Super(foods) double choc cookies :: Baking ::

Even on a diet I am going to eat chocolate cookies, I am just rubbish at resisting food I should not eat. So I decided that I should make them as good as I can, and make them super(food) cookies. I was lucky that in her Superfoods cookbook, Rena Patten had a chocolate cookie recipe that I could rely on (I already used this book here). And I swapped the butter for coconut oil and the brown sugar for coconut sugar 

Coconut oil is definitely up there in the superfood list - coconut sugar probably not, although it is more natural than normal sugar, so a bit better but not much. 

However (as you will see with the WW point) superfood does not mean diet food. For me, it is all about making the most of eating a treat, and not waste empty calories. The recipe I used in the end includes quinoa flour, raw cocoa powder, coconut oil and dark chocolate - I reckon I am making full use of superfoods. It happens to be really tasty too, so what more could I wish for! 

What you are going to need? (for 19 cookies, 5WW per cookie, aouch!)

• 200 g quinoa flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 3 tbsp pure raw cocoa
• 150 g of dark chocolate chips
• 125g of coconut oil
• 100 g of coconut sugar
• 2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp of low-fat milk

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C and grease and line baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cacao then stir in the chocolate chips.
3. Add the coconut oil and sugar to the mixture.
4. Beat in the vanilla and eggs, then fold in the mixture. Add the milk and mix until well combined. The mixture will be soft and sticky. 
5. Make small balls from the mixture and place them on the baking trays. 
6. Bake for about 11-12 minutes. The cookies should not be overcooked and still be a little soft when taken out of the oven. 
7. Cool the cookies completely before removing them (if you can!)

I know it is a lot of points on the WW diet - but to be fair these are decent size cookies. I could probably have made them smaller for less points, but what is the point in having a small cookie? 

So here is my way to make the most of my chocolate addiction. 

Amaranth, ama-what? :: Baking ::

Detox is my word for 2015 - and in addition to start my diet, I wanted to find out more about superfoods... And apparently amaranth. I had no idea this little grain existed. But I was missing out, this grain is the real deal in terms of health benefits. Finding out about it was one thing; doing something that would taste nice with it another. I had the help of this great book and ta da  we now have super dooper biscuits. And to be honest with a baby and a toddler, and Mr MiH training for a half marathon, I need all the superfood recipe I can get my hands on!

Just a little warning, these are a tad ginger-y for me, Mr MiH is a big fan of ginger biscuits, and loves them just like that. So you may want to tweak the recipe accordingly. Also I had to adapt the recipe to the content of my cupboards. 

What will you need to make 20 biscuits (3 WW points/biscuit)

60g of low fat butter
60g of coconut oil
15g of light brown sugar
55g of caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp of vanilla extract
100g of quinoa flour
1 tsp of gluten-free baking powder
125g of dried dates
60g of stem ginger
100g of amaranth (popped following this post)
1 tbsp of lemon juice

How to make these? 

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C and line two large baking trays with non-stick baking paper
2. Cream the butter and coconut oil with the brown and caster sugar until light and creamy, then mix in the egg and vanilla. 
3. Sift the quinoa flour and baking powder and fold into the creamed butter mixture. 
4. Using a spatula, mix in the dates, ginger, amaranth puffs and the lemon juice. The mixture may seem a little dry but don't be tempted to add more liquid just press together as you are mixing so that it holds. 
5. Place spoonfuls of the mixture onto to the prepared trays and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden. 

Leave to cool slightly in trays before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

Here you are gluten free, low GI biscuits, these are good for you! Expect more superfood recipe on the blog, and guess what raw cocoa is a superfood, so I don't have to stop posting about chocolate! Whoohoo!