I don’t think I’ve ever posted this many healthy recipes in a row! This Tasty and Healthy New Years challenge with Bobs Red Mill and California Olive Ranch has been so much fun and I’ve really enjoyed the challenge of creating some fun things that taste great and are still pretty healthy. We’re going to end with dessert of course and I went with a tasty healthy cookie using both the Quinoa that was featured last week as well as the Whole Grain White Wheat Flour from Bob’s Red Mill.

I love the slight crunch that the quinoa and almonds add and then the dried cranberries give it a little more natural sweetness. These are incredibly moist and it almost has a muffin like texture. My four year old keeps calling these the “healthy cookies” and I think he does it because he thinks he can have more of them if he does, and I’m happy to oblige.

Many people are wary of baking with olive oil but I think it just comes down to matching it with the right food and choosing the right olive oil. For this recipe I used the Everyday Extra Virgin Olive oil that has a light smooth taste. Since I needed to cream the sugar and oils together, I used half olive oil and half butter. It provided great flavor and made these cookies a definite repeat.

Cranberry-Almond Quinoa Cookies

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Bobs Red Mill white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup California Olive Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup cooked Bob’s Red Mill Quinoa, cooled
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup slivered unsalted almonds

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and oil, both sugars, and honey until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, vanilla and almond extract. Continue to beat until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Slowly mix in the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in quinoa, oats, cranberries, and almonds. Spoon dough in 2-tablespoon portions onto prepared sheets, spacing 1” apart.

Bake cookies until golden, 12–15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.

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Foodplayer Linda

I am sure you love food. Otherwise, you won’t be here. As a full-time and a part-time chef at a local restaurant, I know my way around food. Ever since I was a young girl, I enjoyed helping my mom in the kitchen.

We would often experiment with the spices, ingredients, and flavors and create great meals for my brothers and dad. Since cocking was my first passion, I decided to go in that direction. I finished culinary school, got my first job, and started developing my skills.

Later when kids came, I had all the liberty in the kitchen to combine some of the unique flavors. A lot of them were a success, but now and there I would make a couple of mistakes.