Welcome to day eleven of the Sugar Free Challenge!
Here is today’s sample menu:
Breakfast: Oatmeal Raisin Bizookies (Recipe below)
Lunch: Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Apples and Bacon
Snack: PBC Bars
Dinner: Plum Socca Tart with Rosemary served with a salad or grilled meat.
Dessert: Neapolitan Cheesecake “Surprise!”
Exercise Option: For those of you who chose to take part of the exercise challenge, your challenge today is to do 30 crunches, 15 squats, 10 pushups, 20 calf raises.
Now what in the world is a bizookie? It is a highly addictive, buttery (without butter) cross between an oatmeal raisin cookie and a breakfast biscuit. They taste divine with a morning cup of coffee, or a nighttime cup of warm (almond) milk.
~This cookie/biscuit is gluten-free (use gf oats), dairy-free, vegan, and sugar-free!
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup oat flour (make your own by grinding oats in a blender or food processor until fine like flour)
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 cup applesauce
- 3 Tablespoons coconut oil, solid
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup raisins, soaked (save 1/4 cup of the water for later)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350*.
- Combine the dry ingredients.
- Mix in the applesauce, water, and raisins.
- Chop/crumble the solid coconut oil into the mix leaving some small chunks, and stir.
- Roll the dough into small 1-inch balls and place on baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until bottoms are browned and tops are golden.
- Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
I was surprised by how buttery and somewhat sweet these turned out. They crumble slightly like a biscuit, and are not overly sweet. At the same time, however, they easily curb my dessert cravings. Perfect for those days when you feel down in the dumps and need a grandma-inspired cookie/biscuit to cheer you up.
Tastes great with a smear of solidified coconut oil, too!
Health Benefits:
- Oats: Click HERE for a post about the benefits of oats.
- Cinnamon: Studies have shown that it can help lower LDL cholesterol, help regulate blood sugar levels, has anti-clotting effect on blood, and it can boost cognitive function and memory.
- Coconut: Coconut is widely misunderstood because of it’s high fat content; however, coconut’s saturated fat is made up of medium-chain fatty acids. These medium-chains are easy to absorb and digest, and are converted quickly into energy. This means that the body has no opportunity to store the medium-chain as fat. Coconut is also a great source of dietary fiber with a whopping 5 grams per oz!
THOUGHT-PROVOKING, MIND-PRODDING QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Quick! Choose: Biscuits or cookies?
I really just like that they are called bizookies.
[And they actually look incredibly delicious, of course!]
Mmm these look so good! I don’t have coconut oil though….can it be omitted?
Kaila,
You can use whatever oil you like. I love the taste of coconut in it, but others will probably be fine. Or try using applesauce?
mmmm these are cute and love the sound of all the ingredients, I bet they are addicting!
Oh yum! Your Oatmeal Raisin Bizookies look wonderful! I’d say there a cookie!
um, can i call them bazookas and toss them in the bf’s mouth? 🙂 i think i’ll smoosh them and bake them, cool them & crumble them, bake the crumbles & have crispy granola clusters!
Haha!! You can do both! Either way-super tasty 😀
Your meals aren’t very balanced. There are sooo many delicious meals out there that don’t include sugar or sugar substitutes. You need to suggest more vegetables, lean proteins (other than nuts and nut butters!), and grains, and less fruits and dried fruits (those are high in fructose!).
I agree with you Charmin. I actually don’t eat much fruit or grains, but the problem is, I don’t have many pictures of veggies and protein. i have some, but I definitely need to take some more to share. Sorry for the confusion, Charmin, and I will get to work on this!
Yum, these look great, one of my favourite combos of ingredients right there! Poor misunderstood coconut… I love anything that comes from a coconut 🙂
I’ve made cookies very similar to these and love them! They’re just about the perfect level of sweetness. Love these are so healthy and even gluten-free!
I am loving your sugar-free challenge as I have greatly reduced my sugar intake over the past 4 or 5 months. Thanks for the great recipe ideas.
bizookie looks delicious! love the name too 😉
it has been so long since I have made anything containing raisins, that needs to change! I think I might have some on the shelf, will have to go look.
These look SO good!!!! I can’t wait to try them! 😀
Hi 🙂 I thought about making this and i noticed you said to save some of the water used to soak the raisins for later. Save them for what? 🙁
Janice,
The 1/4 cup water saved is used as the “wet” ingredients. You put them in with the dough. Hope this helps, and let me know if you try them!
I made these today 🙂 I didnt have any applesauce, though. So, I got some blueberries, maybe 1/3 cup and “melted” them in the microwave and used that instead. I had to use regular earth balance butter but I only but 1 TBS. It came out delicious! Sweet too! And blue… XD You were right about it being biscuit like but they still held well together. I crumbled 2 on top of my greek yogurt with some blueberries, papaya and a few nuts and a small spoonful of dark choclate dream.. 🙂 They would also go great with my night tea too! Better hide them from my mom lol. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Janice!
So glad they turned out well for you even with your substitutions! Thanks for letting me know!
I just made your bizookies, and they turned out great! I didn’t have any applesauce so I grated a small apple instead. They are a lot less sweet than the baked goods I usually make, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it.
Sue,
Glad you liked them! And so glad they turned out with the grated apple instead of applesauce.