And Michelle is here for Wednesday,
Well, I’m at it again…in search of the Holy Grail,….of Cookies. The Chocolate Chip Cookie. Is there anything better than a chocolate chip cookie??! OK, Raul the Pool Boy with a Pint-Sized HaagenDazs Spooncicle (you know the one…the whole pint with a giant spoon shoved in it as a stick – You know you’ve done it! Confess!) AND a Chocolate Chip Cookie Box! Only, I’m on a continual diet, which presents a problem. After my last trip to Perfect I’d eaten a burger the size of my head (which I saved up my calories to do!), I need some relief. That little nagging demon on my shoulder constantly with “WWJE”…no it’s not a radio station…one of those obnoxious little bracelet saying What Would Jessica Eat. OMG ! C O O K I E S!!!!!
Now, I’ve done all this before and shared my findings, which were good. Although there’s still that 1/2 Cup of oil / butter substance included. Most of the recipes I’ve tried have been either low-fat, and taste like super sweet cardboard. Or, low-sugar which means you’re still dealing with a cup of buttah! Let’s face it, a cookie is butter and sugar with varying amounts of flour. There has got to be a better way. Well, I’ve been surfing the Net and playing in the kitchen to come up with something yummy. I know I’ve been using Whey–Lo for a long while and I still like it – it’s just so darned hard to come by, and a bit finicky to bake with. So, while at Target I discovered that they had the Truvia Baking Blend on sale and thought I’d give it a whirl. I was pleased with the results , and so were my ‘taste test victims’…of which only one was warned of the Diet Demon.
So, here we go: The Chocolate Chip Cookie
Step 1: Mix the wet together. Mix the dry together. Then mix the dry into the wet. You know the drill.
OK, so here’s a couple of Notes on the Ingredient List. See the nut grinder, this is where I store my ground walnut all the time. When I bake I re-grind them into the lid for a much finer dusting of nut flavor without adding in a ton of calories. I put maybe a 1 tsp of the super fine walnut shavings in mine.
Guess what else that nut grinder’s good for? Yup, chocolate chips! Those Ghiradelli 63% Cocoa chips are lower ing fat, but too big for small cookies. Put them in the fridge first so they’re brittle and they’ll grind into small tidbits that land neatly into the jar – not all over the cutting board or ricochet off the knife and go zinging across the kitchen. Yes, I discovered this after a fateful trip south for supplies ended and found my bag of carob chips had made one melted bar in a bag! …and you know I can’t throw anything away.
Another thing, that little cup of Organic Apple Sauce is a staple here. Apple sauce goes bad fast, and since apples are on that ‘Dirty Dozen’ list I buy them as well as their counterparts in organic form when I can. So, those expensive little cups aren’t so bad after all. Besides, I have to keep myself busy waiting for cookies to bake – so eat up the rest of that cup!
Whole wheat pastry flour. Yes, it makes a difference, but you can use some white whole wheat flour (although I’ve not tested that version – yet). That little blue bag is pricey too, which is why it, along with it’s other Blue Bag friends, live in the freezer! Forget that Best Before Date, put them in zip–locs and line the door of the freezer with them. Need Buckwheat Flour? – Got it!, need Oat Flour? – Got it!
Step 2: OK, there’s the batter. This is going to be slightly thinner than a regular cookie dough is. I let it set for a bit. You have to pre-heat the oven now anyway (350deg please) and nibble on that apple sauce. Yes, you have to clean up your mess as well. Come on it can’t be that bad – it’s just two bowls! And while you’re at it, be sure to wipe the molasses bottle lip – or you’ll never get it open again.
Step 3: Get the cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. And pull out the cookie scoop. These are not huge cookies, so use less than the full scoop (say, 2 tsp).
Step 4: Bake them for 8 – 10 min (you judge your oven). These will not look ‘brown’ like CC cookies do, the batter’s already brown. The bottom edges will be more golden as they finish cooking.
Step 5: Look at that…a chocolate chip cookie! About 2″ across and they have a texture a bit more muffin-like, given the lack of fat, but a cookie none the less. The mini chips make sure every bite gets some.
Step 6: Bait the cookie testing victims with a pretty show…. (of course I ate the sub-standard broken cookie and that terrible fat-free milk….Jon just got one cookie on one plate – hee hee)
Cookie Tester says…. Thumbs Up!
Jon just looked at me with a smile and asked, ‘What’s Up?’ I said, “Forty Seven calories – that’s what’s up!”. That got a “Wow-You have to write this one down.” So, I did.
How do I know the calorie count? Well, I searched the Net for that too and was irritated at the sites that made you sign in and more-or-less surrender your recipes to get that little black and white confirmation of fabulousness! So, the NYTimes has http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php You just plug it in and there you go. I listed these at 12 servings, because the batch makes 24 cookies and I don’t remember EVER eating just one CC cookie….even with WWJE watching me!
Thanks Michelle! Another yummy recipe. How come those low-cal cookies never make it to my place? Guess I’m going to have to risk using my oven.
By the way, Michelle and I have the same model of oven. But mine mostly bakes frozen pizzas. And we also both use those acronyms. Like if I think a box of chocolate chip cookies are perfect for lunch, I have to think WWJE and eat a salad. And like the time I threw the old dresser into the firepit and caused a huge fire, I blamed it on my inner Kendall–WWKD–“What would Kendall do?”. And when I walk into my office to use my computer and I smell those cookies burning in the oven, I think that wouldn’t happen to Michelle–WWMD!
KT