Quinoa Isn't That Gross!

So I’ve always kind of had a prejudice against Quinoa....  I’ve always thought that it stinks and I’ve always thought that it’s gross.  I don’t know why I’ve been against it for so long, but it’s popping up everywhere, so I knew I was eventually going to have to jump on the bandwagon!  Then, a fellow Red Deer Food Blogger - A Running Tale  did a blog about a Quinoa cookbook she had just picked up – I knew I had to try it! Take a read and get converted. So I picked up the book Quinoa 365: The Every Day Superfood and a bag of quinoa at Costco and got to flippin’!  I will still admit, as I flipped thru the book for the first time, I was still not salivating the way I normally do when I look thru cook books or food magazines... it even took me a few days to make the mental commitment to actually try one of the recipes.   Last night, I tried my first recipe, the Healthy Cookie – but of course I had to take a few wee creative changes.  So here ya go, my adaptation of the Healthy Cookie (pg 131 of the book) and I rename them Healthy Craisin Quinoa Cookies:

Ingredients:
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup quinoa
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups quick cooking rolled oats
1 cup flaked unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup roasted flax seed
1/2 cup cherry craisins

(bold are the ingredients I added; what I left out was: 1/3 cup sunflower seeds, 1/3 cup flax seeds and 1/3 cup sesame seeds - basically because I didn't have those ingredients!)

Method:
Cook the quinoa first: bring the water and quinoa to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes.  Turn the heat off and leave the covered saucepan on the burner for an additional 6 minutes.  Remove from the lid and fluff with a fork.  Set aside to cool.  (just to be straight up here: quinoa, when cooked without any flavour or broth, REEKS - don't be alarmed, I'm told this is normal... it also tastes disgusting when it's unflavoured... again, NORMAL)

Preheat the oven to 350degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Cream the butter with the brown sugar in a large bowl.  Add the eggs and vanilla to mix.  Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Add the dry to the wet and stir until well mixed.  Drop 1 1/2 inch dough balls onto the cookie sheet, and flatten slightly with a wet spoon (don't get the cookies wet though!)  Bake in the centre of the hot oven for about 11 minutes, until the bottoms are light brown.  Allow to cool on a rack - store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week.   Makes exactly 4 dozen.

I gotta say, these cookies are really good!!  They are moist and soft and chewy, they are healthy and they actually taste great!  Must be a magic trick that happens in the oven while they are baking ;)