Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2/3 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries (recommended: Craisins)
1 egg
1 tablespoon butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Stir until well blended.

Scoop 2 tablespoons of batter and drop onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten each cookie with the back of the tablespoon. Repeat until sheet is full, being careful not to crowd. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until lightly golden.

Cool on a wire rack for at least 5 minutes. Store in an airtight container.

To make a cookie-frozen yogurt sandwich, place 1 small scoop of fat-free frozen yogurt on a cookie and top with a second cookie.

Nutrition Information:
Nutritional Analysis per serving Calories 95
Fat 2 grams Saturated Fat 1 gram
Carbohydrates 19 grams Fiber 2 grams

adapted from a Recipe by Juan-Carlos Cruz
_______________________________________________________

ORANGE CRANBERRY COOKIES WITH EQUAL

14% calorie reduction from traditional recipe.

1/4 cup stick butter
1 egg
3 tablespoons orange juice concentrate, thawed
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/4 cup quick or old-fashioned oats, uncooked
1/3 cup Equal® Spoonful*
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
Dash salt
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Beat butter in medium bowl. Beat in egg and orange juice.
Mix combined flour, oats, Equal®, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt and orange peel into creamed mixture until blended. Stir in dried cranberries and chopped walnuts.

Drop by teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake in preheated 375° F oven 8 to 10 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned. Remove from baking sheet and cool completely on wire rack.

Store in airtight container at room temperature.

* May substitute 8 packets Equal® sweetener.

adapted from a recipe from Source: Equal
___________________________________________________

White chocolate and cranberry cookies

These cookies should be quite soft when they are taken out of the oven so that when they cool down they are crisp on the outside but moist and chewy inside.

110g/4oz unsalted butter, softened
110g/4oz golden caster sugar
110g/4oz light muscovado sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
170g/6oz plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
150g/5oz white chocolate, cut into small chunks
85g/3oz dried sweetened cranberries

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.

Beat the butter together with the sugar. With a fork beat the egg together with the vanilla essence and add this to the butter mixture.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add this to the butter and egg mixture and blend well. Mix in the chunks of white chocolate and cranberries.

Make the cookies:
line four baking sheets with non-stick baking paper.

Using your hands, form the dough into walnut-sized balls and arrange on the baking sheets spaced well apart.

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.

Makes 35 cookies
adapted from Source: Annabel Karmel