Better for you?--Multigrain Snickerdoodles

Multigrain Snickerdoodles
King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Copyright 2006

¾ cup unsalted butter I used salted
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon orange juice
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, ground for 30 seconds in a food processor
1 cup whole barley flour
¾ cup traditional whole wheat flour

Coating
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper.

Cream the butter, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat in the orange juice and eggs, scraping the bowl, then add the oats, barley flour and whole wheat flour, beating until well combined. Refrigerate the dough, covered, overnight. (If you do this, I would suggest turning off the oven they just asked you to turn on!)

To prepare the coating, combine the sugar and cinnamon in a large plastic bag. (I used a bowl.)

Drop the dough by tablespoonful, 6 pieces or so at a time, into the bag. Gather the bag closed at the top, trapping some air inside. Shake gently to coat the balls with the sugar. Place them on the prepared baking sheets and flatten to about ½ inch thick, using the flat bottom of a measuring cup or drinking glass. Repeat till you’ve used all the dough.

(I didn't chill the dough. I scooped it and sprinkled it liberally with the cinnamon/sugar mixture. I didn't flatten them - they flattened out nicely themselves.)

Bake the cookies, reversing the pans midway through (top to bottom, bottom to top), until they’re beginning to brown around the edges, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and transfer them to a rack to cool. For soft snickerdoodles, place them in an airtight container or plastic bag, once they cool. For crisper cookies, allow them to remain uncovered overnight before transferring to a storage container.

Makes 38 cookies. Per cookie (27g): 9 g whole grains, 109 cal, 4g fat, 2g protein, 6g complex carbs, 11g sugar, 1g dietary fiber, 21mg chol, 66mg sodium
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Obviously this isn't a healthy recipe since it contains butter and sugar but how much does using whole grains help? I'm not exactly sure. It has to be an improvement though, don't you think? I haven't been keeping up enough to know yet how much you gain by baking with whole grains (when you keep the fat and sugar) but I'll file this one under 'every little bit helps'.

I guess I'm suspicious because these were incredibly delicious. I don't know why I torture myself by baking when I can't indulge too much but I don't just bake for myself. My son loved these and actually said 'you make people happy' when he was eating these. I meant to bring some to work but I completely forgot.

I had a heck of a time finding barley flour since my local flour connection, the smaller grocery store in the next town that carries a wide variety of Bob's Red Mill products, didn't have it. I was dumbfounded - they always have what I'm looking for. I couldn't drive back up to the Amish store at that point, having just come from that area. They probably had it. Luckily I was headed to the big city and the grocery store there had it (and a fabulous organic section which I wish was in our store which is part of the same chain).

I'm not sure if you can substitute something else. Under substitutions, this book just says that there are so many different recipes in the book, there is no need to be concerned about substitutions??? Yeah, that helps. I believe it's a low-gluten flour so if you know anything about flour, that information might help you choose a substitute. I really don't know how much the barley flour contributed to the fantastic flavor. Substitute at your own risk.

I'm still way behind around the house. I'd rather blog. I got some fantastic cookbooks out of the library and even picked one up in Costco (I've been great at staying away from their cookbooks). Hopefully I'll be making some great new recipes in the next few weeks.

Blast From The Past: Snickerdoodles, Snipdoodles, or Schneckenoodles from December 2005. That's my standard snickerdoodle recipe and one of my favorite cookie recipes but these multigrain ones were just as good if not better.

Question of the Day: Are you using more whole grains in your cooking and baking?