Cookie Development

I participated in a science a couple weeks ago. My project: The Perfect Healthy Cookie. 
I developed two recipes that I had people try and survey. 

 Cookie #1: Tropical Chocolate Chip Cookie (Makes 35 cookies)


11/2 large bananas
⅔ c. unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp reduced calorie soft tub margarine (the brand I used had 35 calories per two tsp)
2 c. rolled oats
½ c. unsweetened coconut
½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ c. mini chocolate chips

1. Grind oats in a food processor until it becomes flour. Add salt and baking powder, pulse for about 10 seconds, so baking powder is incorporated. Set aside in a small bowl.
2. Microwave bananas for 1 minute. This makes them mash more easily, and also makes them sweeter. Mash bananas, applesauce and margarine. You can use the food processor to mix the wet, or do it by hand using a fork. Pre-heat oven to 350F
3. In a mixing bowl, combine wet ingredients, oat flour, chocolate chips and coconut.
Drop by tbsp into ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 5-8 minutes. Cookies are done when *slightly* firm to the touch.

Cookie #2: Chocolate Spice Cookies (makes 40-45 cookies)


1 c. oats                                             
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda 
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 c. cooked butternut squash                                                                        
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
¼ c. soy milk¼ c. warmed coconut butter
1 tsp cinnamon 
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp jaggery (or honey)
¼ c. mini chocolate chips                                       
3 tbsp date paste    

1. Blend dry ingredients in a food processor until oats have turned to flour. Set aside.
2. Blend chickpeas, squash, milk, date paste, jaggery and coconut butter until no lumps remain.  Pre-heat oven to 400F
3. Add dry ingredients and chocolate chips, pulsing until combined. Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
*If you’re used to sweeter desserts, you may need to add more date paste or jaggery, keeping in mind that jaggery is more intense in flavour.

Vegetarian Meatballs

I recently had some lovely friends over. One is vegetarian, so I thought it would be a good reason to explore some meat alternatives. Hence, the creation of a chickball. That doesn't have the same ring as meatball. Oh, well, whatever you want to call it, here's the recipe:
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 can navy beans, drained and rinsed (white kidney works too)
2 eggs
1/2 c. rolled oats
1/4 c. reduced-fat Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp rosemary
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 meat-free beef flavored bouillon cube, crumbled.
Pulse chickpeas in a food processor. You don't want to puree them, just get them to a crumbly stage. Add navy beans and blend for about a minute. Texture should be slightly lumpy, with no whole beans.
Transfer beans to a bowl and add the remaining ingredients. You can roll them into balls, but I just spoon the mixture into a greased muffin tin. Bake at 400F for 10-13 min, then broil on the middle rack for another 3 minutes.
I served the meat-less balls with salad, rice and home-made tomato sauce (same recipe as New Year's Eve dinner post)

Samoas?

Ever had a girl scout samoa?  

                                           I haven't. But I've heard they're an amazing cookie.

The traditional samoa has a shortbread base, a chewy coconut layer on top, then the whole thing is dipped in and drizzled with chocolate. Not exactly the best cookie health-wise. All the recipes I've found online call for butter, sugar and caramel. Caramel is made from butter and sugar, my two biggest no-no's. So, I present to you my made-over recipe: (which contains no butter or sugar ;)
1 c. toasted unsweetend coconut. (Please please please do this! just stir coconut in a heavy saucepan on med-high heat until it starts to brown. you need to watch it carefully so it doesn't burn)
1/4 c. unrefined coconut oil
1-2 T date paste (my palate has adjusted to lightly sweetened desserts. If you need more sweetness, give the dough a taste and adjust accordingly)
1/3 c. nondairy milk (you could use coconut, to go with the theme ;)
2 tsp ground flax
1 tsp vanilla
1/2-3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt.
Chocolate Sauce:
1 T chocolate chips
1 1/2 T coconut butter
2 tsp peanut butter
Combine coconut oil, date paste, milk, flax seeds and vanilla. Add 1/2 c. whole wheat flour, baking soda and salt to form a thick dough. (If the dough seems really wet, add the extra 1/4 c. of flour.) Mix in toasted coconut. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet. Flatten into disks, and use your finger to make a hole in the center on each cookie. Bake for 8 minutes @ 350F
Now you have two choices: clean up the kitchen or mix up the chocolate sauce.
For the chocolate sauce, microwave the three ingredients for 30 second intervals until melted.
Let the cookies cool before dipping the tops in chocolate.
Enjoy!

Red Velvet and Rocky Road Cookies

I made these for my family's Valentines Day supper. You'll never guess what's in 'em.

                          (also pictured: http://www.spoonfulofsugarfree.com/2011/03/02/7th-heaven-in-7-layers/)
'kay, I'll tell you, but you'll have to read the recipe
Red Velvet/Rocky Road Cookies
(beets, chickpeas, the usual)
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 c. nut butter
1/4 c. pumpkin (pureed butternut squash works too)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c. non-dairy milk or water
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 c. beet puree
1 T date syrup/honey
1/4 c. chocolate chips
Blend everything minus chocolate chips in a food processor/blender. Divide dough in half and mix in chocolate to one half. Add 1/4 c. cocoa powder, 1/4 c. chopped walnuts and a generous tablespoon of crumbled coconut butter to the other half. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes @ 400F.
*Over the course of a few months, I've found that I need less and less sweetener in my desserts, so give the dough a taste and adjust the sweetener accordingly.  
 

Chocolate (Zucchini) Muffins

I love muffins. Bran, plain, banana, carrot. But all muffins I bake have one thing in common.
Chocolate.

It might be a handful of chocolate chips added to the batter, or a drizzle of chocolate coconut butter. (upcoming post!)
Or it could be a muffin of pure chocolate goodness.
With zucchini.

1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. cocoa
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 spotted banana
1/4 c.-1/3 c. brown sugar (I used jaggery)
1/2 c. applesauce
1/4 c. soy milk (or almond or cow's as a last resort)
1 tsp vanilla
1c. shredded zucchini (equal to one whole zucchini)
Crumble topping
1 T breadcrumbs/crushed rice crispies
1/2 T jaggery (Or brown sugar)
date paste
carob chips or milk chocolate chips
For the topping: using a fork, mix together breadcrumbs and jaggery. Add small amounts of date paste until the mixture starts coming together, but still crumbly.
For the muffins:
Whisk dry ingredients. Here's a little trick I learned from Chocolate Covered Katie: If you microwave a banana for about 1 minute, it's a lot sweeter! It also saves you from having to mash it. Combine the banana, applesauce, milk and vanilla. Add to the dry. Don't mix yet! Add the zucchini, then stir until the dough comes together and flour is completely incorporated. Spoon into a greased muffin tin. Sprinkle the crumble topping and a couple carob chips on each muffin. Bake @ 350 F for 18-25 minutes.
Note #1. Be careful with the carob chips. They're a lot sweeter than semisweet, so I only use 4-5 chips per muffin.
Note #2. I've been trying out sugar alternatives lately. The current one I'm loving is jaggery. You can find it in most ethnic food stores in the Indian section. It's a concentrated cane juice made with minimal processing.
Since it's not pure sucrose, the sugar content per tsp is lower then white or brown sugar. The flavor is very strong, so a little goes a long way. It might not be for everyone, but I'm really enjoying experimenting with it!

New Year's Eve Dinner

                                                 Ahh, another supper dish.

My family had this awesome meal for New Year's
The best part?
I don't need to tell you :)
IT'S HEALTHY!
Chicken Parmesan and Zucchini Pasta
Sauce
1 can peeled whole plum tomatoes
2 stalks celery
1/2 c. cauliflower
2-3 cloves chopped garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
Garlic salt
Chicken
2 chicken breasts
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1/4 c. breadcrumbs (I used whole wheat)
1 lightly beaten egg
olive oil
1/4 c. part-skim ricotta cheese
Zucchini Pasta
2 small zucchini
For the sauce: Blend the tomatoes, celery and cauliflower in a magic bullet/blender until mostly smooth. Pour into a large sauce pan on high med-heat. Add garlic, basil and oregano. Shake garlic salt to taste. Bring the sauce to a boil, stirring occasionally.
For the "pasta" wash the zucchini and peel length-wise. You want long, thin strips. Stop when you reach the center on the zucchini (you'll know it's the center when the strips become grainy) Set aside.
Reduce the sauce to medium heat.
Chicken: Laying the breasts flat, slice in half horizontally. The end result should be four thin slices about a 1/4 inch thick, but still the size of your palm. By making the breasts thinner, you cut down of cooking time and amount of meat needed.
Fry the zucchini on med-high in 2 tsp of olive oil for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Mix together the breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese in a large, shallow bowl. Dip the chicken into the beaten egg, then breadcrumb mixture. Place onto a grill pan (it's a ridged baking pan used for oven grilling)
Broil for 3-5 minutes each side until done.
To serve, place 1 chicken breast with a serving of zucchini on the side. Add a Tbsp of ricotta to the side and spoon a generous amount of sauce over the dish.  

Baked Fudge

                                                                    Fudge.

                                                                 Is soooo good.

                                                 Even better when it's good for you.
This recipe requires no candy thermometers, no fancy ingredients. Just black beans.
You read that right.
Baked Black Bean Fudge (say that ten times fast!)
1 15 oz can black beans, drained
2 spotted bananas
1/3 c. honey
1/4 c. cocoa
1-2 tsp maple extract (you can sub vanilla)
1/4 c. rolled oats
1/4-1/2 c. unsweetened coconut
1/4 c. brown sugar (if needed)
Blender-ize the black beans, bananas and honey until smooth. Pour into a medium-sized bowl, add maple extract, rolled oats and coconut. Give it a taste-test :) If there's too much bean flavor, add a Tbsp of brown sugar. If you're still not happy with the taste, keep adding small amounts of brown sugar, but don't go over 1/4 cup. Pour the mixture into a 9x9 baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes @ 350F. Wait about 20 minutes before cutting, 'cause the fudge needs time to set.