Iced Molasses Oatmeal Cookies

You know, even when I'm trying to eat clean and healthy, I still demand treats. The last thing I eat before I go to bed has to be a sweet reward for making it through the day with sanity intact. Maybe there's a causal relationship between sweet treats and sanity. I think the reason I haven't gone completely off my rocker is because sugar is my prozac. Some say that sugar makes them hyper; I say it makes you calm. If you don't believe me, just try and withold my sugar tonight, and you'll see a crazed, bulging-eyed, thirty-something woman in agitated crisis. I think, anyway. I've never gone without, so this is all purely hypothetical. But why take any chances when marital bliss and a happy home are hanging in the balance? Feed me, Seymour.
Anyway, like every other woman in the America, I'm eating a little better knowing that swimsuit weather is in the forecast. But I'm also a member of Tuesdays with Dorie, my weekly baking club, that thinks nothing of nibbling on cubes of butter for an appetizer. OK, maybe a slight exaggeration, but this week, I found myself wanting to rev up the nutrition profile of our cookie assignment. (Chockablock Cookies-a molasses cookies packed full of mix-ins like chocolate chunks, coconut, nuts, and dried fruit. Umm, my cookie is only slightly related, by marriage.) By my calculations, my adapted Iced Molasses and Oatmeal Cookie, weighed in at a little less than a hundred calories, with a generous portion of fiber. But who makes a cookie because it's healthful? Make it because it's deeply yummy, especially with the sweet icing drizzled on top. And make it also because a couple of these waiting for you at the end of the night can help you make it through the laundry, homework projects, and work e-mails. And if you can do that and still look good in your swimsuit, well, you might even be able to avoid at least a mid life crisis or two.
Iced Oatmeal-Molasses Cookies
adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Chock a Block Cookies
Estimated Cost: about $2.00 for 20 cookies
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teassoon salt
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
For Glaze:
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1-2 teaspoons milk or orange juice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add molasses, then egg. Stir in vanilla. Sprinkle in the powder, soda, and salt and mix well. Add oats and flour. Dough should be soft and only slightly sticky, like the consistency of playdough. If dough is too wet, add in more flour 1 tablespoon at a time. Roll cookies into balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes or until just set. Let cool for five minutes. Make the glaze by combining powdered sugar and milk in a small bowl. Drizzle on warm cookies and serve.
Next Up:
Grilled Steak Salad with Carrot-Ginger Dressing