November Cookies: White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

I used to work at a Crabtree & Evelyn a few years ago and they sold cookies like the ones in the recipe below; they were my favorite! I figured I could try and make them myself, so here is a version that uses whole wheat flour and less sugar than most cookie recipes. The tartness of the cranberries with the delicate white chocolate makes them sweet enough, and the whole wheat flour and oats add the whole grain goodness that make these cookies guilt-free.

White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

    ½ cup sugar

    ½ cup packed brown sugar

    1 cup butter, softened

    2 large eggs

    1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    1 teaspoon baking soda

    ½  teaspoon salt

    1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

    1 ½ cups rolled oats

    1 cup dried cranberries

    1 cup white chocolate chips

Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix the sugars, butter and vanilla together until smooth, then add the eggs one at a time. Bit by bit, add the dry ingredients to the wet, beating until well blended. Once the flour has been added, add the oats and then lastly add the white chocolate chips and cranberries.

Preheat the oven to 350. Drop rounded spoonfuls of cookie dough onto ungreased baking sheets in rows, at least 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-15 minutes in oven on center rack until golden brown. Allow to cool before serving and then enjoy.

Once again I did not have an image of them readily available, but this picture courtesy cookingchanneltv.com looks a lot like how mine turned out the last time I made them

Cranberries are a well-known diuretic that help prevent urinary track infection, and help your bladder in general. Because of this, they are great for helping flush out your system if there are toxins in your body you want to eliminate; I suggest giving some to your baby or child after they’ve had vaccines to help remove toxic preservative chemicals left over from the initial shot (apples and lemon juice are also verygood to help draw out the aluminum found in most vaccines). Cranberriesalso contain a fair amount of anti-oxidants, vitamin C, manganese andfiber. They’re also in season now, and these cookies would even make a great treat for after your big Thanksgiving meal this year.

These cookies are great for little ones the same way the Honey, Flax ‘n Almond Cookies are since they use whole wheat flour; honey can also be used in place of sugar if you want, just use about 25% less (3/4 cup).

Here is a bonus recipe since it’s flu season now and my little Lily has a little cold right now, giving her the runniest nose I have ever seen. Since she hasn’t quite mastered soup yet, I made her some chicken broth-infused pasta for dinner yesterday which she gobbled up, and it genuinely seemed to make her feel a lot better. Here it is below:

Lily-style Chicken Noodle Soup

1 cup chicken broth (preferably organic)

¼ cup small-shaped pasta (I used alphabet shapes)

1 clove garlic, diced

1 tsp olive oil

Sauté the garlic in the olive oil in a small pot for about 3 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil, then add the pasta and cook until fairly soft, or to your child’s preference. Serve the pasta strained from the broth, but still very wet. Add a little grated cheese like Parmesan (Lily’s favorite) to entice your tike even more, but just a little as the dairy could make their phlegm thicker. You can also add chopped veggies, like peas and carrots, to this soup; I would’ve, but not only was I out of any ready-to-use frozen veggies, but Lily has also been quite picky due to her little cold. You can keep the broth for other uses, or just drink it yourself (I gave it to Paul since he’s been sick too, hence why Lily now is and why I most likely will be by the weekend d%@%it!). 

Num-num pasta

My little sickface. She likes to take her bibs off now as you can see

Do you have any sick-busting recipes you’re kids enjoy that you’d like to share? Tell me about them in the comments! Have a great weekend!