GRANOLA-ALMOND MACAROONS

Betty Boyle

To easily crush the granola bars, do not unwrap. Use a rolling pin to crush the bars inside the wrapper. Find coarse sugar in the bakery section of supermarkets. During the holidays, roll in colored sugar.

1 roll (18 ounce) Pillsbury Refrigerated Sugar Cookies

1 package (7 ounce) almond paste

4 Nature Valley Oats ‘n Honey Crunchy Granola Bars

(2 pouches from 8.9-ounce box) coarsely crushed

2 ½ cups coconut

1 tsp almond extract

½ cup coarse sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cookie sheets with baking spray. In a large bowl, break up cookie dough and almond paste with hands and knead mixture until well combined. Stir in crushed granola bars, coconut and almond extract. Shape dough into 1 ¼-inch balls, rolling the dough between your palms; roll in coarse sugar and place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to a rack to cool.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Nutritional information per cookie: 5 grams total fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 milligrams cholesterol; 70 milligrams sodium; 20 grams total carbohydrate; 0 grams dietary fiber; 14 grams sugar, and 2 grams protein.