wheaties fuel no bake cookies

sorry for the lack of blogging, but we got some weird stomach bug and didn't eat pretty much all last week. we just felt yucky.

luckily, we're back to our favorite family activity - eating. :)

i've been wanting to create something delicious with wheaties fuel cereal since i got a couple of boxes really cheap couponing. they have a super yummy honey flavor and i like to eat them as a snack with a tiny spoonful of peanut butter mixed in. add a few more ingredients and you've got a seriously show stopping cookie. i like these lots better than regular no bake cookies (our friends we shared them with last night did too) and they don't have any butter so they are way less unhealthy for you! and they were super easy and quick. enjoy!

wheaties fuel no bake cookies
2 1/2 dozen cookies

3/4 cup light caro syrup
3/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 heaping cup old fashioned oats
1 1/2 heaping cup wheaties fuel cereal

1. combine caro syrup, sugar and cocoa powder in good sized sauce pan (you're going to add the rest of the ingredients to the pan so make sure you have enough space). stir frequently over medium heat until it begins boiling. stir constantly once boiling and only leave it on the heat long enough that all of the ingredients are combined and smooth.
2. remove from heat. stir in peanut butter and vanilla until melted and smooth. add oats and cereal. stir until combined.
3. drop by rounded tablespoonfuls (i used my cookie scooper) onto wax paper and let cool. store in an air tight container.

moving!

we're moving!!!! and my next cooking adventure will be on granite counter tops. they installed them today. they are amazing. i'm completely in love. i realize that's a very shallow thing to be in love with, but at least i'm honest.

so, no five ingredient friday. sorry, but i have to disconnect my computer and internet right... now!!!

let's all celebrate heat proof, cut proof stone counters with a completely non-healthy cookie recipe!

these cookies made with graham cracker crumbs are amazing - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chewy-Cinnamon-Cookies/Detail.aspx. don't forget to undercook!

have a great weekend!

a spotlight and a guest post

the skinny bovines kitchen was recently featured on two awesome blogs - secrets of mom and the tree of life!

heather at secrets of mom gives great mom tips all over the board - i love to read her stuff. she just wrote a post on getting organized and i'm feeling completely inspired.

jenna at the tree of life writes about nesting/homemaking of all kinds - gardening, sewing, cooking, baking, etc. and invited me to guest post last friday. i even posted the most wonderful, delicious, all-time best and completely unhealthy chocolate chip cookie recipe. check it out here.

thanks, girls, for featuring me! i appreciate other bloggers and the things we can share back and forth to make all of our lives better and easier!

easy peasy lemon squeezies

if you haven't seen disney's "the greatest game ever played" you really should. i don't even like golf and this movie is AWESOME!! the name of these cookies comes from a phrase i picked up from that movie - the main character's little caddy always says, "easy peasy lemon sqeezey" and its the 1st thing i thought of when looking for a name for these.

these are cake mix cookies and can technically be adjusted to throw in whatever with the same ratio (taught to me 1 box cake mix + 1 stick softened butter + 1 egg. i made the sour cream adjustment - i tried this way back when - read here). these cookies are sooooo yummy - i ate something like them somewhere before and decided to make them when i read jenny at picky palate's post about cookies with panko bread crumbs.

so after that long explanation, here's my recreation of the ones i tried once... but made the skinny bovine way of course. the rice crispies give them a crisp/chew that is to die for. love them!

easy peasy lemon squeezies
30 cookies

1 box lemon cake mix

1 egg
1/2 a stick of butter (1/4 cup), softened and starting to melt (use microwave)
1/4 cup fat free sour cream
1-2 cups rice crispies cereal (depending on how much of that crunchy, chewy goodness you want to include!)

1. mix cake mix, egg, butter and sour cream together until you have a cookie-like dough. stir in cereal.
2. use a small cookie scoop to scoop cookies onto greased baking sheets. bake 7-9 minutes in oven at 350. cook until edges are slightly brown. definitely error on the side of undercooking.

recipe of the week: pumpkin choc-oat chip bites

mmm... i love these little pumpkin cookies! i always get in the mood for them around halloween and thanksgiving. pumpkin is just so fall! and what's better than a cookie with no butter, oil or shortening in it? this is about as healthy as cookies come. this is a pretty common recipe, but a skinny bovine addition of oats makes it so one cake mix can make double the cookies! (if you don't buy oats in bulk then it may be cheaper for you to use the whole cake mix and no oats, but the oats make them yummer, i promise!)

pumpkin choc-oat chip bites

24 bites

2 cups oats
½ large can pumpkin
½ a spice cake mix
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

spoon ball shaped bites onto large greased cookie sheet. bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

recipe of the week: skinnier choc-oat chip cookies

does a skinny bovine eat dessert? um, yeah! i'm actually cursed with an out-of-control sweet tooth ever since i had my daughter. i craved sweets like crazy when i was pregnant and it never went away. the term "pregnancy craving" has got to be a myth.

that's okay! my husband loves dessert so it doesn't bother him a bit that i make dessert all the time.

sometimes my dessert experiments run amuck because i'm trying to make them healthy, but not this one! they are "skinnier" because they have 1/2 the butter of regular cookies and they have oats and multigrain flake cereal instead of just flour. (they aren't healthy by any means, but they're an improvement on regular cookies!) and they also halted my biggest pet peeve about cookies... they aren't gross the 2nd day. i put them in a plastic bag overnight and they were so yummy and chewy today i couldn't stop eating them! enjoy!

skinnier choc-oat chip cookies

24 cookies

1/4 cup butter (1/2 a stick), almost melted

1/4 cup light or fat free sour cream

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs (or 3 egg whites if you want to get extra healthy!)

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup oats

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup multigrain flake cereal (i used the wal-mart generic brand. corn flakes would work.)

3/4 cup chocolate chips

1. cream butter, sour cream and sugar. add vanilla and eggs. beat until creamy.

2. add flour, oats, salt and baking soda. mix well.

3. stir in chocolate chips and multigrain flakes.

4. bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes (depends on your oven - watch them close and error on the side of undercooking them. do not overcook. they are done when the edges start to get brown.)