Susan's Healthy No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

You who may have wondered about the shortage of blogs the last few weeks. I was chosen as one of 4 finalists to blog for SELF-magazine.  So when you get a chance take a look:

Susan's SELF Blogs

Over the years many of you have inquired about a healthy treat to satisfy your sweet tooth.  I have one coming out on SELF this Friday so take a look then but in the meantime here’s one I made up today.

Jeffrey is having a study group over tomorrow and asked me to make cookies.  I asked Jeffrey’s photography partner JD what his favorite cookies are and he said “no bake cookies.”  This intrigued me since being the “baker” I had no idea what he was talking about.

After goggling these cookies I found out they are quite popular with limited ingredients (good) but lots of sugar (not so good).  So I experimented today with cutting the sugar in half and adding extra, unsweetened cocoa powder and some good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips. 

What resulted was a very tasty cookie that contains no flour and can healthfully be enjoyed by most depending on your metabolic needs. 

With only 8 ingredients and at 16 grams of carbohydrate per cookie (the amount in a slice of bread) they measure out quite well.  Enjoy the cookies!

Here’s the recipe with the nutritional breakdown:

Susan’s Healthy Chocolate Oatmeal No-Bake Cookies

Ingredients
Yield:  30 cookies

1-cup sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa
1 stick butter (4 ounces)
½ cup 1% milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups quick-cooking oats
½ cup peanut butter
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

Combine sugar, cocoa, butter and milk in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil on medium heat and boil for one minute.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, peanut butter and oatmeal.

Drop by spoonful’s onto wax paper and let cool for at least 30 minutes.

Nutrition Facts:

Per cookie:

138 calories
3 grams protein
16 grams total carbohydrate
7 grams fat
2 grams fiber

Ode to Peanut Butter!

Peanut butter is my all time favorite food so I thought it appropriate to start my first blog with peanut butter talk. Many think of peanut butter as the usual kind in the grocery store, but many natural peanut butters or other nut butters now exist which taste amazing and have a much better flavor and consistency than in times past.

Peanut butter is a great snack to have on apples, bananas, or celery in the afternoon or evening. I think it gives you feeling you have had something decadent and healthy at the same time. Natural nut butters are packed with monounsaturated fat, which is the healthy fat that decreases incidence of heart disease by increasing your HDL or happy cholesterol. HDL is the cholesterol level you want to be high since it gets rids the body of bad cholesterol!

Two of my current favorite peanut butters are "Cream-Nut" which is a natural peanut butter by Koeze Company, a family run business in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Several of the Whole Foods in West Los Angeles sell this brand but you can also find it online.

My other current favorite peanut butter is a new one available at Trader Joe's called "Valencia Peanut Butter with Roasted Flaxseeds." The flaxseeds make it like you are eating a great peanut butter with toffee bits in it. Trader Joe's also sells a natural cashew nut butter and a cashew macadamian nut butter. One of my clients calls the cashew nut butter "dessert on a stick."

So the new blog is now launched. Stay tuned for postings on my favorite new foods products and the most recent studies on food and health. Feel free to ask questions on topics that are of interest to you.

Bon Appetit!