Monday, June 13, 2011

apple cinnamon grape nuts cookies

Many years ago, I bought Grape Nuts for the first time. Maybe the commercial made it sound like an amazing breakfast cereal. Or maybe it was the packaging. In any case, bought some, tried some and, since we are a froot loops and lucky charm kind of family, we obviously didn't like Grape Nuts in milk. I was whining about it to my mother in law when she passed along a recipe for Aunt Amy's Cookies. No clue who Aunt Amy is, but she sure found an amazing way to use up Grape Nuts!


My local grocery store doesn't carry Grape Nuts, so when I spotted them in another store recently, I quickly grabbed a box remembering this recipe. Yesterday, my husband brought home oatmeal chocolate chip cookies from the grocery store, and they made me crave Aunt Amy's Cookies. 

They're very similar to an oatmeal cookie, but they have the salty/sweet thing going on that I love. They have a slightly crispy exterior, without being crumbly or hard, and they are deliciously chewy inside. Since they are flavored with a hint of cinnamon, I decided to add chopped dried apples to the dough. And that was a genius move! The cookies are quite sweet, even if I reduced the sugar a bit, so the slight tartness of the apples brings nice fruity notes to the cookie, and great texture too. They don't spread much while baking, so they stay nice and thick. It's one of my favorite cookie. Love it!


Aunt Amy's Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup Grape Nuts
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup chopped dried apples (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream 1/2 cup softened butter. Beat in 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar until fluffy. Add in one egg and 1 tsp vanilla and mix until combined. Stir in 1 cup Grape Nuts and 1 cup rolled oats.

Combine 1 cup flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 cinnamon. Add to the butter mixture and mix until combined. Add in 2/3 cup chopped dried apples if desired.

Using a small ice cream scoop, portion out the cookie dough and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Slightly flatten the balls of dough with a fork.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, until the edges start to get golden brown. Leave on the cookie sheet to cool until set, then transfer to a cooling rack.


I used a 2 tbsp ice cream scoop for small cookies, the perfect size for a child's snack with a glass of milk. I also made a few bigger cookies for bigger appetites using a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop. These cookies are pretty filling, so one of the big ones would be plenty for an adult. This batch of cookies yielded 18 small cookies and 3 large ones. 

It's worth picking up Grape Nuts just to make these!


6 comments:

  1. they look really good! never thought of using grape seeds before in cookies! and as always beautiful pictures!

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  2. @Maria: thanks for dropping by (and the lovely comment)! just wanted to clarify that grape nuts are a breakfast cereal, similar to granola :)

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  3. I made these today and substituted 1/2 of the butter with unsweetened applesauce. I also used wheat flower and a fresh apple. They are yummy!! Thanks so much! I will be making these again. (My 7 month old son even liked them.)

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  4. Thank you for posting this, hubby bought a box and found out that even though they are healthy they are not tasty! I will be trying this recipe today!

    -SeriousCakes

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  6. This recipe is from a very old cookbook called 'The Boston Cooking School Cookbook'. The dough freezes well rolled in wax paper. I usually make only a dozen cookies at a time, leaving well covered dough in the fridge, so we always have fresh warm cookies. the dough last about 4 days this way if you double the recipe. I often put pecans in mine or raw sunflower seeds. I am 65 and this is something my mom made when I was a child. They are still one of my favorites, especially the raw cookie dough. Tho' we are not supposed to eat raw eggs anymore, I occasionally live dangerously and give into temptation.

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