The sweet tooth is on the loose - Soft Ginger Carrot Cookies

Maybe its that time of the month, maybe its because its Monday, maybe it is because it is raining cats and dogs. Whatever it is, I need MORE cookies today. I have an abundance of carrots in my fridge, so I decided to use some of them to whip up a batch of Soft Ginger Carrot Cookies. They are perfect with a cup of tea on a chilly fall day. Mmmmmm....






Soft Ginger Carrot Cookies (makes 30)

1 C whole wheat pasty flour
1 C almond meal
1 t ground ginger
1 t baking powder
Pinch ground nutmeg
Pinch salt
12 T butter (1 1/2 sticks), room temperature
1 egg
1/3 C dark agave nectar
1 t vanilla extract
1 1/2 C shredded carrots (about 3 small carrots)
1 C chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, almond meal, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Set aside. In a stand mixer, beat butter for two minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add agave, vanilla and egg and beat an additional minute. Slowly add dry ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in carrots and nuts.















Using a medium-sized cookie scoop (approx 2 T per scoop), scoop out dough onto cookie sheet. With a wet palm, gently flatten each cookie. Bake 14 - 16 minutes or until firm and lightly golden brown. Remove to wire rack to cool.

Each cookie has 116 calories, 0.5 g of sugar and 1 g of fiber. Compare these to Land O Lakes Carrot Cake Cookies at 196 calories, 17.7 g of sugar and 0.7 g of fiber.

The not too bad for you Everything Cookie

I have had the worst sweet tooth lately. I am having a hard time keeping my hands out of the cookie jar, so today I decided to whip up something that I could feel not too bad about eating. I found a recipe on a nice blog called Healthy Endeavors and adapted it to what I had in my cupboard. Here is what I came up with.

Everything Cookie - makes 40

1 C organic rolled oats
1 C spelt or whole grain whole wheat flour
1 C almond meal
1/4 C shredded coconut
1/4 C raisins
1/4 C grain sweetened chocolate chips
1/4 C chopped walnuts
1/2 t salt
1/2 C agave nectar
1/2 C canola oil
1/2 t vanilla

Heat oven to 350. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl and set aside. Mix wet ingredients in small bowl. Combine wet and dry ingredients and stir to combine.

Form 1" balls of dough and place them on cookie sheet. Press down with your hand or the bottom of a glass to flatten cookie. Bake approximately 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

A serving of 2 cookies (35 grams) is 169 calories, 2.5 g of sugar and 1.5 g of fiber. Not too bad when you compare these cookies to a similar serving of Chips Ahoy (40 grams) with 190 calories, 13 g of sugar and 1g of fiber.

(And, BTW, even my oldest, who hates coconut, liked these. Go me!)

A Cautionary Word on Agave Nectar

I discovered Agave Nectar very early on in my research on low gi / whole foods way of eating. As far as I can tell, agave is as close to the perfect sweetener as you can get. I have tried other sweeteners: brown rice syrup, honey, date sugar, maple syrup, stevia, aspartame, but they all have some drawback. Some taste great, but were refined. Some have a bitter aftertaste. And other, while natural, cause my blood sugar to soar. Then came agave. Hallelujah!

Agave is low on the glycemic index scale (around 27), tastes good and you can use it in almost anything. Baking with agave can be a challenge because it does not give a good crumb to baked goods as does refined sugar (for instance, if you make chocolate chip cookies with agave, you get soft and chewy instead of crispy) and you must remember to reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe. But, if you can get past these obstacles, it is wonderful stuff.

The reason that agave is the perfect sweetening choice for me (and anyone with diabetes or other sugar related issues) is that is has a high fructose to glucose ratio. Fructose is digested slowly by the body as compared to other sugars and it therefore does not cause the immediate sugar surge into the bloodstream. This is what I want to avoid at all costs. However, just because the glycemic response is low to agave nectar does not make it a health food. Here's why.

Most carbs that we eat are glucose. When we eat that glucose, it enteres the bloodstream and the body releases insulin to regulate it. Fructose is not processed in the bloodstream, hence the reason for the slow glycemic response to eating it. Sounds great huh? Well, yes and no. Fructose gets processed in the liver. If too much fructose enters the liver, the liver struggles to process it and what it can't process it converts to fat. That fat then gets sent off into the bloodstream as the dreaded triglycerides. Oh no.

The upshot of this is that while low on the glycemic index, agave nectar is not a "free" food. As with any sweetener, we should be judicious in how we use/eat it. I wouldn't recommend eating a whole pan of brownie receipe that I shared last night (although you might want to) because your liver will surely have a hard time processing it.

Knowing all that I do about agave nectar, it is still my sweetener of choice. I use about 1/2 t in my coffee every morning, use in in place of honey in savory recipes, and I substitute it for sugar routinely in baking. However, I don't bake a lot. I try to avoid sweets altogether. But, as in all things, I strive for balance (I am SUCH a libra) so using agave in the occassional pan of brownies is the way to go for me. Now that you know when I know about agave, I will let you all draw your own conclusions.

While the cats away, the mouse will make BROWNIES!

So my husband is traveling, again, and I am craving something sweet. I decide that this is the perfect time to try something for desert that he would be dubious about. So tonight I made brownies. But not any brownies; I made Black Bean Brownies.

I can almost hear the air being sucked out of the room. Did she say Black Bean Brownies? GROSS! Nope, I swear they are anything but gross. They were actually pretty freaking amazing if I do say so myself.

I made this from a new cookbook, Baking with Agave Nectar, by Ania Catalano. Santa brought it for Christmas and so far, it rocks.

THE AMAZING BLACK BEAN BROWNIES

4 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 C butter
2 C soft cooked black beans, drained well
1 C walnuts, chopped
1 T vanilla extract
1/4 C instant coffee powder
1/4 t sea salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 C light agave nectar

Preheat oven to 325. Line 11x18 baking pan with parchment and spray lightly with cooking spray. Set aside.

Melt chocolate and butter in microwave for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes. Stir with spoon to melt chocolate.

Place the beans, 1/2 C walnuts, vanilla and a few spoonfuls of the chocolate mixture into a food processor. Process on high for 2 minutes or until thick and smooth. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix 1/2 C walnuts, remaining chocolate mixture, coffee powder and salt. Mix well and set aside.

In another bowl, beat eggs with electric mixer until light and creamy, about 1 minute. Add agave nectar and beat well. Set aside.

Add the bean mix to the coffee mix and stir until blended well. Add the egg mixture, reserving 1/2 C. Mix well. Pour batter into prepared pan. Using electric mixer, beat the remaining 1/2 C egg mixture until light and fluffy. Drizzle over brownie mix. use a wooden toothpick to pull the egg mixture through the batter, creating a marbled effect. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes or until set. Let cool in pan completely before cutting into squares (they will be soft until refrigerated).