"Apple Butter"

I love having something sweet on my toast at breakfast.  However, jelly has so many unnecessary calories and lots of simple sugars.  Apple butter is one step better, but even most apple butters have more added sugar than I would prefer.  So, as I made my eggs and whole wheat toast for breakfast, I was trying to think of a quick, easy substitute.  Since I have natural, unsweetened applesauce on hand (leftover from the last batch of protein cookies) I decided that I should be able to doctor it up into something resembling apple butter without all the added simples sugar.  Here is what I came up with.

"Apple Butter"

1/2 c. natural unsweetened applesauce
1Tbsp. cinnamon
2-3 Tbsp. Stevia (or Splenda or other sweetener of your choice)

Mix the above ingredients together and serve on toast.  Adjust the cinnamon and sweetener to taste.  :)

Nutrition facts
Makes 16 servings of 1 Tbsp each
Calories 7
Carbs 2g
Fat 0g
Protein 0g
Sodium 1mg
Sugar 1g

Happy Accidents: New and Improved Black Forest Protein Cookies

Sometimes the best "new" recipe you can post is an improved version of an old one!  So, here is my new version of the Black Forest Protein Cookies.  Because of Snowmageddon that is currently dumping inch after inch of snow outside my door, I was limited to the ingredients on hand. So, I made a few adjustments to the recipe.

1) I was out of chocolate protein powder so I substituted vanilla protein powder, but I added more cocoa powder.
2) I also tried using Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder instead of my standard Nestle's cocoa powder.
3) My last batch dried out a little faster than I liked, so I changed the ratio of applesauce to Greek yogurt.  We now have more Greek yogurt than applesauce and it seems to have made them more moist.
I thought the old ones were amazing, but these are EVEN BETTER!!  :-)  Enjoy...

Revised Recipe:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 2 cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
• 4 scoops  vanilla flavored whey protein powder
• 1 ½ cups Stevia
• 1 c. Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 c. dried cherries (optional)
• 1 c. pecans (optional)
• Wet ingredients
• 1 cup Greek yogurt  
• ¾ cup egg whites
• ½ c unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp almond extract

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together with a whisk, until very well combined.
3. In a medium bowl, add the wet ingredients and combine with a whisk until well incorporated.
4. Mix wet to dry and fold delicately just to combine. (Or, if I'm honest, I sometimes just dump all the ingredients in one bowl and turn on the electric mixer...)
5. Drop by tablespoonfuls, 12 at a time, onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or onto cookie sheet sprayed with Pam.  Press each cookie down slightly with a fork to make a flat disc instead of a rounded ball.
6. Bake for about 9-10 minutes or until the cookies start set up and no longer look wet in the cracks on the top of the cookie.
7. Cool completely on a cooling rack.
8. Refrigerate leftover cookies.