Healthy Honey & Bran Cookies Recipe

An easy bran cookies recipe that’s sweet and chewy. The sweetness comes from adding raisins, and a thin sugar glaze. The perfect healthy snack or dessert!

January seems to be the month where we all think about eating healthier, and adding more exercise to our daily routines. I’ve been thinking about both, because I’ve put on a few pounds that need to come off. This bran cookies recipe is a healthy alternative to a high-calorie cookie, and makes a great afternoon or bedtime snack. They are delicious with a cup of tea, or a glass of milk!

What is Bran?

We all know that bran is high in fiber and is good for us…but what is it? Bran itself is the hard outer layer of cereal grain. These grains consist of wheat, oats, rice, and corn. Although you should have a smattering of all these grains in your diet, wheat bran has the fewest calories, and the most fiber.

Good Bran Sources

Good sources of wheat bran are Fiber One cereal, All Bran cereal, and baked goods containing unprocessed wheat bran such as Bob’s Red Mill Wheat Bran. For these bran cookies, I added Fiber One cereal to the batter.

Soak the Raisins

If you like raisins in your cookies, you will love this bran cookies recipe. Any cookie recipe that calls for raisins can benefit from a good tip I got from my daughter-in-law. Soak the raisins in the liquid ingredients before mixing up the cookie batter. This will add moisture to the raisins, and will make them plump and juicy.

How To Make

• Place the egg in a large mixing bowl and whisk with a fork.
• Add the applesauce, vanilla, and raisins to the egg. Stir to combine.
• Let raisins soak in applesauce & egg mixture for 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Add brown sugar and honey to the raisin mixture. Combine well.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
• Add flour mixture to raisin mixture in two increments, mixing well and scraping the bowl.
• Fold in the Fiber One Bran Cereal.
• Using a small scoop, drop dough onto a large cookie sheet. (Scoops should be heaping.)
• Bake for 7 to 8 minutes.
• Remove cookies from oven onto a cooling rack.
• Cool completely.
• Mix powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon milk and stir well. Add more milk until sugar becomes a glaze. It should pour, but not be runny.
• Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies. Let dry.
• Store in an airtight container.

One last thought before I go…my husband eats anything I put in front of him, thank heavens, but he rarely comments on any of it. These cookies were on our kitchen island, and after he had three, he said that my “little cookies were pretty good.” So there you have it!