Friday, March 20, 2009

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies That Won't Give You a Heart Attack

So I love cookies and it's been hard to find recipes that don't call for butter (or any butter substitutes, since those all contain soy). I have found a few recipes for chocolate chip cookies that call for shortening, and you can safely use Spectrum All Vegetable Shortening in those. My big problem with this route is that Spectrum shortening is 100% palm oil, which is not exactly healthy. Don't get my wrong, this will do when the cookie monster strikes, and it works great in other products (i.e. PIE CRUST!!!), but sometimes I don't want to be feel sooo guilty when I enjoy a treat. My other issue with subing shortening for butter in cookie recipes is that it makes the cookies crispier. If you like crispy cookies, well, then you're in luck! I like soft cookies, so here I am.

But I digress...this post is really about a great Web site I discovered called Cookie Madness. This blogger has some seriously good looking cookies on her site and about a million recipes. You could spend days perusing all the choices. But let me save you some time....I found one of her recipes and tried it out tonight. YUM! Had to share. These are soft, tasty, and dairy/soy free (with a few modifications, of course). HA! And they're not terrible for you because they use apple sauce...which I swear you can't taste in the final product. I should also mention that these happen to be vegan, if that appeals to you. So here's my take on the Cookie Madness Genius!

Oatmeal-Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
  • 1 cup quick cook oats

  • 1/2 cup plus 4 tablespoons flour

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

  • 4 tablespoons canola oil

  • 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

  • 4 tablespoons granulated sugar

  • 4 tablespoons applesauce

  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

  • 1/2 cup natural type peanut butter

  • 1/2 cup dairy/soy free chocolate chips (there are several brands, check Whole Foods and read labels) or chop up an Equal Exchange Chocolate bar

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
    In a medium bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda, and salt.
    Stir oil and both sugars together in a medium bowl. It’s okay to do this with a spoon – no need to pull out the electric mixer. Beat in applesauce, peanut butter, and vanilla. Add flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
    Using about 2 tablespoons of dough, form dough into balls and place on ungreased baking sheet. Flatten slightly. Bake until edges are golden brown, about 9-10 minutes, Cool on sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to racks; cool completely. Cookies will firm up as they cool.

    Makes about 16-18 cookies

2 comments:

  1. I'm posting this from my husband's account because I don't have a google account. I have recently gone dairy and soy free for my daughter. I wanted to thank you for this blog- it has been a huge encouragement. Also, I recently changed a food network recipe for Chocolate cookies and they turned out great. Thought I'd share. :)

    Dairy and Soy Free To Die For Chocolate Cookies
    Ingredients
    • 8 Tbsp Canola Oil
    • 2 ¼ Tsp Canola Oil
    • ¼ C. Fruit Puree
    • 1 Tbsp. Fruit Puree
    • 2 cups sugar
    • 2 large eggs
    • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    • 3/4 cup cocoa powder
    • 2 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • White Sanding sugar, for garnish
    Directions
    In a large bowl, add the Oil, Puree and sugar and cream together with a hand mixer. Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the creamed mixture and mix until combined. In a medium bowl, mix the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients and continue mixing until incorporated.
    Roll the dough into 2 logs that are about 2-inches high and 1-foot long. Wrap them in waxed paper and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
    Once thoroughly chilled, slice the cookies into 1/2-inch thick rounds and cover with sanding sugar. Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
    Remove to a wire rack to cool.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so much for this recipe! I too have had to cut out dairy and soy for my breastfeeding daughter. I substituted almond butter for peanut and coconut oil for canola. Delish!!!

    ReplyDelete