Fighting Anemia One Cookie at a Time.

Let me start by saying that I am aware that wheat products inhibit the body's absorption of certain minerals (including iron) by varying percentages.
I should also say that I am not advising anyone who is anemic to eat a cookie every day to cure the condition.
What I am saying is that these are delicious and they have a good amount of iron and B vitamins in them.

So, at my most recent appointment with our midwife we discovered I was still a bit anemic.  I think I hit a 9 out of 12 or something like that.  I felt alright except I slept a lot (thank heavens the little one also slept a lot) so I was surprised to find that something was wrong.
I was advised to take Blackstrap Molasses (2-4 tbs a day) and eat plenty of iron-rich foods.

I went home and tried to eat a straight spoonful of molasses.
Yeah....
I don't know if you've ever had molasses, but eating it straight is pretty gnarley.  Not only was it difficult to get down, my stomach decided I was an idiot for ingesting it and let me know.  I kept it down, I just felt pretty icky for a couple hours.

After trying to eat it straight I decided I'd integrate it into regular foods.  So I put it on my hot cereal and that worked okay, but I wanted some variety.  Also, I had romanticized molasses cookies.
Thing is, none of my recipe books contain a recipe for molasses cookies - I even have one a friend gave to me for a wedding gift called I Dough, 100 Cookies.  My mom didn't have one either.  So I turned to my trusty friend Bing and found this recipe which I've modified as seen below:

3/4 cup butter (melted)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
some white sugar

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Combine butter, sugar, and egg.  Mix until smooth and add molasses.  Add half of the dry ingredients, mix well and add the second half.
Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour.

Oven: 375°

Roll the dough into balls and roll in white sugar.  Place the cookies about 2 inches apart and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the tops are cracked.


It really doesn't matter how large you make the cookies, they come out the same texture; nice and soft with a crispy outside (courtesy of the sugar).

I love this recipe, and hubby has proclaimed these cookies his new favorites.

They'll make a great addition to the holiday care packages I'm planning on delivering to my neighbors this year!

Tea Cookies

I was looking for a recipe for coconut flour cookies so I could bake something gluten free.  Hubby and I visit a friend of ours in Fort Collins semi-regularly and his children can't have wheat or dairy.
I wanted to bring them cookies this time so I found a recipe after discovering that coconut flour does not behave like grain flour (something I should have figured out before trying to make stuff with it).
I modified it a little because I didn't have any coconut milk, and I have some weird hangup concerning stevia.
Here is the recipe:

Dry Ingredients

• 3/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt

Mix well, set aside.
Wet Ingredients

• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 cup Tetley tea (or black tea)
• 6 eggs, preferably free range and organic
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• Chocolate chips to taste

Turn on oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixer, whip the 6 eggs thoroughly. Add tea and mix well. Add butter.  Add dry ingredients and mix on lower speed until smooth.  If dough is too liquid-y, add more flour one tablespoon at a time, you should only need two - the dough will not be as thick as regular cookie dough.  Fold in chocolate chips with spatula.

When I make these, they do not spread.  They keep the lovely shape of the dropper I've got, making fun little dome cookies.
I also make a half recipe because I don't want to use all 6 eggs at once.
3/4 of a cup is 180ml give or take, so you'll only need 90ml of flour.  I have a measuring cup set we got for a wedding gift that has weird sizes to it and I use the first two which I think are 1/8 and 1/4 cup measurements to get the 90ml.
As for the vanilla, I just pour a bit in the batter (I usually don't measure my vanilla extract when I'm baking).
The dough (before adding the chocolate chips and after the extra tablespoon of flour) is kind of spongy.  I can't really think of how to explain it.

Next time I bake these I'm going to try using coffee instead of tea.  It should be interesting.

I hope you all are having a great Memorial Day!