Chocolate Chip Cookies - 30 Days 30 Recipes - Day 10

These cookies are a very good substitute for their high calorie cousins, which usually have a lot more butter and sugar.  The applesauce, which replaces some of the fat, does change the consistency of the cookie, but not in a bad way.  The way these cookies come out reminds me almost of muffin tops, vs. cookies, but that's certainly not a bad thing.  I would definitely recommend them to anyone looking to cut down on fat or calories in their diet.

And bonus: everyone in the house loved them!

A note on the consistency:  This cookie dough was not what I expected.  It was more like a muffin batter.  I used a tablespoon to scoop, as suggested, but there is no way I would have been able to roll this "dough" into balls.  So if you notice a runny batter don't be worried.  I didn't have my mixer unpacked yet, so that was one strike against me, but I'm sure the consistency of my batter still would have been runny.

The other thing is you'll notice two styles of cookies.  One type has a browned edge and the other a more consistent color.  The browned edge cookies are from my heavy weight Wilton aluminum baking sheet.  While I do like that pan, nothing compares to cookies on a stone.  The ones you see with consistent color and no browned edges are baked on my Pampered Chef and Walmart stones.  If you want the best cookies, definitely opt for a baking stone.


Find the original recipe on page 28: 100 Favorite Weight Watchers Recipes.


Taste Score: 10
Ease of Preparation Score: 7


Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 large egg
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Nutrition Information:
Serves 36
1 serving =
71 calories
3 grams fat
10 grams carbs
0 grams fiber
1 gram protein

Weight Watchers POINTS - 2 (original recipe says 1)
Weight Watchers Points Plus - 2
Weight Watchers Smart Points - 3

All nutrition information is approximate and is calculated at caloriecount.com.


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Tasty Gingerbread Cookies

This recipe for gingerbread cookies is GREAT for people with allergies to milk or eggs, two ingredients found in most cookie recipes.  My mom came across it when my brother was young.  He had severe food allergies to the point of needing an epi pen.  The recipe does contain gluten, but if you are allergic to it you could always try making it with a gluten free flour mix.


Tasty Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening (refined coconut oil is a great substitute)
3 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup molasses
5 cups flour

Preheat oven to 375.  Beat Shortening.  Add sugar, cinnamon, ginger and baking soda.  Cream mixture.  Beat in molasses and water until combined.  Beat in as much flour as you can and stir the rest by hand.  (A kitchen-aid or other high power mixer can probably handle all the flour, but a smaller or hand-held mixer might not be able to.)  Wrap and chill several hours or overnight.  Roll 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface.  Cut with desired cutters .  Place on greased cookie sheet* and bake 8-10 minutes.


*I almost always use my stones to bake cookies on.  They come out so good every time. So if you have seasoned stone use that instead.  No greasing needed!



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Musings - Hairy Cookies

As a young child, while other kids were watching Sesame Street, I sat in front of Julia Child.  Don't get me wrong, I loved my share of children's programming, it's just that cooking and baking held special places in my young heart.  I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that my mom was always making something delicious in the kitchen.

Not only did I like cooking, I was also quite independent.  As a kid I preferred to make my own mistakes along the way instead of having someone tell me how I should do something.  As you can imagine this made for a fun childhood, albeit one full of mishaps along the way.  Baking on my own was something I really, really wanted to do.  

Many times I begged my mom to make something by myself.  So she would let me make jello and other simple things.  I also helped her with the things she was cooking and baking.  But I really wanted to do something totally without parental supervision, something more difficult than jello. At last my mom relented and I she said I could make a batch of cookies.  My neighbor, Kate, helped me with the task.   So, technically it wasn't on my own, but in my defense no parental intervention was involved.

Image found here.

We got the ingredients out and made our cookies.  They were a classic chocolate chip if I remember correctly.  We were proud and they were delicious.  We had followed the directions and were successful.  

Later on that day, my mom's friend came over.  Kate and I were friends with her son.  When he came in the kitchen, I proudly offered him a cookie.  Success, I thought, as he took a bite from the cookie.  Then…yuck!  He pulled a long hair out of his mouth and held it up.  Kate and I had not been careful while mixing the cookies and hair (apparently multiple hairs as we would find out later) had gotten into the batter.  I'm not sure about you, but even when something tastes exceptionally good, the presence of a hair makes it simply disgusting.

We all laughed and joked about cafeteria lady hair nets.

When I stopped laughing the wheels began to turn.  I had a solution.

The next time my mom let me bake I was not going to let a little hair deter me.  Weeks later as I got ready to make my next batch of cookies I employed my new idea.  It was simple and effective and took me through my next couple years of baking.  I took a pair of panty hose, cut off the leg and put it on my head.  It might have looked funny, but my cookies didn't have any hair!


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Recipe - Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Image by mccartyv

Do you follow a gluten free diet?  Are you wondering what you can serve your gluten free friends and family this Christmas?  Here's one idea.


Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies
I'm not sure where this recipe is from but there are many versions of it floating around the Internet

Ingredients:

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream peanut butter and sugar.  Add baking powder and egg.  Form 1-inch balls.  Bake 10 minutes.

Because they don't contain flour, these cookies eat more like candy, so be careful how many you gobble up at once!

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Recipe - Oatmeal Cookie Dough Bites

Inspired by a few recipes like this one and this one, here's what I came up with for a healthy and delicious snack.  I think it's as yummy as it is healthy!

Oatmeal Cookie Dough Bites

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups oats
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 Tablespoons raw honey
1/4 cup oat bran
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup chocolate chips - mini or regular

Combine first 5 ingredients until well mixed.  Add in chocolate chips.  Form into balls.  Place into container and refrigerate until ready to eat.

Oatmeal Cookie Bars

Around the time when fall changes to winter, my local grocery store was getting rid of it's fall stock.  There was a grocery cart filled with clearance items and I just had to take a look. I don't always get the clearance items, but I always have to look. Among the items were some chocolate chips, candy, and other baking goods.  One thing that caught my eye were cinnamon chips.  They looked just like chocolate chips, but were cinnamon flavored.  The price was right so I picked up a bag or two thinking I'd use them in oatmeal cookies.

After I brought them home, I was in the mood to bake, but I really didn't feel like going through the task of making cookies. So, I did what I usually do and "googled" a recipe for oatmeal cookie bars.  I hadn't even put in the cinnamon chip requirement, but lo and behold, I found a recipe containing them.