Healthy Baking Recipes

I love baking especially when I can make something healthy and have it still taste amazing! The last couple of weekends I've been baking a lot! Last weekend I made some yummy Chocolate Cherry Heart Smart Cookies which were only 94 calories per cookie!!! They turned out amazing! Plus my little man LOVED THEM!

Below you will find the yummy recipe for those!

Chocolate Cherry Heart Smart Cookies

Ingredients

1.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1/3 cup) 

1.5 ounces whole-wheat flour (about 1/3 cup)

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt 

6 tablespoons unsalted butter 

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup dried cherries

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg, lightly beaten 

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Cooking spray - I used coconut oil spray

I used mostly all organic items except for the flours, rolled oats, baking soda. You totally don't have to use organic that is just something I have been trying to use more and more of! 

Preparation 

Preheat oven to 350. Weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat; add brown sugar, stirring until smooth. Add sugar mixture to flour mixture; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (I found that my blender was a little too fast and things went flying a little). Add cherries, vanilla and egg; beat until combined. Fold in chocolate (I used organic small chocolate chips - they were the perfect size). Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes - I took mine out around the 10 - 11 minute mark. Cool on pans 3 minutes or until almost firm. Remove from cookies from pans; cool on wire rack! 

These are seriously so simple to make and like I said they taste amazing! I even froze some for later! You could also use dried cranberries or something else or even remove the fruit if you don't like fruit in cookies! 

Now on to my next recipe that some have asked about!!! The yummy Peanut Butter Banana 5 Ingredient Blender Muffins!!! They are so simple and so yummy! And again you can freeze these too! I still have a bunch in my freezer! 

Peanut Butter Banana 5 Ingredient Blender Muffins

Ingredients 

1 cup natural peanut butter 

2 large eggs 

2 medium sized very ripe bananas 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

2 tablespoons honey (optional) 

Optional toppings: chocolate chips, coconut, raisins. 

Preparation 

Preheat oven to 400. Place ingredients in a blender and blend until well mixed. You could probably use a hand blender or mixer too if you wanted. Pour batter into muffin tin greased with cooking spray (again I used coconut spray). Add variety of toppings into each muffin spot and stir. Cooking time varies - 9 minutes for regular muffins or 8 minutes for mini muffins - I did mini muffins since they were the perfect size for my toddler. 

I really hope you enjoy these two AMAZING recipes! And please let me know how you liked them. Did you kids like them? Did your spouse like them? I know my spouse didn't really care for them. He did try the cookies and thought they were okay but to be fair he's not into eating healthy as much as I am! 

Until next time. 

Sara Barry