Yes, they exist.

I know what you're all wondering... Alissa, WHAT exists?!

Well, my lovelies, clean cream cheese filled cinnamon sugar cookies is what exists.


Inspired by a Chocolate Covered Katie and Skinny Taste recipe, I came up with these 65 calorie fiber-rich, simple, healthy beauties.

But, before I get onto the recipe, I'm sure you're all wondering why I actually remade Katie's recipe.
And that's simply because, even though her recipe is incredible (like all of her others!), they came out to be super tiny... and I mean like, half-the-size-of-my-palm tiny! I don't know if I did something wrong or if they're just supposed to be that small, but I felt like they needed a bit of a boost!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar (Stevia or any other type of regular white sugar or sugar substitute would work)
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
1 egg white
2 tbsp mashed banana
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
cinnamon and sugar, for rolling

Cream Cheese filling:
2 tbsp light cream cheese
2 tsp powdered (confectioners) sugar

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

In one bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir.

In another bowl, whisk the sugars, egg white, mashed banana and vanilla together until fluffy.

Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in two additions until the batter is very well blended. Add bits of water until it looks and feels completely like cookie batter (and less crumbly-like).

Now mix together the cream cheese filling.

Roll your cookie dough into 12 balls, then lay on cookie sheet. Smoosh them down with the palm of your hand, then add in about 1 tsp (more/less) of the filling. Roll back up into a ball (it's okay if the filling comes out of the cookie dough a bit -- don't be alarmed!)

Roll each ball into a combination of cinnamon and sugar until covered with desired amount.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Check on the cookies after about 8 minutes. If they haven't expanded, smoosh them down with a fork until desired size. Bake for another 2-3 minutes. (Don't over-bake, though! You want these soft!)

Let cool for a few minutes before eating... then devour with no regrets. 

I hope you guys make these and enjoy them! Lots of people were asking me for the recipe on my Instagram, so I had to post it for y'all! Love you and thank you for the constant support! 

What I Ate Wednesday #32

HAPPY FIRST-WIAW-OF-2013! 

In today's WIAW, I'm gonna share some recent eats from the past week! Most of these were out-of-this-world fabulous. I love having time off from school so I can cook/bake. So sad to go back! 

12/26/12 - Breakfast: post-workout OIAJ... What's better?!

Chocolate 'brownie batter' protein egg white oatmeal with some healthy cereal + banana slices + sweet cinnamon roll protein cream + White Chocolate Wonderful + snowflake sprinkles, all inside a nearly-empty banana granola nut peanut butter jar! Mixing Coach's Oats with some regular oats makes for the thickest oatmeal! Love it!! ...All of it didn’t even fit in the jar… So I ate it on the side.

12/27/12 - Breakfast: whoever said you can't have dessert for breakfast never had dessert for breakfast!  Apple pie protein egg white oatmeal topped with homemade cinnamon roll protein almond milk "ice cream" & sugar/fat-free butterscotch protein pudding + a bit of White Chocolate Wonderful!

12/27/12 - Snack: homemade mini chocolate protein donuts with peanut butter 'fudge'.

12/27/12 - Snack (at work): I was going to be one of those people who try and “avoid” not-so-healthy choices after holiday indulgences for awhile... Then life came along and offered me a homemade chocolate coconut bar. 

12/28/12 - Breakfast: National Chocolate Day + a rest day calls for a stack of  brownie batter protein pancakes stuffed with clean chocolate fudge mixed with Dark Chocolate Dreams + banana slices + a small sprinkle of healthy cereal, all topped with MORE chocolate fudge + a crushed mini candy cane + the smallest drizzle of maple syrup! Chocolate overload... Heaven!! 

12/28/12 - Snack: homemade mini cinnamon sugar pumpkin pie donuts.

12/28/12 - Dinner: a Vitacost (I think that’s the brand name... Same brand as VitaTops!) mini pizza (15g protein, 190 calories and not too bad on ingredients! Wish they weren’t so expensive though.), a chickpea + rotisserie chicken + turkey + vegetable “salad” mixed with plain Chobani and salsa, and a pickle!

This pizza was actually incredibly good... Quite surprising!

12/29/12 - Breakfast: stack of apple pie protein pancakes stuffed with sweet cinnamon roll protein cream & healthy crumble cereal, topped with some more apple slices + a bit of White Chocolate Wonderful + a drizzle of maple syrup + a sprinkle of cinnamon!

{Recipe is coming soon!}

12/29/12 - HAPPINESS!: I ordered PB2 the previous day, and it was here the next day.... Even though I didn’t order fast shipping! So weird, but I instantly fell in love with it. (Hashtag peanut butter addict)

12/30/12 - Breakfast: post-workout PERFECTION.

Fluffy gingerbread egg white oatmeal with a few fresh strawberries & apple slices + a sprinkling of healthy cereal + sweet protein “cream”, all topped with a few bits of one of my mini pumpkin protein donuts + PB2 peanut butter 'fudge' + a vanilla fox Snackimal, all inside a nearly-empty White Chocolate Wonderful jar.

12/30/12 - Snack: I've been so into baking lately, and these were both unbelievable.

I had just gotten ground flaxseed for the first time, and I really wanted to use it... So, I did!

Chocolate Covered Katie’s cream cheese filled cinnamon sugar “pillow” cookies (SO good, but the size is incredibly disappointing, haha), and some SUPER fudgy peanut butter protein and healthy fat filled BLACK BEAN brownies! Those brownies are the fudgiest brownies I've ever eaten. (And yes, "fudgiest" is now a word.)

12/30/12 - Dessert/Snack: who missed seeing my microwaved desserts?! *Raises hand*

PB2, flaxseed and strawberry microwave cake (that didn’t rise at all… Oopsies!) on top of some diced apple & sliced banana + some homemade protein almond milk "ice cream" with a sprinkling of healthy crumble cereal & a topping of clean chocolate peanut butter fudge & melted Biscoff spread… Inside a nearly-empty COOL WHIP CONTAINER! Hehe.

(...Theres also some crumbs from one of my EXTREMELY delicious clean peanut butter brownies in there...)

12/31/12 - Breakfast: literally some of the best oatmeal.

Thick, fluffy chocolate & PB2 egg white flaxseed oatmeal with a sprinkle of healthy cereal + fresh chopped strawberries + plain Greek yogurt (+ some of my mommy’s sugar/fat-free cheesecake pudding… just a baby spoonful!), all topped with some crumbles of one my literally orgasmic peanut butter fudge black bean brownies + clean chocolate & clean peanut butter fudge + a bit of Biscoff spread + some natural peppermint whipped cream.

12/31/12 - Dinner: chicken, tomato, lettuce & spinach sandwich with super spicy mustard & ranch Greek yogurt, with a chickpea and vegetable side “salad” and some extra chicken. I love chicken. 

12/31/12 - ... Snack?: this was my New Years Eve. With my mom and dad. (And my little sister, but she doesn't drink, obviously...) I tried Mike's Hard Lemonade for the first time, and I loved it... aside from the fizziness! My throat cannot handle anything fizzy.

1/01/13 - Breakfast: first meal of the new year was a stack of some of the fluffiest and greatest pancakes ever. Seriously... these tasted like they were pure buttermilk pancakes, and I don't even know why! I'm just glad they did.

Pumpkin cheesecake protein pancakes stuffed with protein cheesecake sweet “cream” (cheesecake flavor came from sugar/fat-free pudding mix) with a swirl of chocolate PB2 brownie “cream” with a mini slather of light cream cheese on each pancake. Holy GOODNESS.

{Recipe is coming soon!}

1/01/13 - Snack: round 2/remakes of my baking a few days prior...

Chocolate Covered Katie's cream cheese filled cinnamon sugar “pillow” cookies & my peanut butter fudge black bean brownies… Except this time, I did the cookies by my own recipe (inspired by a Skinny Taste one!), and they came out MUCH larger, SUPER fluffy, and just as yummy!

My mom LOVED them and asked me to make them again, so I did... But I thought the original size (recipe by Chocolate Covered Katie) was incredibly disappointing even for the nutrition information. (They were smaller than most cookies, healthy or unhealthy. TOO tiny! Haha.) Mine are about 65 calories with fiber and all clean ingredients. Recipe for them is on its way! 

1/01/13 - Dinner: I can't even put into words how amazing this salad was... And I eat 1-2 salads every day! Steak, mozzarella cheese, bacon, tons of fresh vegetables, chickpeas, and vinegar. I added some salsa and some more lettuce and tomato post-picture... and I want it all over again.

So many good meals to start the year off!! 

1/02/13 - Breakfast: peanut butter cookie flaxseed egg white oatmeal to start off my first day back to school in over a week! With banana slices + plain Greek yogurt + organic peanut butter puffs cereal + Cinnamon Raisin Swirl peanut butter, then topped with some chocolate peanut butter fudge & clean peanut butter fudge black bean brownie pieces! Then a bit of Cool Whip & extra unsweetened almond milk after the picture, haha. Pretty much just peanut butter with a side of oats. Just the way I like it.

Workout {pictures} of the Week:

I recently got a punching bag and sandbag for Christmas, and fell deeply in love with both of them.

Calories don't count on Thanksgiving!

What?! Two "what I ate" posts in a ROW?!

That's right.

Happy Thanksgiving, fellow Americans!

I'm so glad Jenn's letting us post double-the-fun this week! I'm excited to share some more little victories, and some good food with you all now! I'm that obnoxious overachiever that Jenn warned you all about. 

Let's start off with my night-before-Thanksgiving, shall we?

Holy. Homemade. Cookies.

I got to hangout with one of my all-time BEST BEST friends last night, for the first time in years...

 She has the same food/ED-related problems I do (literally the EXACT same aside from one thing), and we had THE greatest time just baking homemade cookies all night. Who needs alcohol when you have cookies?  While baking, I had 4-5 (PLUS dough!) since, you know, I was a taste tester and all! Hehe.

The amount I'm proud of myself for this little lame victory is incredible... Normal things like this usually stress me out so much. But I was so excited and willing to try them, without even worrying if the cookie was 100 or 200 or even 300 calories a piece. I liked that feeling. I missed that feeling. I didn't and still don't feel any bit of regret, nor do/did I feel “fat”. I just feel... normal, ya know? And free! Me and her are so much alike it’s ridiculous, and we both feel so much freer after challenging ourselves. It's so much easier to do when you have someone who knows EXACTLY what you're struggling with supporting you.

We made cinnamon chip oatmeal cookies, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin white chocolate almond oatmeal cookies, and finally, snickerdoodles! Nearly 3 hours later, and they were all freaking amazing! Nothing beats a homemade, ""unhealthy"" cookie. Forrealsies!

Thanksgiving:

I actually woke up early no problem, around 7:20 am, despite getting home late and going to sleep at 1:30 am! So, I had a small pre-workout snack (un-pictured/uninteresting), then, I killed my workout!

I did Insanity Max Interval Circuit's warm-up, 2 ZWOW workouts, 1 BodyRockTV workout, and a short plank. I actually felt super body-positive this morning, which was super unexpected after last night. Despite my tummy ache, I was feeling amazing!

This... This beauty was my post-workout breakfast.

I made every one in my family an individual, personalized stuffed French toast.

Mine:

White Chocolate Wonderful, Dark Chocolate Dreams and Biscoff spread stuffed French Toast on 100% stone-ground whole wheat bread, stuffed with banana + shredded coconut + slivered almonds + cinnamon roll protein cream + cinnamon, topped with clean chocolate sauce + banana + a bit of shredded coconut + cinnamon + slivered almonds + some crushed cereal + a mini sprinkle of pumpkin flax & chocolate granola + a bit of maple syrup + powdered sugar.

Holy. Freaking. Deliciousness.

*Had an un-pictured, also uninteresting small apple + less than half a cookie... Hehe.*

THANKSGIVING DINNER! The best part!

Turkey (+ gravy), loads of vegetables, mashed cauliflower, mashed potatoes, stuffing (so addictive!), homemade sweet potato pie, and the EASIEST homemade whole wheat buttermilk biscuits!

I made a lot of this stuff on my own, and I am so proud of it! Everyone was happy and that proved success.

I also had about 4 servings and felt like I was gonna explode after. No regrets, though. No. Regrets.

Dessert-on-dessert-on-dessert.

I had so much dessert I can't even begin to explain. No regrets... again.

Cannoli "chips and dip", homemade cookies, frosted sugar cookies, brownies, white chocolate pudding pie, oreo pudding pie with an oreo crust, homemade pumpkin roll (SO good) with cream cheese, homemade pumpkin pie, and homemade s'mores pudding cake.

After dessert, I went back and forth with eating because I kept feeling on and off nauseous... and I really wanted to make the most of my Thanksgiving! 

Then, me and my cousin head out for our first Black Friday...

and boy, was it an experience...

We went to Target first, and it was absolutely RIDICULOUS! We ended up getting overwhelmed, buying nothing, and leaving...

We, then, went back to her house... ate a bit more leftovers (we clearly have a problem), then went to the mall and waited outside for almost an hour... Just to leave with one sweatshirt altogether! So not worth it!!

Why, you ask? Well... SHE MADE ME WAIT IN VICTORIA'S SECRET FOR FOR ALMOST TWO HOURS FOR THE THING! VS had terrible (and barely any) sales, yet they had more people inside than a club. It was overwhelming and just so uncomfortable. I wish I was exaggerating, too.

It was literally painful because I started feeling horribly nauseous and sick did way through, so I just sat in a random chair in there for an hour while bitching to my cousin how it's pointless waiting for one sweatshirt that had absolutely nothing significant to it! Haha. I got home around 2:30 am, and literally just got my pajamas on and went straight to bed, nauseous and all.

Never will I ever go out Black Friday shopping again... at least not with her!

But, this is how I spent my Thanksgiving...

And I hope you all did the same.

I hope you all had just as an amazing Thanksgiving as I had, and I hope you enjoyed every moment, every bite of food, and just everything about today in general! You all deserve it more than ANYTHING! 

P.S. A new theme for Life Like Fruit Salad is on its way!!