Recipe: Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

These delicious cookies are packed with flavor and heart-healthy nutrients. Make a batch any time, and fill your house with the fragrant scents of ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour or barley flour
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup baby food prunes or applesauce
• 1 tablespoon peeled, finely chopped fresh ginger
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup unsulphered molasses
• 1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1 1/4 teaspoons boiling water
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.
2. Stir flour, cocoa and spices into a medium bowl and set aside.
3. Add prunes and ginger into an electric mixer bowl and blend on medium speed until well mixed. Add brown sugar; mix until combined. Add molasses; mix until combined.
4. Dissolve baking soda in boiling water.
5. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with baking soda mixture (that is: add half the flour mixture, mix; then add the baking soda mixture, mix; then add the rest of the flour, mix).
6. Transfer dough to a piece of plastic wrap and pat to a 1-inch thickness. Refrigerate until firm, or until you can’t wait any longer (if you don’t wait, the dough will be really sticky)!
7. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, then roll in granulated sugar (optional). Space balls 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.
8. Bake for 20 minutes, or until surfaces crack slightly. Cool on sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Nutrition information (per serving)

Makes 2 dozen small cookies
1 serving = 1 cookie

Calories: 60
Fat: 0 g
Saturated fat: 0 g
Sodium: 55 mg
Protein: 1 g
Carbohydrate: 14 g
Sugars: 7 g
Dietary fiber: 1 g

— Recipe from Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, by Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD