A crispy crunchy cocoon encasing a chewy delicious center.

PHEW! That was a mouthful! And man was my mouth full of cookies once these came out of the oven! You see Foodbuzz and Quaker and getting together for a little contest, come up with a recipe involving some of the flavors from the new Quaker True Delight granola bars... and possibly win a fantastic trip to Outstanding in the Field!! So here is my entry, and if you are anything like me... you are going to LOVE this recipe! It's full of good for you things, has no added butter or oil (you'd never know it), and totally satisfies a sweet tooth craving!

Chow!

Dark chocolate chunk cherry cashew cookies
recipe by stephchows
makes 2 dozen cookies

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3.5 oz Gerber Cherries and Apples baby food (it comes in a 2 pack, you just need 1 container)
1/2 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
3 Tbs splenda baking blend or (6 Tbs granulated sugar)
1 large egg
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup plump, moist, dried sour cherries
4 oz. dark chocolate broken into chunks about the size of the cherries (try using TCHO fruity!)
1/2 cup no salt added cashew pieces

Whisk together flour, baking soda, cocoa, and salt. Set aside

In a large bowl beat baby food and sugars until well combined. Beat in egg and vanilla.

Slowly mix in dry ingredients. With last addition of flour mixture also add in cherries, chocolate and cashews.

Drop tablespoon-fulls of dough onto a silicon baking mat lined cookie sheet. Bake cookies for 15-18 minutes. Let cool a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack.

These are best the day you make them, crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle. They loose their crispness when left overnight in a plastic container, still tasty, but best right out of the oven :)

Hope you love these treats!

My one coworker described them "like a very thin crisp oreo cookie" ... sounds good to me right!?

Again, like I said in my original recipe pizzelle post, the only special thing you need is a pizzelle iron, otherwise these are as simple as you get!


Pizzelle Cookies
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 stick butter (melted)
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup bread flour
1/4 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
zest from one orange (optional)

BEAT eggs, add sugar gradually, add melted butter

MIX flour, cocoa, & baking powder

ADD dry mixture to wet gradually, stir in orange zest (if using)

DROP spoonfuls on a hot pizzelle iron and cook according to iron instructions (mine has a light that goes on and off when they are done) remove and cool on a wire rack, or roll into ice cream cone shape and set aside to cool.

You can take two of these and make nutella sandwiches, or sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with ice cream... or just eat them all up plain!

Chow!

Hey guys the people at TCHO sent me another wonderful package of their newest flavor of chocolate! So tasty!! Check out their description...


So far I've had the privilege of trying "chocolatley" "fruity" and now "nutty". I really enjoyed chocolatey and fruity was good but needed some time to grow on me... Nutty is by far the most complex and in my mind best flavor so far!! You can absolutly taste the coffee undertones which meld perfectly with the chocolate taste. TCHO has done it again and I think Nutty has won my heart out of the three so far! Even though it is 70% cacoa a person who isn't a true dark chocolate fan will love it, no bitterness, just pure smooth, bold flavor. A great way to get some antioxidants into your diet. Good job TCHO!

If you want to buy some to try it yourself click here!

So I made these last weekend for Erika's summer party, which was wonderful!! And the food was super tasty! Had I been thinking I would have taken pictures.. sooo many good things. I ate my heart out!! Bread with goat cheese wrapped in eggplant on top... all types of fresh roasted veggie wraps... these eggrolls that were to die for... lasagna... the list goes on!! I brought along some cookies to add a little sweet :)

Chocolate cookies
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
dash salt
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup splenda blend (or 1/2 cup white sugar)
1/2 cup apple sauce (unsweetened)
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
sprinkle of powdered sugar and cinnamon once cooled

Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl, in a measuring cup measure apple sauce, add eggs and beat, add vanilla. Add wet to dry mixture and stir. Stir in chocolate chips

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Let cook on a wire rack then sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon.

Chow!