Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

4 1/2 teaspoons egg replacer*
          (equivalent of 3 eggs)
6 tablespoons water
1 cup non dairy butter
1 teaspoon liquid lecithin**
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 375º F. Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Using a wire balloon whisk or a blender, whip the egg replacer with the water in a separate bowl til it is thick and creamy. 

In a large bowl, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. When using dairy butter, it is necessary to leave it out til it reaches room temperature. When using non dairy butter, it is best to keep it refrigerated til ready to use, and do not over beat. Cream the butter and sugars for one minute, then add the lecithin and the vanilla. Beat for another minute, and add the egg replacer mixture. Beat til blended.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, one third at a time, mixing well after each addition. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Using two soup spoons from your set of tableware, drop a spoonful of cookie dough at a time onto the cookie sheet, leaving room between each to allow them to spread while baking. Simply spoon up a small ball of cookie dough with one soup spoon, and scrape it off the spoon and onto the cookie sheet with the back of the other soup spoon. You can also use your finger to scrape the cookie dough off the spoon and onto the sheet.

Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Shorter cooking time yields a softer cookie. If you like your cookies well baked, use another cookie sheet under the sheet with the cookies on it. This will keep the bottoms of the cookies from burning when you want to leave them to bake longer.

Allow the cookies to rest on the pan for a few minutes, and then transfer them to racks to cool. Leaving them to cool on the pan with make them soggy.

While the number of cookies will depend on the size you make them, this recipe usually yields 24 cookies when I use a soup spoon to scoop them.


Nutrition Information

Serving Size: One cookie
Servings per recipe: 24

Calories: 187                   Calories from fat: 88
                                                 
Total Fat: 9.8g, 15% of Daily Value***
Saturated Fat: 2.7g, 14% of Daily Value
Sodium: 245mg, 10% of Daily Value
Total Carbohydrates: 23.0g, 8% of Daily Value
Dietary Fiber: 0.6g, 2% of Daily Value
Sugars: 14.4g
Protein: 1.9g

Vitamin A 7% Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 2% Iron 4%



* In this recipe, eggs serve as an emulsifier for the fat and sugar mixture, and a binder, to keep the cookies from melting and running all over the cookie sheet. You can buy Ener-G Egg Replacer, which is based on potato starch, or Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer, which is based on soy flour and algin, a gel derived from seaweed. Or you can simply use potato starch or soy flour. For this recipe, I prefer Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer. You can probably go ahead and use three eggs if you aren't vegan, but I can't promise how the cookies will turn out if you do. Using an egg replacer makes these cookies cholesterol free and very low in saturated fat, depending on the source of fat used in your non dairy butter and chocolate chips.

** Liquid lecithin is optional in this recipe, but it acts as an emulsifier in the sugar fat mixture, and adds a richer golden brown color to the finished product. It is derived from soybeans and can be found in health food stores, or the natural foods and supplements aisles of better supermarkets. Lecithin is an important nutrient in fat metabolism, and promotes the production and flow of healthy bile.

*** Based on a 2000 calorie diet

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