Dec 9, 2011

Cookie Monster!

Yep, that’s what you can call me now. Remember those yummy chocolate chip cookies I blogged about last Friday? Well, it must be cookie season, because I’ve done it again.

Using the same Smart Balance baking sticks I used last week, I made one of my favorite holiday cookies.  Mexican wedding cookies, also known as polvorones, are cookies with very few ingredients. Because butter is one of the most prominent flavors of this cookie, using the Smart Balance sticks was a true test. image

And they passed! I enjoyed these sweet, sugary cookies just as much as when I’ve used regular butter.

Mexican Wedding Cookies/Polvorones, adapted from Perfect Mexican
Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup pecan or walnuts, toasted and finely chopped

Directions:

Cream the butter with half the sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Whisk together flour and salt and fold into the mixture. Stir in nuts. Preheat oven to 375*. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place on baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool for 2-3 minutes and then roll in remaining sugar. Let cool and roll again in powdered sugar. 

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Using another one of the vouchers that Smart Balance provided me, I purchased some lactose free + calcium milk. image

This stuff has 75% more calcium and 20% more protein than regular milk. Cha ching! It was great to wash down one of those cookies. Or 4.

Have you entered your healthy cookie recipe in the The Healthy Holiday Cookie Spectacular contest? You should!  A year’s supply of Smart Balance products is the prize…and that’s a lot of baking you could do.image

I was a true cookie monster earlier this week…but not a selfish one. I have this habit (problem?) of bringing snacks to the bar in case I get hungry. I had just made a second batch of the chocolate chip cookies and wanted to share with some friends…and have one or two of my own to, um, soak up the vodka sodas. My friend Ryan may or may not have caught this on camera. image

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And trust me. This wasn’t the first time. I had a banana last week!image

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I have little to no defense.image

Do you carry around snacks in your purse?

Snacks to a bar: weird or totally logical?