Wholesome Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are a great cookie.

I started working on this recipe last fall (it took a few tries!). I knew I wanted  it to be 'whole' and 'hearty'. I wanted them to be golden and crisp on the outside, and filled with nuttyness and plenty of chocolate.

These would be great served along ice cream, and I can't resist sugesting ice-cream sandwiches made with them!

Wholesome chocolagte chip cookie recipe

I use whole wheat pastry flour here, but you can substitute unbleached all-purpose flour if you like, or if that is all you have on hand. You might also add-in some finely chopped crystallized ginger, chopped raisins or currants, or wheat germ. You could try barley flakes or spelt flakes in place of the rolled oats too. There are lots of different ways to take this cookie.

1 cup  good-quality semi-sweet chocolate

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup apple sauce

1 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon  molasses

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350F degrees, racks in top and bottom third. Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, oats, walnuts, and chocolate. Set aside.

Using a mixer beat the butter and applesauce until blended fluffy. Beat in the sugar and mix until it is also light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Beat in the molasses, then the egg, mixing until both are well incorporated, scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mix and stir by hand until the ingredients barely come together into a uniform dough.

Scoop spoonfulls of the dough onto a baking sheet, place them two inches apart. Gently flatten each dough ball into a thin, round patty. Bake for 7 minutes or until cookies are golden and fragrant. Remove from oven, and cool on a wire rack.

Cute kitty pic that makes me happy..

Celebrating solstice with Lemon Angelfood Cupcakes and thumbprint cookies

Tonight is the longest night of the year! A few friends came over to celebrate. We had tea and lots and lots of sweets!!

Raspberry White Chocolate Scones my sister put together. I think the recipe is from Betty Crocker, though I'm not sure which book, or what page...

Some cute little sugar cookies Amanda put together. They have this 'glitter glue' looking decoration frosting on them. Edible though.. Ha!

I made tapioca, which I won't post cuz it wasn't great, and lemon angel food cupcakes...

..and a couple types of thumbprint cookies..

"Molasses" Ginger Cookies w/ Orange Zest

Tonight I made what I call Vegan "Molasses" Ginger Cookies w/ Orange Zest. Molasses, in parenthesis, because I ran out and had to substitute a portion w/ brown sugar. I have to admit that I still loved the result, however they probably would have been quite a bit chewier if I had used more molasses. Next time...

Anyway, I like ginger in massive portions, and crystallized even better- so I added lots of chopped crystallized ginger. I also like oranges, so I think the large amount of orange zest in this recipe goes very well. With that in mind, I will post the recipe as I made it.

"Molasses" Ginger Cookies w/ Orange Zest!

Makes about 2½ dozen 3-inch cookies

You'll need:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2¼ teaspoons baking soda

2 tablespoons ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground allspice

¼ cup chopped crystallized ginger

1 cup Earth Balance Original Buttery Spread (79 percent vegetable oil)

1½ cups sugar (divided)

Grated zest of 2 oranges

2/3 cup molasses (if you have it, but brown sugar will do, I think)

3/4 teaspoons cornstarch

Okay, it's pretty straight forward cookie recipe. Heat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, ground ginger, allspice and crystallized ginger, and let it just hang out for a bit while you get the other stuff going. In another mixing bowl, beat the Earth Balance spread, 1 cup sugar, orange zest and molasses (brown sugar) until well incorporated. Toss in the cornstarch and mix to incorporate, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl. Throw in the flour mixture and mix until well incorporated.
Pour the remaining sugar into a small bowl. Shape 2-tablespoon portions of dough into balls and place in the bowl with the sugar. Roll the dough balls around until they’re completely coated. Place on baking sheets about 3 inches apart. Bake for 12 to14 minutes or until they have all puffed up and are starting to look crackly. Cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Ginger Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today I took my last final! It was for the wine, beer, and spirits class! It went well, I feel pleased and cheery to be able to relax for a bit and look forward to the holidays!!

Tomarrow I have Arley so I thought I would make up some cookies! Ginger Chocolate Chip Cookies is what I came up with. There are kinda mix between plain old chocolate chip cookies and cozy winter ginger cookies. ..mom was sceptical but they turned out great i n my opinion

These Holiday cookies are made with two forms of ginger and lots of chocolate.

Ginger Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

2/3 C chocolate chips
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup molasses
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger,
1 large egg, well beaten

Preheat the oven to 350F, and position racks in the top and bottom third of the oven.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, ground ginger, and salt.
Heat the butter in a saucepan until it is just barely melted. Remove from heat and stir in the molasses, sugar, and fresh ginger. The mixture should be warm, but not hot at this point, if it is hot to the touch let it cool a bit, so the egg dosn't cook when you add it!! Now whisk in the egg. Pour this mixture over the flour and stir until just combined. Mix in the chocolate.
Place spoonfulls of the dough a few inches apart on baking sheets., and bake for 7-10 minutes or until cookies start to become golden.

Peppermint Bark Chocolate Chip Cookies for Arley

Peppermint Bark/Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

This is a large batch of cookies! You could bake off half of them, form the rest of the dough into cookie-sized balls, and put them in freezer bag for later use!

3 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or unbleached all-purpose flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups peppermint bark, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 375F. Put the racks in the middle of the oven.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy, then beat in the sugar until it is the consistency of a thick frosting. beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing each in well before adding the next. Stir in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients in 3 increments, stirring between each addition. At this point you should have a moist uniform dough. Stir in the peppermint bark, mixing only until evenly distributed.

Drop a heaping tablespoon of dough for each cookie onto the prepared baking sheets 2 inches apart and bake for about 10 - 14 minutes, until golden on bottom and top. Cool on wire racks.