Oats/Apricots/Walnuts Cookies with Coconut Sugar. Christmas Time

"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree; the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in one another"-Burton Hills
                    Oats/Apricots/Walnuts Cookies with Coconut Sugar.

                                You need:
= Unsalted Butter, room temperature -125g (1/2 cup)
= Coconut Sugar - 1/2 cup
= 1 Egg
= Whole Milk - 5 Table spoons
= Whole Wheat flour (I use Ivory) - 1/2 Cup
= Soda - 1/2 teaspoon
= Cinnamon - 1 teaspoon
= Salt - a pinch
= Vanilla whole bean powder - 1 teaspoon or 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
= Oats, steel cut, quick cooking, organic (I used "Bob's Red Mill" company) - 1+1/3 Cups
= Walnuts - 2/3 Cup
= Dried Apricots, Organic (they are nor treated with sulfur dioxide) - 10 Apricots
= Handy mixer and baking sheets

                   == Preheat the oven to 375F (190.5C)==
~ 1. Cream Butter and Coconut Sugar

                             ~ 2. Beat in 1 Egg.

 ~ 3. Add Milk. Mix well. (If you use Vanilla Extract, add it in this step)

 ~ 4. Mix all dry ingredients=> Whole wheat flour+Soda + Cinnamon+Salt +Vanilla whole bean powder.

 ~5. Stir the dry ingredients into the (Butter+Coconut Sugar+Egg+Milk) mixture. Blend well.

~ 6. Grind Walnuts. I use blender.

 ~ 7. From this step, work with a spoon. Fold into the dough walnuts

~ 8. Cut Apricot on little pieces with a knife.

~ 9. Add and fold Apricots into the dough.

~ 10. Add and fold Oats into the dough in 2 steps, every time blend it well.

~ 11. Cover baking sheets with parchment paper, make a small balls (I use teaspoon to make them even) and place onto the prepared baking sheets about 3cm apart.

 ~ 12. Bake for 12-13 minutes till the edges are browned.

 ~ 13. When ready, remove onto a wire rack and let cool.

 ~ 14. It is great to decorate with a whipping cream as I did.

 In my older post "Chestnuts Whipping Cream" you will find the recipe how I made the Whipping cream.chestnuts-whipping-cream.

                 Enjoy and Be Healthy:)

Walnuts/Cocoa Whole Wheat Squares w/Coconut Sugar. Christmas Time

    "And in all this cold Decembering-
     A gentle time for sweet remembering"- D. Morgan

 Walnuts/Cocoa Whole Wheat Squares with Coconut Sugar are made with a wonderful combination of complementing each other ingredients. They taste like little cakes, festive looking and easy to make.

                           You need:
= Unsalted Butter, room temperature - 125g
= Coconut Sugar - 1/2 cup
= 2 Eggs
= Whole Wheat flour (I used Ivory) - 1 Cup
= Soda - 2 teaspoon
= Vanilla, whole been powder - 1 teaspoon (or 1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract)
= Cinnamon -1 teaspoon
= Salt- a pinch
= Walnuts pieces - 1 Cup and some halved walnuts for garnish
== 33cmx23cm Square Cake Pan
            Preheat oven to 325F (160C). 
          Grease square cake pan with butter.
=1. Cream butter and Coconut Sugar.

 =2. Add Eggs one by one, every time mix all ingredients. I use handy mixer.

 =3. Mix all dry ingredients-> Flour+Soda+Vanilla+Cinnamon+Salt.

 =4. Add Dry mixture to the (Egg+Butter+Coconut Sugar) mixture. Mix well. If you use Vanilla Extract, add it in to this step.

 =5. Cut walnuts into small pieces with a knife.

 =6. Add walnuts to the mixture of the almost completed dough. Mix well with a spoon.

 =7. Spread evenly in cake pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. Check with a wooden (tooth) stick.

 =8. When it is done, place onto a wire rack and let it cool.

        ~~~Meanwhile prepare Cocoa Icing~~~

                              You need:
= Coconut Sugar - 1/2 Cup
= Cocoa Powder - 1 Table spoon
= Unsalted Melted Butter - 1 Table spoon
= Water Boiling - 2 Table spoon
= Vanilla Extract - 1/2 teaspoon
~~ Mix together Coconut sugar and Cocoa powder

 ~~ Add Melted butter + Boiling Water + Vanilla Extract

 ~~ Stir all ingredients well with an egg beater.

~~ Cover the cake with Cocoa Icing.

~~Trim edges. Cut on little squares and garnish with halved walnuts.

                                            Done.

                     Enjoy and Be Healthy:)

Raspberry Wholewheat Pinwheels w/Coconut Sugar and Cream Cheese. Christmas Time

"Sweet as a delicious gift of charity and the fullness of giving"- the Old saying.

  Christmas preparation starts on December 1st, the first day of Advent. It is the time for baking. Cookies are the goodies that can be prepared in advance and store in tins or boxes until Christmas, just do not mix different types of cookies together.
  Baking cookies in symbolic shapes of fir trees, pinwheels, stars, sun, moon, man (god), woman (goddess), crescent moon, just named a few, brings us further back to the folk rituals of days past, to the ancient, pre-Christian, pagan traditions of the sun's rebirth.
~ Raspberry Wholewheat Pinwheels with Coconut Sugar and Cream Cheese ~
  Every shape of the cookies has a symbolic meaning. Pinwheel is the symbol of the immortality of the eternal human spirit that brings health and longevity, good luck and prosperity.

                                You need:
= Unsalted Butter - 1/2 Cups or 125 g, at room temperature
= Cream Cheese, preferably organic - 125 g
= Coconut Sugar - 1/3 Cup
= 1 Egg
= Lemon Juice - 1 Table spoon
= Lemon Zest, chopped of 1 Lemon
= Whole wheat flour (I used Ivory) - 2 Cups
= Soda - 1/2 tea spoon
= Cinnamon - 1 tea spoon
= Vanilla, whole been powder - 1 teaspoon (you can use Vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon)
= Raspberry Jam - about 200 ml/g ( I used Organic Raspberry Jam from Natur company. You can use home made jam or store bought)
               ***Preheat oven to 350F (180C)***
== In mixing bowl, cream Butter, Cream Cheese and Coconut Sugar. If you have Vanilla Extract, add it in this step.

== What is the Chopped Lemon Zest. Peel Lemon very thinly and chop it.

== Add Egg, Lemon Juice and chopped Lemon Zest to the (Butter+Cream Cheese+Coconut Sugar) mixture and beat all ingredients with handy mixer till fluffy.

== Sift Whole wheat flour and soda together, add Cinnamon and whole been Vanilla powder. Mix it with a fork well.

 == Gradually add (in 3 steps) flour mixture to the creamed mixture (Butter+Cream Cheese+Coconut Sugar). Mix well after each addition. I used handy mixer.

 == In last step, use your hands to mix and form a ball.   

  ***Chill the dough for at least 1 hour.***You can prepare the dough in advance and refrigerate it for a couple of days.

== Divide the dough in three parts. Dust the working board with flour. Roll one portion of the dough into somehow rectangle(whole wheat dough is not elastic as white flour), about 3 mm thick.

 == Spread Raspberry jam.

 == Roll up and flatten the roll lightly with hands.

 == Cut the roll into slices. Use the serrated blade knife (bread knife), otherwise you squeeze the roll. Slide and cut gently. 

 == Bake for 12- 24 minutes till firm.

 The time depends on the size of the cookies. Place for 12 minutes, bake.When the time is up, check  with a wooden (tooth) stick. If the cookies is not ready yet, give 6 more minutes and see. Do not burn it:)
== When done, transfer to wire racks and let them cool.

 == Raspberry Pinwheels are wonderful. They are soft, but crunchy with raspberry and lemon taste.

                   Enjoy and Be Healthy:)