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Posted on Tue, Oct. 28, 2008

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Applesauce makes cookies more healthful

Today's seasonal cookie recipe will treat both your taste buds and your waistline well. The original cookie landed on Epicurious.com's most popular recipe list recently, so I wanted to see if I could keep its flavor while making it more healthful.

First, I reduced the amount of butter and added some drained applesauce. Using a little extra vanilla allowed me to subtract some sugar.

My alterations to this recipe trimmed the calories by 30 percent and cut the fat by 41 percent.

You can have two of my pumpkin applesauce cookies for 96 calories and 2 grams of fat.

Reach Kathy Manweiler at 316-268-6266 or kmanweiler@wichitaeagle.com. For more Don't Say Diet recipes, visit the Alive & Well Web site at www.wichitaaliveandwell.com.

KATHY'S PUMPKIN APPLESAUCE COOKIES

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white whole-wheat flour

1 1/3 cups quick-cooking oats, uncooked

1 teaspoon baking soda

½teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

¼teaspoon ground cloves

½teaspoon ground ginger

½teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼cup butter, softened

½cup no-sugar-added applesauce, drained (you'll need about ¾ cup applesauce from the jar to get this amount)

¼cup plus 2 tablespoons packed Splenda brown sugar blend

½cup sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

¼cup egg substitute

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

¾cup raisins

Put a fine sieve into a bowl large enough so the sieve doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl, then spoon the applesauce into the sieve. Let the applesauce stand for about 30 minutes, then scoop ½ cup of the drained applesauce from the sieve.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine flours, oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg and mix well. In a second larger bowl, beat together butter, applesauce, brown sugar blend and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in pumpkin, egg substitute and vanilla extract. Gradually fold in flour mixture until well combined. Gently fold in raisins. Drop teaspoons of batter onto nonstick cookie sheets. Bake 12 to 14 minutes, or until cookies are light brown on the bottom. The cookies will have a cake-like texture. Let cool on wire racks, then store in an airtight container. Makes 5 dozen cookies.

Per cookie: 48 calories, 1 fat gram, 9 carb grams, 0.6 fiber gram, 1 protein gram, 2mg cholesterol, 43mg sodium

Adapted from an Epicurious.com recipe

The Wichita Eagle