Ugly Apple Cookies

They say baking is a precise art, but nothing in my kitchen is precise. I bake the way I cook, glance at a recipe to get an idea and then start putting things together until they are the way I want them. Most of the time it works. Sometimes I fail but sometimes I come up with something good enough to document so I can put it in my 3 ring recipe binder and forget about forever. 

I had a little extra time this evening, which is a rare thing. The boy child was enjoying what was possibly the last nice day of fall and my man was working late in the shop downstairs. I thought it would be nice to have some of his favorite Oatmeal Raisin cookies ready when he was done but I soon realized I didn't have any raisins... or butter... or eggs... and only 1/2 cup of brown sugar.  Hmmm...

What I did have was 2 mushy bananas, a freezer full of apples from our woods and some dried cranberries. I combined my favorite oatmeal raisin cookie recipe from Paula Deen with the ingredients I had on hand, a glass of wine in the other hand, and a "devil may care" attitude and ended up with a pretty darn good (and healthy) cookie. Because there is no butter and very little sugar they didn't spread like cookies usually do. They almost have the texture of a muffin. Maybe next time I'll try them in a muffin pan and see what happens.

Ingredients:

2 over-ripe bananas

1/2 cup apple sauce

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup rice milk (or any substitute)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp ground flax

1 cup diced apples

3 cups flour or GF all purpose baking flour 

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 cups old fashioned oats 

2 tsp cinnamon, apple pie spice or any combination of cinnamon, ginger, clove, allspice

1 cup dried cranberries

*walnuts would be a nice addition but my kiddo is allergic

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Peel and mash bananas in a mixing bowl. Add apple sauce, vanilla, rice milk, brown sugar and flax. Stir well. Add apples & combine.

In a separate bowl combine all other ingredients.

Stir together wet & dry ingredients. Add a little more flour or oats if it's too wet.

Drop spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen. Yummy.

Every Time!

I am so conscious and cautious of foods in most circumstances. In a restaurant I always check, double check, triple check and take the first few bites slowly, noticing any signals of a reaction. I read labels at the grocery store and don't compromise on mystery ingredients like "spices" and "natural flavorings". I even double check labels of things I use all the time in case they change the ingredients.

Every once in a while I slip and something comes in under the radar. This afternoon I started feeling off: sniffly, watery eyes, stomach cramps. It came on too quickly to be a virus so I started backtracking my foods to see if I could have made a mistake somewhere. No time for breakfast this morning and lunch was leftovers from dinner last night, which was a simple recipe I use often and I knew was clean. The only other thing I'd had today was a cup of tea-a new tea I'd ordered online. I had read the label which said it was a blend of green & white teas but I didn't bother to check the complete ingredients list which shows "flavoring" as one of the ingredients. I don't know if it's the mystery "flavoring" or the rosebuds also listed (which I try to avoid because certain flowers including roses make me sneeze). I'm guessing it's the rosebud as a nightshade would likely have caused a more serious reaction but the lesson is the same. NEVER assume. Never take it for granted that something is safe.

So on this beautiful afternoon that I promised my son a trip to the park, I am instead trying to fight the Benadryl drowsiness while I sit sniffling and sneezing on the couch, the seat nearest the bathroom for when the stomach upset hits. And I'm thankful because at least I didn't have to call 911 this time.