Saturday, September 24, 2011

#7 Chocolate Chip Buckwheat Cookies

Developed on October 4, 2009

Wet ingredients:

•2 sticks softened Smart Balance Butter
•1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar packed firmly
•1/4 Cup Turbinado Sugar
•2 Tablespoon Vanilla
•2 large eggs
Combine the sugars, butter, vanilla, eggs, and milk in a large mixer and beat until smooth & creamy. Beat on medium speed. Scrape sides of the bowl & beaters.

Dry ingredients:
Sift together
•1 Cup Buckwheat Flour from Arrowhead Mills
•1/4 Cup 100% Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour from Bob's Red Mill
•1/4 Cup Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour from Bob's Red Mill
•1/2 teaspoon sea salt
•1 teaspoon baking soda

Sift together and add 1/4 cup flour mixture at a time to the butter and sugar mixture. Mix well after each addition and scrape the bowl and beaters after each addition.

•Add 12 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips or Hershey's Dark Chocolate Chips. I like the Hershey's Dark Chocolate Chips the best. They melt better, have a richer flavor and are healthier for you. If you want to be healthier you might use a chocolate that has 60% or more cocoa. If you use a dark chocolate baking bar you need to break the bar into small pieces before adding it to the mixture.

•Add 2/3 Cup Old Fashioned Oatmeal
•Add 1/2 Cup chopped pecans or walnuts.
Mix well. Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper. Spoon cookie mix on parchment paper about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake at 350° for about 9 minutes.

My notes on the recipe card state: (This recipe had a good flavor but the cookies were too soggy. I need to cook longer or use less butter or more flour. Buckwheat flour.)

While typing this recipe for this blog I think the problem of sogginess was caused by the use of the Smart Balance Stick Butter. It may have too much moisture in it. I'm not sure because it has been nearly two years since I worked on this recipe. If I were to change something on this recipe I would start with a little less Smart Balance. Possibly 1 2/3 sticks of Smart Balance. Then if it were still too soggy I would use only 1 teaspoon Vanilla. I see that I used 2 Tablespoons Vanilla when I made the recipe and that's too much moisture.

I want to try this recipe again and change those two things. Just making small changes to a recipe can be the start of a whole new recipe and a totally different flavor and texture.

Hope you try one of these recipes and even make your own changes just to see what happens. It could be the start of something really good.