These are called everything cookies for a reason. Load these babies up with as many good things as you can manage. Let the kids choose their favourite dried fruit, nuts and seeds (and don't you dare forget the chocolate chips!) for ultimate after-school snacking.
After a long day, there is no better welcome home than a house filled with the smell of baking cookies. These make for the perfect portable snack when you need to rush out the door to soccer or dance class. You can even use up leftover Halloween candy. A homemade multigrain cookie beats a packaged granola bar or stop at the drive-thru any day of the week.
Ingredients
1/2 cup (125 ml) butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup (60 ml) canola oil
1 cup (250 ml) packed brown sugar
1/4 cup (60 mL) sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla
1 cup (250 ml) all-purpose flour
1 cup (250 ml) whole wheat, oat or barley flour
1 tsp (5 ml) baking soda
1/2 tsp (2 ml) salt
1 cup (250 ml) chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips or chopped mini chocolate bars
1/2 cup (125 ml) chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup (125 ml) raisins, dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup (60 ml) pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup (60 ml) ground flax seeds (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350˚F.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, oil, brown and white sugars until pale. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
In a smaller bowl, stir together the flours, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter mixture and stir by hand until almost combined; add the chocolate, nuts, dried fruit and seeds and stir just until blended.
Drop dough by the spoonful onto a parchment-lined sheet and bake for 10 to 14 min (depending on their size) until golden around the edges but still soft in the middle. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Makes about 1 1/2 dozen large cookies.
Per cookie
228 calories, fat, (5 g saturated fat, 7 g monounsaturated fat, 3 g polyunsaturated fat), 23 mg cholesterol, 21 g carbohydrate, 3.4 g protein, 1.9 g fibre.
Originally published in ParentsCanada magazine, April 2014.
