Can a Cookie or Two Keep you Full?

This will come as a shock to no one, but sometimes being a woman is a huge pain in the ass for a variety of reasons...most of them hormone-related. In this context I am complaining about the extreme food cravings that hit me twice a month. If you're anything like me, you find yourself able to control the ravenous junk food hunger-beast some of the time, but spin out of control when hormones are influencing you. You may not even be physically hungry, yet your brain insists that you obsess over food and shovel as much into your mouth as you can. This happens to me about 10 days out of every month. As a result, any healthy eating habits that I've managed to establish and stick to are thrown out the window, leaving me feeling uncomfortable, bloated and full of regrets. It's a vicious cycle.

I don't like the over-the-counter appetite suppressants that are available, mainly because they rely on massive doses of caffeine and I already get enough of that on a daily basis. But there are some days that I need a crutch to avoid huge helpings of junk food. Google yielded a fad diet that came out a few years ago which you probably remember: The Cookie Diet by Dr. Siegel. He formulated a recipe that is supposed to help people with under-active thyroids lose weight by both suppressing their appetites and stimulating their thyroids. His original recipe apparently called for beef (mmmm...beef cookies). I'm not interested in his whole theory or in purchasing his products (which are exorbitantly expensive from what I hear). However I AM thinking that a homemade high-fiber and filling snack would be a good thing to try.

There are recipes floating around the internet that mimic the benefits of Dr. Siegel's cookies and I found one that piqued my interest (it's beef-free, by the way). As per usual, I tweaked it somewhat to fit my needs better. As many of the reviewers stated, the batter is quite runny and similar to brownie mix. I bypassed the whole mess issue by baking mine in mini cupcake tins instead of on a cookie sheet, so technically they're not cookies, but "cupkies". This recipe yielded 36 cupkies at 95 calories apiece.

So how do they taste? They have a slightly springy texture with just a hint of sweetness. They are quite dense, which is to be expected. You'll want a glass of water when you eat them. The flavor is not unpleasant- I would have no issue eating these throughout the day to control my appetite. A couple of these with a piece of fruit would be very satisfying.

Here is the recipe I used:

2 cups All-bran Flakes

1 cup Rolled Oats

3/4 cup Non-fat Dry Milk Powder

1/4 cup Unprocessed Wheat Bran

3 tbsp Cocoa Powder

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Cinnamon, Ground

1/2 tsp Cloves, Ground

1 Banana, large

1/4 cup Butter, Salted

1/2 cup Granular Splenda

2 Egg

7 large Egg White

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract, Imitation, No Alcohol

1/2 cup Applesauce-unsweetened

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Combine first 9 ingredients in large bowl, mix well with spoon.

3. Blend banana, butter, sugar, eggs, egg whites, applesauce, and vanilla at medium speed with an electric mixer until well incorporated.

4. Add wet ingredients to dry, mix well and allow to stand for 5 minutes.

5. Scoop into non-stick mini muffin tins, filling each until it's level with the top.

6. Bake on center rack for 12 minutes

7. Remove from tin immediately and allow to cool.


Read more, including full nutritional information at: http://www.livestrong.com/recipes/dr-siegels-diet-cookie-heathers-alternate-version/#ixzz2RIY2T352