Cranberry-Almond Quinoa Cookies

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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