Healthy Oatmeal Apple Raisin Cookies {Guest Post}

This has been a busy month of trips for me!  But I have had so much fun having so many awesome guest posters on my blog.  Do we have any hockey fans in the house?  I am headed to Denver to see the Blackhawks vs Avalanche game.  It will be so fun to go to especially since the Blackhawks are undefeated!  Then I will be heading in a week on my husbands company retreat in San Diego, and then we are celebrating our anniversary the week after!  Phew March is making me tired!  

I am excited to have Ruthie today visiting my blog.  We met at a blog conference and she is really the sweetest person I have met!  I absolutely adore her blog, and I especially love her cooking tutorials.  Her recipes always look delicious and I can't wait to try out these cookies!

Hi to all of The Recipe Critic's friends... I'm Ruthie from What's Cooking with Ruthie and I am SO excited to be here with all of you today!

I guess it’s that time of year when we’re all trying to shred a few of those winter pounds… I’ve written about my weight loss story here (part A & part B) AND even though I am a foodie- I try to make my recipes as healthy as possible without sacrificing any of the flavor

 These moist and flavorful Healthy Oatmeal Apple Raisin Cookies are a delicious example...

Healthy Oatmeal Apple Raisin Cookies

1 C whole wheat flour 
2 C whole oats 
1 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp baking soda 
1/4 tsp sea salt 
1 tsp cinnamon
1 egg 
2 Tbsp canola oil 
3/4 C sugar (or 1/2 C agave) 
1 C applesauce 
1 tsp vanilla 
1 apple, finely diced 
(I used ...) 3/4 C raisins 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon in small mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer combine egg, oil, apple sauce, vanilla in large mixing bowl; mix well. Add dry ingredients to wet, one cup at a time, mixing with each addition. Stir in apples and raisins by hand. Scoop by tablespoonful onto sprayed cookie sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until edges are slightly browned.

   You'll totally love these Healthy Oatmeal Apple Raisin Cookies. They'll hit that sweet spot without doing too much damage to the waistline. Which is a win-win this time of year! While we're thinking about skinny desserts here are a couple more you may enjoy...

Healthy Omega 3 Cookies

Skinny Pumpkin Bars

Browned Butter Banana Bread Brownies

I met Alyssa a couple of weeks ago at a blogging conference and I was thrilled to be able to help her out with a guest post while she is off catching some sunshine on vacation... I'm completely envious, by the way!

I'd love to have you stop by and visit with me at What's Cooking with Ruthie or connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest!

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Happy Cooking!

Ruthie

Bite Sized Mini Pavs {Guest Post}

I am ecstatic for my guest poster today!!  I absolutely love Tamsyn.  Not only is she an amazing crafter, mom, and person, she is from Australia!  Every time I talk to her I want to say g'day mate!  Or put another shrimp on the barbie!  I love keeping to date with all of her fun adventures on her blog.  She has the most adorable little boys and I just can't get over her cute little baby!  Tamsyn is such a sweet person and I am so glad that I have gotten to know her through our blogs.  I am excited she is sharing a dessert from Australia and I can't want to make it.  Let me turn the time over to Tamsyn and you will be talking like an Aussie in no time!

Any of you that are friends with an Australian will know that when it comes to dessert we love our Pavlova. Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, smothered in freshly whipped cream and topped with fruit, what's not to love! It really is the perfect dessert, and in honor of being asked to guest post over here I thought I would share my spin on the classic Pav (which is Aussie for Pavlova). Now if you're going to eat Pav like a true-blue Aussie there's a few things I should share with you first. One of the most important being that all words can and will be shortened... Pav for Pavlova, barbie for barbeque, footy for football, snag for sausage and so on. Although more often that not once we've shortened a word we normally add an 'o' on the end. Afternoon becomes arvo, journalist becomes journo, documentary becomes doco. Got it? Good!

Alright now that you're all taking like Aussies, let's get cooking ;).

Bite Sized Mini Pavs

2 egg whites
1/2 cup castor sugar (super fine sugar)
300ml heavy cream
1 tablespoon of powdered sugar
fruit of your choice (passionfruit, berries, kiwifruit, mango etc)

Preheat your oven to 300 and line two trays with baking paper.

Beat your egg whites until soft peaks form. Start adding the sugar little by little, continuing to beat the mix until it's thick and glossy (around 5 minutes).

Spoon or pipe your meringue mix into 24 little meringues, then bake in the oven for 20 - 25 minutes (I always stick to around 20 minutes because I love my meringues to be soft in the center - yum!).

Allow the meringues to cool completely in the oven with the door ajar.

Top with cream and fruit and serve immediately (oh and if you catch yourself saying 'you little beauty' as you eat these you'll know you totally nailed it!).

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Southern Caramel Cake Cookies {Guest Post}

Have you noticed a new and improved blog?  Yeah it was designed by this cute girl.  I have been a fan of Something Swanky for a long time.  The treats that she makes all look absolutely amazing.  She is so talented in blog design and making awesome treats.  I was thrilled when she wanted to guest post for me and I knew that it would be good.  And you better believe that I am making these delicious cookies as soon as I get home from my cruise!

Hiya RC readers! Ashton here from Something Swanky. I'm super excited to be hanging out over here at Alyssa's place today!! I was fortunate enough to get to spend some time in person with Alyssa at the BYB conference, and I just think she is so amazing.

I've seen lots of Skinny Recipes over here lately in preparation for Alyssa's cruise. And I can't wait to make some of them myself! But, I'm afraid I'm here to ruin the diet.

These Caramel Cake Cookies are a spin off of my Red Velvet Cake Batter Cookies (my new faves, by the way) which were a spin off of Sally's Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies.

It's a great basic cake mix recipe. For this adaptation, I used Duncan Hines Caramel Cake mix, omitted all of the sprinkles and chunks (although I think pecans would be awesome), drizzled caramel over top, and sprinkled with sea salt.

Oh, yeah. Caramel Cookie heaven :)

Southern Caramel Cake Cookie with Sea Salt
Adapted from: Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 and 1/4 cup caramel cake mix
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 6 Tbsp. butter, softened
• 6 Tbsp. shortening
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 
• 2 dozen Kraft caramels, unwrapped
• 2 tbsp water
• 1-2 tbsp sea salt for sprinkling

 Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together together flour, cake mix, and baking soda. Set aside.
2. In a stand mixer bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until creamy.
3. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not OVERMIX the dough.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. Scoop by rounded tablespoons of the cold dough onto a a parchment or silicon lined baking sheet. Shape your cookie dough balls to be “taller” than they are wide. Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are obviously done. The centers will still appear very soft, but the cookies will set as they cool.
6. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
7.  Microwave the caramels and water together for 1 minute (addition time if needed). Drizzle over top of the cookies and sprinkle with sea salt.

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