Healthy Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies Kids Crave

My daughter's school is nearly fanatical about forbidding fattening foods in the classroom. The school's restrictions on permitted snacks suggest that each eight-year old suffers from advanced heart disease and diabetes due to obesity. I agree with limiting sugar-intake in children. Like a hawk, I scrutinize what my children eat. (And I'm just amazed at how much sugar they can consume in one sitting.) Unlike the once-a-year penny-candy stick Laura Ingalls Wilder received in the Little House On The Prairie, sugar treats are continually dispensed in our modern world. My kids' hairdresser rewards them with Tootsie rolls. The pet shop clerk offers them Mounds bars. Our wonderful neighbors send over cookies and candies to show their affection. Thus, I applaud the school's attempt to put the brakes on sugar ingestion, despite the feeble impact these rules may have. At least the rules counter-balance our cultural practice.

But as any veteran dieter will tell you, one good binge undoes weeks of progress. So it was on Valentine's Day. Lauren returned from school with a sack-full of candy. No longer do children simply exchange tiny Valentine's cards, most also pass out candy. All the well-intentioned rules were ignored, except by Ryan's mother.

Ryan's valentine came in a baggy with a cookie and a printed recipe. Lauren announced that these were "The BEST COOKIES EVER!" "Can't we make them, Mom? PLEASE!!!"

The recipe surprised me. It both conformed to the school's regulations about sugar and fat content, AND Lauren liked it. The cookies were mostly oats, cranberries, and apricots, - foods that Lauren typically disdains. The sugar and flour content was minimal. But they were laced with mini-chocolate chips, so maybe that's why she deemed them beyond acceptable.

Thus, when it was time to celebrate "C-Day" we chose to make these Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies. Once a week Lauren and Dave and I celebrate a letter in the alphabet. (We're trying to ready Dave for kindergarten.) I bake something that starts with the special letter, while Lauren and Dave write the letter and paste it on the door. Then Dave collects things around the house that begin with the letter and places them in our special alphabet box.

The kids have great fun with this new game. They tried to get me into the box because my name starts with 'C'. Dave is very excited about 'D-Day'. To this post-WWII pre-schooler, it means he gets to stand in the box.

I have no clue where Ryan's mom got this recipe. (I don't even know the woman's last name.) So thanks to whomever created it. I'm making the recipe a permanent part of Edible Antics by publishing it on the side page called "Cooking with the ABC's", (although it probably belongs on the cookie page).

If you're thinking about celebrating 'C-Day' but don't feel like cooking, here are some yummy 'C'-foods you can have delivered to your house.

 chocolate cake

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 4-Flavored Cheese Cake

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 Carrot Cake

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 Coffee Cake

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 Coffee

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 Cheese Curds

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Crock of Cheese

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Cranberry Chutney and Cranberry Sauce

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 Chocolate Covered Cherries

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Butter Cookies

Comments

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I like the 4 flavor cheese cake it is perfect for a family that has different preferences.

[Amanda]

You're right, - that cheesecake IS amazing. I had it at a party and was blown away. If I hadn't felt obligated to share with the other guests, I would have sampled each of the four flavors.
But these cranberry cookies a favorite in my family. They are healthy if you can stop eating them. That's our challenge. They're the kind of cookie that while you're eating one and have the second in hand, you have to close the lid and leave the room. If you don't, that healthy part of the cookie is history.
Good luck, and thanks for pausing to comment.

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oh God, that 4 flavored cheese cake looks totally amazing, obviously, not so much for a healthy meal, but this Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies looks also good, but a much better healthy option!