Special K Berries-n-Cream Cookies

I get a lot of opportunities to try various products through being a Food Buzz Featured Publisher. The honest truth is that I turn a lot of them down, because many of them are processed or partially made (i.e., things you use in place of making something from scratch) and I swear I don't judge others for using them, but since I enjoy making many things from scratch they are not particularly appropriate to me or this blog. However one "processed" or pre-made food we do eat is (cold) breakfast cereal, so when Food Buzz offered us the chance to try Special K's new strawberry cereal (regular Special K plus dried strawberries), I decided to try it.


When it came I was disappointed to realize that for a cereal that is marketed as healthy, its first listed ingredient (the one there is most of) is rice, with sugar listed third. It's great that whole wheat is inbetween those 2, but that still makes it less healthy then anything I want to eat for breakfast every morning. So I decided to try baking with it instead. Eureka!


I actually think this makes a decently healthy cookie, despite what I wrote above. First of all because most cookies are going to have some "white" starch in them anyway but not necessarily any whole grains. And second, because with the sweetness of the cereal flakes, I reduced the sugar from what I would normally use. Keeping in mind, of course, that a cookie is still a cookie and not the healthiest thing on the planet ever. But they passed my test for sending in to Alex's kindergarten class for snacks--which turned out to be kind of a shame because I really wanted more than the 2 I got to eat. I could have eaten a ton of these, which is saying something since neither white chocolate nor dried fruit are my favorite things in cookies. I might actually have to buy more Special K and keep experimenting with baking with it.


A note about the recipe: I get my eggs from a local farmer, and as a result their sizes can vary wildly. I wanted to use 2 egg yolks with some egg white, so I used the 2 smallest eggs in the carton. If all you can get is large eggs, I would use 2 yolks plus about half of the white from one of the eggs. A second observation is that while you should feel free to sub other cereal flakes, increase the sugar if they are not sweetened--and let me know how they turn out, since I am by no means an expert on baking with cereal flakes! Corn, for example, might bake up totally differently, I really do not know.


Special K Berries-n-Cream Cookies
Recipe inspired by CookEatShare Cookbook

1 cup white whole wheat flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
1 1/4 cups (157 g) AP flour
1 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 smallish egg (see note above)
1 smallish egg yolk (see note above)
1 1/2 t vanilla
2 1/2 cups Special K cereal with dried strawberries
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup chopped white chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Whisk together the flours, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

Cream the butter, adding the sugar about 1 minute in. Cream until fluffy and totally blended. Add the egg and egg yolk and blend. Add the vanilla and blend. Add the flour mix and mix on low until completely smooth and blended.

Add the Special K cereal, the dried blueberries and the white chocolate. Mix on low until evenly blended. Scoop out tablespoons of the dough onto a cookie sheet lined with silicone or parchment paper. Lightly press the scoops with crisscrossing fork patterns to flatten a bit.

Bake for 10-12 minutes--if you have a convection oven you will get better results using a 325 F convection setting. Remove when the cookies are firm and lightly browning at the edges. Let cool for 5 minutes on the pan and then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.