Sneaky Nutrition - Cinnamon

I'm sure that cinnamon is by far the most used spice in this house. We wouldn't dare eat applesauce or oatmeal without sprinkling some on; it's a must for any recipe with pumpkin, apples, peaches, or pineapples. And rice pudding has gotta have it, in my book. Next to vanilla, it's my favorite smell. I had a "cinnamon bun" candle burning in our house a little while ago, and what a wonderful aroma to comfort the spirits, particularly on a cool fall day. For me, I think of nutmeg as cinnamon's most faithful companion, but there are times when allspice or cloves are a better choice, or even all three. Have you ever tried sprinkling some cinnamon and nutmeg on baked yams? Try it--I think you'll like it and realize that you don't need all that sugar and syrup that we use for candied yams.

Well, today I thought of making a post about this wonderful spice, because I was told it was good for diabetes. This immediately got my attention because my husband and I are both candidates for this malady. This sent me to Google (which is celebrating its ninth birthday today if you're interested) to check on this. I found out that tests have pretty much proven that cinnamon is helpful with blood sugar levels and other factors which would make it beneficial for a person with Type 2 diabetes. It also has many other health benefits such as aiding in food digestion, helping blood circulation, boosting brain activity, and quite a few others.

Then, at one site, I was checking on its nutritional stats. Here's what I found listed there for daily percentage values:

Iron 211%
Vitamin C-47%
Calcium - 122%
Vitamin K - 52%
Potassium - 20%

This was pretty exciting until I saw the serving size: 100 grams! To put that all in perspective, a teaspoon equals about 2 grams. In other words, we get very little nutritional value in the spoonful or two that we put in our pumpkin pie, but from what I've been reading today, it certainly has other benefits which hopefully add up over a period of time. So I would recommend that you sneak some cinnamon in every chance you get.

So my recipe this time is a good one for this season, my favorite time of year. Anything pumpkin goes well from now until January (and beyond), so here's a healthy cookie for your kids to snack on. Plenty of Vitamin A, C and fiber. Just so you know, I cut back on the honey and butter, substituting applesauce for some of the butter:

PUMPKIN COOKIES

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 egg, beaten

1 cup mashed cooked pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspon ground cinnamon

1 cup raisins (opt.)

1 cup chopped nuts (opt.)

Preheat oven 375 degrees.

(1) Cream together honey and butter in a large bowl. Add egg and pumpkin, mixing well. Add vanilla.

(2) Sift together baking powder and soda, flour, allspice, and cinnamon. Graduallymix into butter mixture. Fold in raisins and nuts.

(3) Drop by teaspoonfuls onto sprayed baking sheet; flatten with back of a spoon.

(4) Bake until lightly browned, 8-10 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire racks.

They may not be as popular as the chocolate chip ones that you get at church socials, but you feel better about serving them to your loved ones at home. Hope you enjoy them!