Red, White, and Blue Cookies with Newman's Own Organics Dried Fruits + a Giveaway!

    I'm excited to be participating in another Food.Fun.Hop event hosted by Shy Babies & Little Inspiration.  For the Food Fun Hop the wonderful people at Newman's Own Organics sent me a box filled with dried fruits and Hermit cookies.  I received a package of dried apples, dried cranberries, and a berry mix.  Not only were they generous enough to give me these organic dried fruits but they are going to send a selection of them to one of my readers as well!

        We had never had the dried fruit or Hermit cookies before.  The cookies were soft, sweet, and delicious.  We finished them off in just two days.  The dried fruits were pretty awesome as well.  We liked the dried apples the best because they were soft and just a little bit sweet.  I ate them plain while my husband enjoyed them on his yogurt.  The berry blend was tasty too.  I enjoyed the different tart and sweet flavors.  The cranberries were perfect in my organic granola mix.  My husband is already asking when we can buy the apples again.

    When deciding what to make I immediately thought of something red, white, and blue because the berry mix contains cherries, cranberries, and blueberries.  I figured if I added in white chocolate I could make the perfect patriotic dessert.  These red, white, and blue cookies were perfect.  They had a delicate sweetness from the brown sugar, a tartness from the dried fruit, and a smooth creaminess from the white chocolate.  They were the all around perfect cookie.  We took some to our friends and they were devoured in minutes. 

Red, White, and Blue Cookies (adapted from Cookie Madness)
1 1/4 c. flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
5 T. butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 T. granulated sugar
1/4 c. applesauce
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. Newman's Own Organics dried berry blend
1/4 c. Newman's Own Organics dried cranberries
3 oz. white chocolate, cut into chunks

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.  In a medium bowl cream together the butter and two sugars.  Stir in the applesauce and mix well.

3.  Add the egg, vanilla, and cinnamon to the butter mixture and beat for 30 seconds.

4.  In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.

5.  Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until well combined.

6.  Fold in the dried berries and white chocolate chunks.

7.  Drop heaping teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.  Remove to a wire rack and cool completely.

     Now for the giveaway!  One of my readers will win a selection of Newman's Own Organics dried fruits!  The giveaway is open to US readers and will run through July 30 at midnight.  I will contact the winner via e-mail on July 31.

**Newman's Own Organics products were received in order to facilitate this review and giveaway, but all opinions are 100% my own.**

This post linked to:
Meatless Mondays, Mangia Mondays,  Making You Crave Mondays,