[2 Smart Point] Breakfast Cookies

I made breakfast cookies today.

The best part? They're only two smart points, so I can enjoy them while doing Weight Watchers!

I was looking for breakfast alternatives to Pop-Tarts. Not that I have anything against the pastries or brand, but my boyfriend eats them almost every day, and I think a little variety would be good for him.

Someone on Facebook recommended breakfast cookies.

I'd never heard of them before, so I hopped on over to Pinterest and saw so many different varieties of wholesome cookies that could be eaten as a breakfast food!

I decided to personalize the idea of breakfast cookies to match the ingredient I have.

One big change was the use of liquid stevia instead of sugar.

This was because my dad had just given me some liquid stevia for my birthday. 

Did you know this magical stuff has no calories or fat or carbs in it?

It's also a 0 smart point sweetener on the Weight Watchers diet, which is awesome!

The other big change was using Nutella instead of peanut butter.

But doesn't nutella have a lot of fat and sugar?

Yes, but I had four jars of it before I started Weight Watchers and I've been trying to find a healthy-ish way to use it.

Also, I didn't have any peanut butter.

Long Story Short: I was looking for fun breakfast food for my boyfriend but, after some tweaking and personalizing, I found myself with breakfast cookies that are actually healthy enough for me to enjoy as well!

Lydia's 2SP Breakfast Cookies

Makes 24 medium-large breakfast cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 egg

1 banana

4 tsp liquid stevia

2 tbsp Nutella

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking sida

1 cup flour

2 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Mash the bananas in the bowl, then mix in the applesauce, egg, stevia and Nutella until fully combined.

Add in the flour, baking soda and cinnamon, then fold in the oats and chocolate chips.

Roll or drop cookie dough onto baking sheets in the size you want. They don't spread, so you can put them fairly close together.

Bake for 7 minutes for small cookies or 10 minutes for large cookies. Let cool on baking sheets, then you can eat some now and store the remainder in the fridge or freezer for future breakfasts.



Hope you enjoy!
The Purple Writer

Baking with alcohol is fun.

I made some alcoholic cupcakes this past weekend.

More specifically, I made White Russian Cupcakes using Kahlua and Vodka!

A friend came over to make some brownies, and while they were in the oven, I went to Pinterest to find a cupcake recipe to whip together. I saw this recipe and just had to make it.

I love this recipe, and when I took them to class, everyone else also loved them, so I decided I should reshare this recipe with the world!

I got the recipe from the great blog Baked Perfection, which also has recipes for Pina Colada Cupcakes, Mint Julep Cupcakes, and Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes.

Now, before you get worried about my using alcohol in cupcakes, I will share what was noted alongside the original recipe: while Kahlua is 20% alcohol by volume, vanilla extract is 35% alcohol by volume.

Therefore, while I put alcohol in the frosting, it was actually less alcohol by volume than the normal vanilla buttercream frosting I make.

White Russian Cupcakes

This made 36 mini cupcakes and 8 regular cupcakes for me.

Oven temp: 350 degrees Fahrenheit

6 tbsp (3/4 stick) of butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 cup Vodka
1/8 cup Kahlua
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour


-> Cream the butter and sugar
-> Add the eggs
-> Mix in the vanilla, milk, Vodka and Kahlua.
-> Add the salt, baking powder and flour.

-> Bake in cupcake liners (approximately 10 minutes for mini cupcakes and 20 minutes for regular cupcakes, but this will vary between ovens and other variants, so keep an eye on them)

Now, you could eat these cupcakes alone, and they would be fine. However, this buttercream frosting is fantastic, so you shouldn't skip it.

The frosting would also probably taste great on top of fudge brownies. . . not that I would know. 

Kahlua Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter

3 cups powdered sugar

3 tbsp Kahlua

1 tbsp Vodka (optional, but recommended)

A pinch of salt

-> Beat the butter until it's creamy

-> Add salt and powdered sugar (slowly, so you don't get a cloud of sugar all over)

-> Add Vodka and Kahlua

-> Taste and adjust as you see fit.

The result:

These cupcakes are delicious and perfect for basically any occasion.

Planning to make these cupcakes again soon,

The Purple Writer