Day 28 - Flu-Fighter Cookies

  Yes, a recipe that took me by surprise.  I was searching for a cookie recipe on the http://www.foodnetwork.com/ website and saw a delicious looking recipe that I'll definitely be trying, but when I was scrolling down the page this one caught my eye.  I had never heard of a cookie named the Flu-Fighter Cookie.  The thought of it just really doesn't sound too appetizing; which is why my teenage daughter probably turned her nose up at them and wouldn't give them a try besides the fact that they contain nuts (not that she's allergic, she just doesn't like to eat them).  The name sounded so unappetizing to me and yet at the same time, was so very much intriguing!  And it is completely filled with ingredients.  It's like someone took a pantry and spice cupboard and dumped it all in a bowl - really bizarre.  There are 18 different things in this one cookie!  And soooo many different flavors! I can't post the recipe, but I can give you the link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/flu-fighter-cookies-recipe/index.html (I still haven't figured out how to link words to websites yet.  It's on my list of things to do, so please bear with me.)  I am going to list the ingredients for you though, you ready?
flour
baking powder
baking soda
salt
ground cinnamon
freshly grated nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
unsalted butter
dark brown sugar (I went to two different grocery stores for different things today and forgot it each time.  I had some light brown sugar at home, so I just used that.)
eggs
molasses
Greek yogurt (I always have that in my fridge)
freshly grated ginger
grated lemon zest
old-fashioned oats
golden raisins
dried cranberries
chopped toasted walnuts
See?  That's quite a list, isn't it?  They're so much in them that I was concerned about how they would taste, but then I'm thinking the Food Network isn't going to put crappy recipes up on their site and it's so different that I'm just going to have to try it.  Besides, people around these here parts have been quite sick with the flu and whatever else is going around, so maybe these will help to boost people's immune systems.  I know I'm going to be eating them for a while.  Heck, they're healthy, too (ok, at least they appear to be - it says each cookie has a calorie count of 174).  Any excuse I have to eat a cookie, I'm all over it and again, if you read my weigh-in post today, I didn't gain any weight this week.  I'm ok.
     The ingredients:  oats, flour, brown sugar, butter, baking powder, baking soda, cloves, salt, cinnamon, and, eggs.

Golden raisins, toasted walnuts, dried cranberries. molasses, and Greek yogurt.

 Lemon zest, grated ginger (behind it is ginger juice), and grated nutmeg.

After grating the nutmeg, (grating those lil' buggers is hard!  It was rolling around in my fingers and wouldn't stay still.  I need to get me one of those microplane graters) something which I had never done before, I sliced it to make sure I was grating the proper part.  I had no idea.  It smelled good as I was grating, so I figured I was doing something right.  I couldn't buy just one piece, had to buy a jar of nine for $7.9something, and four of which are stuck in the bottom of the bottle.  How the heck am I going to get those out of there and when am I going to use the rest of it?  Guess we'll be making more things with nutmeg in them.  It doesn't expire until sometime in 2014, so we're good.  The smell reminded me of some rice pudding I used to eat, so there's one idea.
I thought the inside of the nutmeg was cool:

My sous chef, Charlie.  He kept watching the mixer, but really he's waiting for me to feed him because, you know, the world revolves around the cat.

The flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves combined.

 The butter and brown sugar creamed.

The second egg added to the butter and brown sugar.

The molasses, lemon zest and ginger added to mixture.

The flour mixture added to previous ingredients.  Hanging off the blender are the fibers from the ginger.  I was really thinking this wasn't going to be a good part of the cookie and would be stringy.

Oats,  ½ of each of the cranberries, walnuts and raisins added.

Ready for the oven.

Baked and ready to be eaten.

     The aroma that filled the house while these were in the oven was wonderful!  It smelled like gingerbread.  I have to say I wasn't looking forward to trying these and was thinking that they were not going to be eaten.  But, wow!  For a cookie with so much in it, it's like a taste party in your mouth!  Unbelievable.  It's gingery, with a taste of cinnamon; a touch of lemon and I'm not tasting that ginger stringy-stuff I thought I would; crunchy from the nuts and chewy because of the raisins and cranberries; and it has just the right amount of sweetness!  These probably are the healthiest tasting cookies I have ever had.  It's a good cookie to send in a care package to your college student who is stressed, doesn't eat well or get enough sleep and is around a lot of sick people, especially this time of year.  You can bet I'll be sending some of these out to my daughter.
     The rating for Flu-Fighter Cookies: 3½ rolling pins.
     So, here's to your immune systems, happy baking!