Sometimes you just want something easy (and relatively guilt-free) to feed your baking bug. I do have baking bug days although I would still like to maintain I don't have much of a sweet tooth (my baking confections are usually given to family and friends). You know what inspired today's post? Well, for the very simple and practical fact that I still had a few jars of natural yoghurt left in my fridge and I really wanted to use them up before they reach their expiry date. True that I bought the yoghurt mainly for the cute little jars they were sold in (ooh so many possibilities with those jars, think jellies, mud cakes, cheesecakes and so on), but perhaps it's the economist in me, I felt I needed to maximise what I had on hand to minimise losses (well wastage in this sense). I was thinking of a parfait, maybe some mango lassi and finally decided on some easy cookies since cookies are always welcome and they can always be kept for a few days unlike the others mentioned. Ugh, how practical and so not romantic - I guess my Libra tendencies were temporarily taken over by the practical economist/ analyst in me :O
So I set about looking for a yoghurt cookie recipe and unfortunately nothing appealed to me at least from what I was able to find, so I let myself have free rein and just created a recipe for these easy (and healthy) cookies but of course I do have some experience baking cookies by now so maybe that helped. With the yoghurt incorporated, these cookies turned out incredibly moist and chewy. I basically tried to replace the usual milk in most cookie batters with the natural yoghurt which turned out to be a very good idea indeed, well at least to me. The oatmeal was added for some crunchy texture to the cookie and well I like oat cookies so that could also probably be why. If you like oat cookies and prefer your cookies chewy and moist, you will most probably like these too. Big plusses- these are incredibly easy, quick to make and of course not forgetting delicious and are perfect for a freshly baked tea-time snack.
Serving suggestion: Love these served with a hot cup of tea or coffee
Makes about 15 cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter (or 125g), softened at room temperature
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
5 tbsps white sugar (or more if you prefer)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup oats
1/3 cup natural yoghurt
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 C (about 350 F). Prepare 2 baking trays by lining with lightly greased baking paper. You will have to bake the cookies in 2 batches as they should be baked on the middle rack, so prepare a rack for baking in the middle.
First, beat the softened butter until almost fluffy.. Add in the brown and white sugar. Cream until pale and fluffy. Add in the vanilla essence. Add the flour (mixed with the baking powder) in 2 increments and stir well to incorporate, using a spatula to scrape the sides for even mixing now and then.
Add the yoghurt and mix to incorporate. Since this is an eggless batter, you can do taste tests throughout and add more sugar if desired. Add the salt. Mix well.
Finally, add the oats and stir to mix. Spoon onto prepared baking trays, about 1 tbsp per cookie, making sure to leave about 2 inches at least between the cookies since they spread a little. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool on racks and serve.
Healthy Yoghurt and Oats Cookies (Eggless) Recipe
Thursday, June 23, 2011 | Labels: Baking, Cookies, Desserts, Tea-time, teatime, Western |
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Smoky Wok by Smoky Wok is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.smokywok.com.
32 comments:
This sounds great. I've used yogurt before in cookies, but in much smaller amounts. I think it helps with rising.
they look marvellous...lovely clicks..:)
Tasty Appetite
I've never had much success with healthy cookies and i think occasional indulgence is ok, but your lovely bites have me wanting to try again :)
Beautiful recipe...Oats and yoghurt in a cookie...nice space - will be back soon.
-Shilpa
Mmm...yes I love cookies but dare not indulge too much because of cookies are usually very high in fat contents...these would be perfect as a healthier snack:)
Healthy cookies.. Will try baking for my MIL because I always see her buying oat cookies. Nothing beats homemade ones, hehe. Thanks for the recipe Jen.
thanks Shilpa!
yes, these are relatively healthier :D
hope your MIL will like these! :)
Yum! I love the idea of healthy ingredients in the cookies. Maybe I can eat two extra just for that. =P Your cookies are just perfect color and they look delicious!
Haha, maybe you should have set up a Lagrangian! :p These do look really good though, I can eat them guilt free!
Those cookies look delicious. I love egg-free cookie recipes because my young kids love to sample the dough...then I don't have to worry too much! Those jars of yoghurt are really cute. I have been known to buy jams for the same reason. :)
Ooh, yum. Can I have the other half of that cookie? When you break them apart all the calories fall out. I only eat "the other half" of a cookie to keep my weight down. :)
Loving your cookies! Quick question, does the oat taste soggy in the cookies? I always add oats in my bread dough, but the oats tasted quite raw everytime.
Hi Jun, thanks but no the oats did not taste soggy, although they were not super crunchy..I have not tried adding oats into my bread dough yet though..hmm not sure, wonder if it will work if the oats are toasted slightly beforehand?
hah yes, jam jars are really cute too, I also save the cute ones :)
thanks Nami!! :D Yes you can!
haha..yup
perhaps! the cookies did rise pretty nicely and did not spread out too much.
haha that's funny!
I have used olive oil before but not yogurt in cookies!!! It looks like a healthy winner!
Can I substitute the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour?
I found your blog through @08525236f8bbdfdb191c4bf3aca9fdf9:disqus and I'm so happy I did.
Due to some health issues I have to let the eggs out of my baking and these cookies are just perfect. Thanks for sharing Jen.
Hi there, I have not tried that actually, but I think you could just that the texture may be a little different..
Roxana, glad you find this helpful! Thanks for stopping by :)
Hi I'm just waiting for the cookies to come out of the oven and they are looking great! Thanks so much for sharing this healthy recipe
Caterina, thanks for the feedback! Glad you like them :)
I am definitely trying this out for my kiddo. I just truly hope it turns out great and that he loves it as I am always seeking healthy snack alternatives for him.
If he likes chewy cookies, I think he will like these :)
I made these babies last night and they turned out awesome. Soooo delicious. You definitely have to lightly grease whatever you're cooking them on -- they stuck to my parchment paper a little. Not that I didn't enjoy eating all the stuck bits. :D
Oooh, I'm glad you liked them :) Thanks for reminding me on the bit about lightly greasing the paper, that's what I usually do too :D
Its nice
to read some post about this nowadays. Its meaningful and somehow sharing this
to readers like me, makes me want to surf the web to be able to get more
wonderful ideas.Thank you for posting this.
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