt), sea salt, fresh cut up or dried herbs (basil, sage, chives, etc.), chopped red onions (optional) and a bit of olive oil. Slice desired amount of squash and mix in with the egg mixture. Pour mixture into a skillet and cook as an omelet or scrambled. This was a big hit at our table. It smelled as delicious as it tasted. We ate it as a side to a tasty steak and a salad.

Southwestern Breakfast Burritos: Crack desired amount of eggs into a bowl. Mix black beans, corn, salsa, southwestern seasoning (taco seasoning (or, chili pepper), onions, and fresh spinach in with the eggs. Pour mixture into a skillet and scramble. Place eggs on tortillas (tortillas made with sprouted grains are extremely nutritious and tasty.) Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the eggs, add a bit more salsa or Tabasco sauce to taste, and Enjoy!

Omelets For Babies (9+months): Crack desired amount of eggs into a bowl. Add any of the following; chopped squash, spinach, tomatoes, beans, cheese, colored peppers, tuna, anything else healthy you have in the fridge:). Mix all together and scramble in a skillet.

Chili Burritos With Eggs: Use scrambled eggs in your burritos if you're running low on meat!

Fiberful Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a delicious chewy, yet crunchy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. I created this cookie recipe so that I could eat a cookie with chocolate in it that I didn't feel as guilty about. And it worked! They were a hit all around! From the smell they emanated while in the oven to the chocolate craving they satisfied.

Fiberful Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie

2 cups Fiber Cereal ground as finely as possible until it equals 1 cup. (Possible brands: Fiber One, Kashi, Oat Bran, All Bran, etc.)
OR
1 cup Bran Flour
1/2 cup Regular Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Ground Nutmeg
1/4 tsp. Sea Salt
3/4 cup Softened Butter
3/4 cup Packed Brown Sugar
3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
2 Eggs (try to find the eggs that market their omega 3 value!)
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 3/4 cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
2 cups chocolate chips OR Dole Raisins

Combine flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl and set aside. Beat butter and sugars in a bowl. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture until blended. Stir in oats and chocolate chips while stirring. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets 2 inches apart.
Bake at 375 degrees F. 6 minutes. Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies.

WHY FIBER?

"Fiber steadies your blood-sugar level. Fiber, especially the soluble type, found in psyllium, bran, and legumes slows the absorption of sugar from the intestines. This steadies the blood sugar level and lessens the ups and downs of insulin secretion. So a breakfast and lunch containing moderate amounts of soluble fibers, such as bran, fruit, and oats, can be especially valuable to a child who shows behavior and learning difficulties from blood sugar swings. Keeping insulin levels low and stable also helps the body store less fat, another perk for people trying to control their weight.

Fiber slows fat absorption. Fiber may also slow down the absorption of fat from what you eat. This is another weight-control perk offered by a high-fiber diet. The stools of persons eating a high-fiber diet have a higher fat content than stools from someone eating low-fiber meals.

Fiber reduces cholesterol. A diet high in soluble fiber, such as that found in oat bran, whole oats, psyllium, legumes, barley, fruit, and prunes, lowers blood levels of the harmful type of cholesterol (LDL) without lowering the good cholesterol (HDL) levels. As it travels down the intestines, soluble fiber absorbs water and forms a gluey gel which picks up cholesterol and carries it out of the body. Yet, doctors caution, adding more soluble fibers to your diet is not a license to eat high cholesterol foods. High fiber diets are usually low in fat, too, and the cholesterol-lowering effects may be related to less fat in the diet as well as to fiber. Recent studies showed that eating an extra ten grams of fiber daily (the average American adult eats only eleven grams of fiber a day), decreased the risk of dying from heart disease by 17-29 percent."

Learn More on AskDrSears

Cranberry Syrup

I created this syrup recipe to go with our Cranberry Buttermilk Almond Waffles recipe. It is delicious and VERY Easy!!

Cranberry Syrup

3/4 cup Maple Syrup
1/4 cup Cranberry Juice (pure, not cocktail)

Mix together and serve (warm or cold)

Enjoy!

Cranberry Buttermilk Almond Waffles

This is a recipe I created to celebrate our Wedding Anniversary. The waffles will turn a bit red/purple and they taste delicious! Especially if you use the Cranberry Syrup with them.

Cranberry Buttermilk Almond Waffles

*1 Cup Milk
*1 Cup Cranberry Juice (Pure Cranberry Juice, not cocktail)
2 Eggs
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Honey (raw, uncooked)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon clove
3/4 cup chopped Raw Almonds (non-salted, non-roasted)

*This recipe needs 2 cups of liquid. You can use less cranberry juice and more milk. Combining the milk and the cranberry will sour the milk (making buttermilk.)

Combine milk and cranberry juice in a large mixing bowl. Separate egg whites from the yokes. Add yokes to large mixing bowl. Beat egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff and set aside. Combine all dry ingredients in a small bowl. Mix all wet ingredients (except egg whites) in large mixing bowl. Fold in dry ingredients with wet ingredients in large mixing bowl (Mixture may froth due to cranberry juice and baking soda mixing. It is not a problem.) Fold in Egg Whites.

This recipe has many great nutrients that can boost your immune system (Cranberry, Olive oil, honey, and cloves.)

Enjoy!