Maple-Ginger Cookies (Gingerbread Men)
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons canola oil -- or veg. oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup Prune Butter -- (see below)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
3 cups whole wheat flour -- pastry
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons ginger
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
*****For Prune Butter****
1/2 cup prunes, pitted, Roundy's or Dole
1/8 cup water -- (2 tbsp. + 2 tsp.)
may need to add 1 more tsp. if to thick
Parchment paper or nonstick cooking spray
currants or raisins for decorating
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream together butter, oil, maple syrup, Prune Butter and vanilla. Beat
in sugar.
3. Sift together flour, salt, spices and baking soda. Add flour mixture to
creamed mixture; stir with a wooden spoon to form a stiff dough.
4. To prepare cookie sheets, line with parchment paper or coat with
cooking spray.
5. Using moistened hands, form dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Place the
balls about 2 inches apart on the sheets. Using the bottom of a flat, wide
glass dipped in cold water, press the dough to form cookies about 2 1/2
inches wide and 1/4 inch thick, or roll out dough and cut out gingermen.
6. Press currants or raisins into dough, to form facial features. Bake
10-12 minutes or until cookies spring back lightly when pressed in the
center. DO NOT OVERBAKE!
PRUNE BUTTER: Makes about 2 cups - 2 cups (9 ounces) pitted prunes and 2/3
cup boiling water. In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, or in a
blender, chop prunes. With processor running, pour water through feed
tube. Continue running appliance until mixture is smooth, about 2-3
minutes. Stop occasionally and scrape down the sides. A few small chunks
of prune will be left unpureed. The mixture will keep, refrigerated, for
up to 2 months.
Measure prune butter in a metal measuring cup, leveling off the top. (It's
too loose to measure accurately in a glass liquid measuring cup.) to make
only as much as you need for a specific recipe, follow the proportions of
3 parts pitted prunes to 1 part hot water. The amount of pitted prunes
used will yield the equivalent amount of puree. For example, if you need 1
cup of Prune Butter, use 1 cup of Prunes pureed with 1/3 cup water.
To reduce fat in other recipes, you can substitute Prune Butter for part
of the regular butter. If a recipe calls for 1 cup of butter, for example,
substitute 1/2 cup of butter and 1/4 cup Prune Butter.
WW Pts = 2
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