Ok, so I have to confess a little bit here. I totally forgot to post yesterday being Monday and all do to the holiday. My apologies for that. To make it up to you I think I have a pretty tasty recipe that you can try at home and I think you even may be impressed at the fact it is “HEALTHY“. Whole grain oatmeal raisin cookies with a couple of unique ingredients that I have been dying to try for a while now.  Agave nectar and apple juice in cookies really keeps them on the healthy and lighter side by avoiding the heaviness of the oil and the sugar.

Let me know what you think of the recipe but I think they turned out quite good. They are chewy in texture as well as being soft. They are nice right out of the oven or slightly warmed in the microwave.  I like 18 seconds of warming time depending on your microwave of course.

Ingredients

• 2 Cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 3/4 Cup organic whole wheat pastry flour
• 3/4 Cup organic unbleached white flour
• 2 Tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 Tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 Tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 Cup raisins
• 1/4 Cup flax seeds
• 1/2 Cup low Fat Plain Yogurt
• 1/2 Cup Apple Juice
• 1/4 Cup maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp. Agave Nectar
• 1 Tsp. pure vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400°.  Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix together oats, flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, raisins and nuts.
3. In another bowl or blender combine remaining liquid ingredients.
4. Mix together the wet and dry ingredients.
5. Drop batter by heaping tablespoons, about two inches apart, on to the baking sheets.
6. Press each cookie with moisten fingers or a spoon to flatten.
7. Bake 17 to 20 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom.
8. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.



9. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: For an even softer cookie, I like to slightly under cook the cookie as it will continue to cook internally after you take them out.  The apple juice and yogurt will also aide in the moisture department.

So there you have it, a fun healthy recipe you can try at home.  I had to test the cookies out of course as I watched the Olympics.  They turned out just as I hoped.  Is anybody else following the Olympics closely?

Stay tuned for a post that you will not want to miss tomorrow.  It is all about Zesty and Opensky giving back to all of you.  Have a fantastic Monday Tuesday and I will talk to you bright and early in the morning.

Take care

zesty

It’s Thursday!  I have a special treat for you today.  I have been receiving a lot of positive feedback on my new Open Sky store over the last few weeks and I am really loving what the folks at Open Sky are doing for online shopping.  The idea of taking expert shopkeepers with their views and experiences on products and sharing that information to the readers/consumers is invaluable.

When I started zestycook.com back in August 2008 I had two goals in mind.  They were and still are to add value to all my readers and the general public and to have fun doing it.  I definitely know I am doing the latter and I strive to add value to each post that I write.

I’ve wanted to do a feature product for the last little while and today is the day.

Back to Basics Egg-and-Muffin Toaster is a great product that will make you super happy in the morning.

Some of the features of this product include:

• Makes the ultimate breakfast sandwich in 4 minutes.
• Hard boils up to 8 eggs at a time.
• Wide slot toasting function for bagels and croissants.
• Individual toasting or poaching function.
• Auto shutoff for both toaster and egg poacher.

So there you have it.  A fun little product that I wanted to share with you.  If you happen to have a favorite kitchen product and think that it would be great in the store… by all means tell me in the comments or email.  I am always looking for great products that make your time in the kitchen more fun and enjoyable.  Have an awesome Thursday and I will talk to you on Friday.

Oh wait, before I go  – make sure you enter the giveaway contest.

Take care

zesty