In the kitchen with Cail.....

[Menolly]

On a related note, I was called "the most confident heterosexual man in the world" by a woman at work for having the fortitude to bring baked goods that I'd made into a lumberyard.

I'm guessing she has never seen you in your kilt? Combine the two and she would have no doubt of the truth of her words.

Magic ingredient, Av...?

:::thinking I have got to get Av to ship me a dozen chocolate chip cookies that will be off limits to Beorn...:::

Well, you probably figured out what it was then.

:::thinking back to my very first initial post in the Stephen King forum (at least, I think it was my first post there. Within the first five, anyway):::

:::ah...memories:::

[Avatar]

Haha, yes I remember it well. It was May...



--A

[Avatar]

I remember most things.

(It wasn't really May...that was an allusion to Gigi...you were supposed to come back with "...it was June." )



--A

[Menolly]

:::sorry, I just deleted my post as I felt it sounded too self centered before I realized you posted:::

Oh, duh...

"Ah yes, I remember it well..."

But, you did disorient me, as it looks like I posted way back in 2005 just a couple of months after first joining the Watch. So it took me two years from then to begin my DT journey...

[DukkhaWaynhim]

If the WW flour makes the cookies too tough or mealy/gritty, use WW Pastry Flour instead -- it's the same whole wheat, but it's ground finer. My wife finds it at bakery stores and healthfood stores.

Another way to increase nutrition without fundamentally hosing the cookie is to replace X tablespoons of white flour with Organic Ground Whole Soybean Powder. This adds protein to an otherwise nutritionally unbalanced food. Depending on how big your X is, it shouldn't muck too much with the cc cookie flavor. We also add fiber powder, but that's because we enjoy cookies regularly (har-dee-har-har).

All experiments with Splenda have so far resulted in cakey, crumbly piles of bland cookie-chaff. It's a waste of chocolate...

For the chips, we like special stuff. You have to order them over the internet (from Menolly's neck of the woods, BTW), but we found sugar-free Belgian mini chocolate chips. They are made with sugar alcohol, so they don't factor into net carbs, but they still have a pretty good flavor. [the average chocolate chip is mostly sugar.]

dw

[Menolly]

For the chips, we like special stuff. You have to order them over the internet (from Menolly's neck of the woods, BTW), but we found sugar-free Belgian mini chocolate chips. They are made with sugar alcohol, so they don't factor into net carbs, but they still have a pretty good flavor. [the average chocolate chip is mostly sugar.]

Oh please, do tell!!!

The only consumable product I know of locally that's sold nationwide is Micanopy Gold Hot Sauce. I would love to know of another!

[DukkhaWaynhim]

Well, perhaps I misspoke. The place is out of Miami. You are in Gainesville? I hadn't noticed how far Miami is away from the rest of the world...


dw

[Menolly]

Yep...

Gator Town = Gainesville

However, we make the drive down to FIL's in Fort Lauderdale at least once a year. There used to be a low carb specialty store in Plantation, which is the last area we lived prior to coming north. What is the product called? I can probably find it at that store, if it still exits.

[DukkhaWaynhim]

The item we bought is :SUGAR FREE SEMI SWEET MINI CHOCOLATE CHIPS

The link to the Miami company site is in my previous post.

dw

[Menolly]

Cool, thanks dw!

[Avatar]

Bloody nutritionists... (Yes, not quite, but you know what I mean. )

--A

[Cail]

Finally did a second batch.

Went with 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar, 1/2 cup of light brown sugar, and I added some tiny little Reese's cups along with the chips.

I think Cailette was a little light on the flour, but other than that, I think I'm making progress. The problem with the Reese's cups is that they're milk chocolate, which adds to the sweetness.

[Cameraman Jenn]

What Cail? You want to mail us samples? I think that's a great idea!

[bloodguard bob]

The problem with the Reese's cups is that they're milk chocolate, which adds to the sweetness.

One could always use semi-sweet chocolate chips and top the cookies with, say, three Rees's Mini's half way through baking.

[Cail]

I used semi-sweet chips along with the Reese's Minis. I didn't follow my own advice and baked the first batch 2 hours after I mixed everything up. The second batch after staying in the fridge overnight was much better.

[Prebe]

On a related note, I was called "the most confident heterosexual man in the world" by a woman at work for having the fortitude to bring baked goods that I'd made into a lumberyard.

About the applesauce-butter replacement, did you actually do that? And didn't the cookies get to hard?

(Good thread Cail, nice to see you in the galley)

[Wyldewode]

Yeah, Cail. . . awesome thread! And you're right. . . when using 100% real butter you have to chill to prevent too much spreading.

As far as what I would do with the WW flour, you would probably be best to go with the pastry flour as DW suggested. The WW pastry flour has less gluten than regular (or bread) flour. You need some gluten for cookies, but not a ton, and too much will result in bricks.

[Cail]

I was too chicken to change the flour and add the applesauce this last batch. Next one I'll give it a whirl.

[Prebe]

I was too chicken to change the flour and add the applesauce this last batch. Next one I'll give it a whirl.

I have a hunch, that with the somewhat luxurious fat/starch ratio in the original recipe, you just might pull it off. It won't be the same cookies, but I think they will be quite nice. Perhaps tweaking(Spelling?) the amount of baking powder/raising agent by +30% might work wonders.

But of course, scientifically, you'd have to vary one factor at the time

[matrixman]

Not sure why I came to this thread...but now that I've read it, I'm finding Cail's quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie to be oddly compelling.

Don't mind me, I'm just a clueless observer.