Soft & Chewy Ginger Sticks

Hands down the most requested recipe of mine!! Jay is my number one fan when it comes to these guys. When we were first married I would sometimes surprise him and bake them in the middle of the summer...he LOVED that! This past year we held off and waited until the Christmas season...and for one very valid reason. Jay and I did a 'homemade Christmas' last year...I highly recommend it....it was his idea actually! My brilliant gift to him was 365 Soft & Chewy Ginger Sticks!!! One for every day of the year!! Won wife of the year for that gift...only problem was that they were gone after about 6 weeks!! I will vouch for him and say that he did share some of them:)

So here it is...a very simple, one bowl, cookie recipe...gotta love that!! Always a hit...I even had a friend who despises molasses give them a try and she was left speechless!

These are very pretty sprinkled with a little light sugar right before baking..and even with a little crystallized ginger and white chocolate drizzle too! In the Wiebe house we prefer them plain...who's kidding who...they don't last long enough to cool and drizzle!!

Today marked the first double-batch of the season...we're heading to Calgary tomorrow to celebrate an early Christmas with the Wiebe's!...thought they'd make for a nice Christmas treat to share...and I'll be sure to pack a separate little container for Jay to enjoy in the truck while driving!

Soft & Chewy Ginger Sticks

1/2 cup raw cane sugar...or sugar of choice
1/2 cup olive or coconut oil (coconut is much better)
1/4 cup molasses
1 tablespoon almond milk
1 egg
2 cups flour (I use whole wheat or spelt)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon cloves
4 teaspoon sugar (for garnishing on top)

1. Heat oven to 375 F. In large bowl, mix 1/2 cup sugar, the oil,
molasses, milk and egg with spoon. Stir in remaining ingredients
except 4 teaspoon sugar.



2. Divide dough. On ungreased cookie sheet, I use parchment to keep my pans clean, lightly spread out dough like photo shows. Score tops with fork.



3. Bake for 8 minutes or until edges are light brown and tops
appear cracked; cool 5 minutes. Cut each strip crosswise into 1 inch
slices.

4. Let cool for a few more minutes before removing from pan.

Do not let them over bake, unless you prefer a more crispy ginger stick!

For those of you now wondering what Jay made me for our homemade Christmas...he bought a beautiful apothecary jar and filled it with homemade body scrub...epsom salts mixed with coconut oil...still working my way through it and loving it! Looks beautiful beside my sink in the bathroom! A great gift idea for anyone:)

Fun Shaped Graham Cracker Cookies!

Okay...so this new healthy recipe was supposed to be a lovely addition to Levi's Giraffe Themed FIRST Birthday Party we hosted on Sunday...but..the whole idea of a giraffe cookie cutter just isn't a good thing I realized very quickly! WAY too long of a neck and too skinny of a tail! After about half a dozen, I gave up! Still needed to use up this wonderful dough that I had made...so I grabbed my TWO boxes of cookie cutters (used to teach Kindergarten...kinda goes with the trade!)..and told Noah to pick out his favourites...and that he did! It was a fun event for both of us! The picture isn't too wonderful, but the cookies taste great...were pretty simple to make, and are now a fun and healthy homemade snack for Noah to look forward to! He loves choosing between trains, airplanes, buses, circles, hands or cars to eat!

Graham Cracker Cookies

2 1/2 Cups Spelt Flour
1/4 Cup Dark Brown Cane Sugar, packed
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Cup Butter, chilled & cubed (sub in Coconut Oil and these are vegan)
1/4 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a food processor or mixer combine the first 6 ingredients.
3. Add cubed butter to the mix and pulse/mix until it resembles coarse meal.
4. Add honey and water and continue to mix until it all combines.
5. Remove and shape the dough into a flat disk
6. Roll dough out until 1/4 inch thick. Cut into crackers or shapes.
7. Bake for 12 minutes.
8. Cool and serve

These would freeze really well too!

The New Favourite Cookie! Oatmeal PB Chocolate Chunk

sorry...I know I said I would post summer recipes...but these are just too good not to share! I'll try adding a picture one day...the cookies don't last long enough around here to get a chance to pull the camera out!

Oatmeal PB Chocolate Chunk Cookies (sooooo chewy!)

2 cups quick cooking oats
1 1/2 cups spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter (I think coconut oil would work too!)
1/2 cup agave
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
2 large free range eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup chocolate chips/chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl combine oats, flour and baking soda.
In a separate bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Beat in agave. Mix in peanut butter, eggs and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients until combined. Fold in chocolate.
Roll dough into golf ball sized balls, flatten slightly with hand or fork.
Bake for 8 minutes. Let set for a few minutes before removing from cookie sheet.
Makes 2 dozen!