Whatelse but the Chocolate Chip Cookie

OK, so for my first butterless recipe post, I baked none other than the famous chocolate chip cookie. I don't make cookies very often because of the unhealthy factor and we really don't eat that many sweets (but we sure eat a lot of chips). I'll eat maybe two or three then I'm done. My husband doesn't eat many more and I usually end up throwing them away because they sit around and get stale. So this morning I got the idea to make the batter, shape the cookies and then freeze them. This way, anytime I want a homemade cookie I can go to the freezer and in 10 minutes I have a fresh baked chocolate chip cookie.

At first I was going to bake a vegan cookie but then decided I wanted to use eggs. I think eggs add a certain richness you just don't get with the vegan recipes (at least not with my experience). I found a decent looking recipe on Allrecipes but changed a few things, which I generally do with all recipes.

I forgot to take a picture (of coarse), But I'm really going to try and be good at documenting what I make. Why read a food blog without food porn. So hopefully I'll remember to take a picture the next time I bake up a few cookies.

The outcome — Not bad. I originally put them all in the freezer, but then figured I should sample a few before they got frozen. They tasted pretty good, and Hubby liked them too. They would certainly benefit from sitting in the fridge for 24-36 hours to develop the flavors a bit more (as suggested in the NY Times article). But over all, not bad. They were simple, quick, crunchy on the outside, and chewy on the inside. Couldn't ask for anything more.


Ingredients:

1/4 c + 1 tbs vegetable oil
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1/4 c sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp brown rice syrup
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine sugars, oil, eggs, vanilla, and rice syrup; mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, salt and chips.

Add dry ingredients to sugar mixture and stir until well combined (dough will be a little stiff).

Scoop about a tablespoon at a time (i use a small ice cream scoop), and roll into a ball and put on a cookie sheet. (The cookies will spread a bit, but not THAT much). Continue with the rest of the dough. Flatten each cookie a bit with fingers or a fork.

At this point you can either bake them, or freeze them. To bake, have a your oven preheated at 350 degrees and bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown. If you like them crispier, leave them in the oven a few minutes longer.

To freeze, cover the cookie sheet with plastic wrap, put in the freezer until thoroughly frozen and then transfer the cookies to a well sealed Ziploc bag.

Let The Baking Begin

I'm not vegan, although I am a vegetarian. I care about what I eat and where my food comes from. When I use eggs, I make sure the chickens are certified humanely raised, and I'll only buy lowfat organic milk (and the occasional tub of organic butter) from small farmers.

I'm very conscious of what I eat for both calorie/fat intake and health/good-for-my-body reasons. I don't like to ingest chemicals or anything artificial. I do a lot of cooking and rarely buy prepared foods. I believe in local, farm-to-table eating and try to live that lifestyle as much as possible.

I'm not immune to cravings and I certainly do my share of splurging. In the attempt to keep my splurges healthy I like to do my own baking. Even though I try to bake healthy, I like to do it without the healthy taste. The easiest way to do this is to eliminate the butter. Usually the recipes I find without butter are vegan. And although I don't mind cooking and occasionally baking vegan, I also don't mind using farm fresh eggs and milk. Hence, The Butterless Baker.