new Quest bars: oatmeal chocolate chip and blueberry muffin

I've been looking forward to the new Quest protein bar flavors and they're finally here!

This morning I had to go get new tires.  Correction:  I had to get an alignment and get my tires balanced, but ended up needing all new tires. I had a feeling that would happen, since it's been 2 years since I got my last two tires and who-knows-how-many since I got the other two done (way more than 2 years!).  So, $813.00 later, the vibration is gone, the thumping noise is gone, my car is no longer pulling to one side, and it's a really smooth ride.

While I was waiting for the tires to be installed I walked the plaza. There's a Staples (it was warm and humid in there so left pretty quickly), a Dress Barn, Big Lots, GNC, and a few other stores.  I decided to stop in GNC to see if they had the new Quest bars. They did!  I grabbed two of each, plus four other flavors.

I wanted to dive into these right away, but I waited a bit.  This is why I try not to buy protein bars--I tend to treat them like candy bars, when I should really save them for after a tough workout or as a meal replacement.  I was able to wait until I got home, but not too long thereafter.

The Blueberry Muffin is delicious and sweet. It tastes like blueberries, just like it should. And it has little bits of cobbler pieces.  Not really sure what the "cobbler" really is, but it tastes good.  The Oatmeal Chocolate Chip was good. There were some little bits of oatmeal and chunks of chocolate. The oatmeal seemed almost non-existent, though. And it seemed a little heavy on the cinnamon.

I decided to make cookies out of them, like I'd seen on another website. All you do is cut each bar into 8 pieces and bake them at 325 for 6 minutes. About halfway through the baking time you smoosh them down with a spatula or spoon to flatten them. Makes me feel like I'm eating cookies and it allows me to trick myself into eating less. Note:  These cookies are small, about the size of a 50 cent coin.

The verdict?  I like the Blueberry Muffin better as a bar and the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip better as a cookie.

coconut flour shortbread cookies

I was at the library this weekend.  I was browsing the cookbooks, as usual, and came across a Paleo diet cookbook.  I decided to leaf through it, since most of the recipes were high protein and that's what I'm looking for.  I came across a recipe for coconut pancakes made with coconut flour and coconut milk.  They looked pretty good and seemed easy to make, just like regular pancakes.  I didn't feel like checking the book out, so I went home and Googled for the recipe. But first I stopped at Ocean State Job Lot to get some Bob's Red Mill Coconut Flour; Ocean State Job Lot sells a big variety of Bob's Red Mill products.

I found a whole bunch of coconut pancake recipes online.  I clicked on one from a blog called Paleo Hacks.  That lead me to a post called 33 Indulgent Coconut Flour Recipes.  I clicked through and found a whole bunch of fairly simple recipes using coconut flour, one of which was these Coconut Flour Shortbread Cookies.  The recipe had only 4 ingredients, 5 if you count the optional chocolate. I decided to make these cookies.  I figured they're low in sugar and lower in carbs.  And the recipe makes only 8 small cookies, which is good; I don't want the temptation around for long.

These were very easy to mix together and it only took about 5 minutes, which includes the time it took to gather the ingredients, preheat the oven, and mix the dough.  It took a couple more minutes to roll the dough into balls and flatten with a fork. Note:  make sure you use cooking spray on the fork, otherwise the dough will stick.  Alternatively, you could just flatten them with your thumb.

The recipe called for maple syrup, but since I only needed one tablespoon I didn't want to spend a ton on real syrup.  I used pancake syrup instead.

These cookies were good, but not sweet at all.  I think they would benefit from a little sugar sprinkled on the top, or the optional chocolate drizzled over the top.  I don't know how to describe the taste.  I didn't necessarily taste the syrup or the coconut flour by themselves, although there was a hint of both.  And they also don't taste like regular shortbread cookies.  Also, while they were soft, they were a bit dry; I found myself needing a sip of water to wash each one down.

I would make them again, because they're just so easy, but I might use something else in place of the maple syrup. Maybe honey or sugar free Torani syrup.

Here's the recipe if you're interested in trying them:  Coconut Flour Shortbread Cookies.

Nutritional info, using regular pancake syrup and no chocolate:  73 calories, 6g fat, 1g sugar, 4g carbs and 1g protein per cookie.

cornmeal fennel cookies

Yes, I know.  That sounds like an odd combination for a cookie, but I wanted to try something different.  And I wanted to use up some more ingredients in the spirit of my Eat Through the Kitchen Challenge:  fennel seed and cornmeal.

Awhile back I cleaned out my spices.  I tossed all the old ones, which were really outdated, and bought new ones to take their place.  I also added some ones I've never used before.  Since I buy spices at the dollar store usually, or buy the Badia brand (in the Spanish food isle at the store) ,I didn't have to spend any significant money to replenish my stock.  Well, somehow I ended up with two containers of fennel seed.  I have no idea why I bought fennel seed since I have no clue what it's used for; however, I recently discovered it's used in sausage making.

I also had a bag of cornmeal haunting the cabinet.  Not sure why I bought that, either.  I'm sure there was a recipe I wanted to try at some point so I bought it.  (This is why I'm doing my Eat Through the Kitchen Challenge!)

I went in search of a recipe using fennel seed and this is the one I found. Since it used cornmeal, too, all the better.  The recipe I found was actually reviewed by someone on The Kitchn website.  They said that the recipe they tried needed some added milk, because the dough wouldn't bind together.  So, I followed the recipe and added the milk.  It also called for the fennel seed to be coarsely ground, which means using a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder.  I was at my dad's house this weekend for Easter and was able to borrow my mom's mortar and pestle.

I made the recipe and included 3/4 cup of milk after mixing the dry ingredients into the dough.  I then chilled the dough, but only for about an hour and half since I had to get them finished to take them somewhere. The result was that they spread quite a bit. Next time I make this I will chill the dough for much longer.

I have to admit I was skeptical, but they tasted good.  They have a nice fennel flavor, just a hint of sweetness, and a bit of a crunchy texture inside because of the cornmeal, while still being chewy.  I would make these again.

Here's the recipe I used.  I added 3/4 cup of milk before chilling the dough:  Cornmeal Fennel Cookies
Here's the review of the recipe by The Kitchn:  Review

chocolate chip cookies...without the brown sugar

I've said before that I often make recipes without some of the ingredients called for.  Sometimes it's because 1.) I don't like certain ingredients; or 2.) I just don't have the ingredient on hand and I know it before going in; or 3.) I'm lazy and don't read the recipe all the way through and then realize halfway through cooking, "Crap!  I need chicken to make chicken Parmesan?  What is this lunacy??"  It's usually #3, but today it was #2.

I had nothing on the agenda today.  At all.  Nothing.  I was trying to figure out what to do to keep busy and decided I wanted to make cookie dough to freeze.  I was a good girl and checked first to make sure I had the ingredients.  Sugar:  check.  Eggs:  check.  Chocolate chips:  check.  Brown sugar:  nope.  I checked online for cookie recipes and realized all the chocolate chip cookie recipes call for brown sugar.  So then I Googled, "cookies without brown sugar."  I found a few recipes and decided on one to try.  I read through the comments and most people seemed to like the recipe.  I noticed a few people had substituted coconut oil for the butter.  That got me thinking:  I had nearly a whole jar of coconut oil in the cabinet and hadn't yet found a use for it.  I decided to make the recipe using half coconut oil and half butter.

I started getting everything ready and then mixed up the butter, oil, and sugar.  I started to put together the flour, salt, and baking soda.  And...guess what?  I hadn't checked to see if I had flour.  Of course.  There it is.  I looked and realized I had no all-purpose flour, but I did have cake flour.  I looked online and found I could make a small adjustment to the quantity and it would work just fine, so that's what I did.  The plan was to freeze the dough, but, since I hadn't made this recipe before, I wanted to make sure the finished product is edible.

I used parchment paper on my cookie sheets. It's fairly foolproof.   I find that I have a tough time using plain cookie sheets.  My cookies either stick or burn, or they're too crispy when they shouldn't be.  Plus, cookie sheets just never clean up very well.  This way I get evenly cooked cookies and there's no cleanup. :)  I also used the fabulous Silpat baking mat my favorite cousin gave me earlier this year.

These cookies baked up very light in color and didn't really spread at all.  The finished product was soft and chewy and had a hint of coconut flavor.  I will make these again, although I might add some cocoa powder next time.  Recipe below.

I ate only one cookie.  That's my limit when it comes to desserts.  Any more than that and I start with the dumping syndrome.

As you can see, they don't really spread much and they're very light.  I cooked them for the full 11 minutes.

(Raw dough on the left, baked cookies on the right.)

If you want to make the original recipe, go here.  The recipe that follows below is how I made my cookies.

Brown Sugar-less Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 36 cookies, depending on how big you make them.

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened 

1/2 cup virgin coconut oil (I used Trader Joe's; it's much cheaper)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups (1 bag) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Note:  You don't have to buy parchment paper.  You can prepare the cookie sheets whatever way you normally do it.
2. Cream together the butter, coconut oil, and sugar. Add the eggs and mix together. Pour in the vanilla and blend until combined.
3. Pour the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and mix until combined. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix until combined.
4. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Use a cookie scoop or a spoon to form tablespoonful-sized balls of dough. Place the dough on the baking sheet two inches apart.
6. Bake for 8-11 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from the oven. Allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes.
7. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.