Ever heard of a healthy cookie?

I can't say I've been ignoring my blog, but I had taken a break for a bit.  Mr. Bacon and I have had some serious discussions lately about food.  Good, bad and nasty discussions actually.  We've also been doing some reading, video watching and blog reading about how unhealthy some of the foods we had been putting into our family really are.  No we're not super health nuts now, but lets say we think a bit more before dumping a lot of chemical rich or refined that into our belly and the bellies of our Bacon kids.  Because lets face it, there are LOTS of 'healthy' recipes out there, but some do take just like cardboard!  I'm happy to say I'm ready to share some of our tried and true recipes with you.  And no, we're still not using a lot of 'weird' ingredients because well, I have kids and a budget!

One that we have found to love is the healthy cookie. There I said it, there is a healthy cookie out there, several in fact.  I knew if I was to clean up our eating I needed to still have treats be a part of it, and this is one that even Little Miss Bacon approves of.  And to say that is a lot because well, there isn't much she does like these days.  Show of hands who else has a picky eater? Ugh, good I'm not the only one!

These cookies were not entirely thought up by myself, however the original recipe did taste like cardboard, ok that was a stretch, but it did taste like beans. Perhaps because that's one of the main ingredients, but if you're a going to make a cookie, it should taste like a cookie!  These little cookies remind me of a cross between a cookie and a brownie after I fancied up the original recipe. 

Now I'll say, I couldn't seem to find my camera while I was making these, but I promise next time I make them, I'll get more pictures.  None the less, these are super easy to make. Here is what you need.

Ma Bacon's Healthy Cookies:

1 cup Pecan halves
1 can rinsed and drained Garbanzo beans
3 TBSP ground flax seeds
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup peanut butter (I use smucker's natural but any will do)
1/4 cup milk
1 cup chocolate chips (mini are the best!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Place beans and pecans in blender or food processor  and mix until fine and crumbly. I mixed mine about 2-3 minutes. Add in flax, cocoa, sea salt and baking powder and blend some more until all is mixed in.  Dump in a bowl. Add in vanilla, honey, peanut butter and milk and mix well.  I actually use my hands for this job.

You could just dump the wet ingredients into your blender or food processor too if it's got enough power to mix it all in.  For some reason my ninja doesn't mix it all that together well so I just use my hands.  When everything is mixed, add in the chocolate chips. 

Now you could just eat this dough this way. it's actually really good.  Or roll them into small balls and dip in chocolate like a truffle!  Humm.. I'm going to have to try that next time.  But this time I took out a teaspoon full at a time and rolled it in a ball, then flattened it with my hand when I placed it on the baking sheet.  You can also place the dough on some wax paper and roll it into a log. Place the log in the fridge for an hour or so and slice the log into cookies.  Either works great.  See how easy this eating healthier thing is!
 Once they are on the cookie sheet you can toss them in the oven.  Oh and you can load up your cookie sheet if you'd like, these cookies don't rise or expand so you don't have to leave a lot of room for them to grow.   Bake them in the oven for 10 min and cool on a wire rack.  That's it.

 Now they do taste great just this way.  Or you can make them fancy by drizzling them with a little melted chocolate (dark is my favorite!) or lightly dust them with some powdered sugar like Mr. Bacon likes them.  Any way you eat them, you can feel a little less guilty about having that second cookie!