Virtual Cookie Swap
When Rachel mentioned a Virtual Cookie Swap, I volunteered immediately. Then I started getting a little nervous. I mean, I love eating. Obviously. But I’m still living with my parents…hence, I don’t cook. Ever! It’s not that I’m one of those people who can’t boil water without messing it up. It’s just that I don’t ever have a need to cook, so I don’t. And there are plenty of amazing, ridiculously talented cooks, bakers, etc in the blog world that I am certain could out-bake me any day.
But then I decided to end my pity party and turn to one of those fabulous baking bloggers to help me decide what to bake! I knew I wanted to use two items I had acquired in the past couple of months, but hadn’t gotten a chance to use yet.
I got the above dark chocolate squares from my local Whole Foods – for FREE! They posted on their Facebook page that the first “X” number of people to like the status could come in that weekend and pick up a free bag of candy that didn’t get sold for Halloween. Waste not! I was all over that.
I also wanted to utilize the buckwheat groats that Tara got me for November’s foodie pen pal exchange. So, I turned to my old friend Google, and that’s how I found Luisa of The Wednesday Chef and her chocolate chip cookies with buckwheat groats. Please visit her website for this recipe – it is her property! The only change I made was using dark chocolate instead of semisweet, and I did not use almond extract (because I couldn’t find it at the store).
First, I mixed my brown sugar, butter (the real stuff!), eggs, and vanilla extract in a big bowl.
Secondly, I mixed my salt, baking soda, buckwheat groats, and whole wheat flour into the wet ingredients.
This took a bit of arm strength – and with a rubbery bendy spoon too! Oops.
Third, I broke a bunch of the dark chocolate squares into chunks by hand. Is it weird that it was a bit fun? Kinda therapeutic!
Fourth, I lined the cookies up on some special silver cookie baking trays we have. They honestly make a big difference whenever my mom makes cookies on those pans instead of regular ones!
Here’s where another recipe difference comes in – instead of baking the cookies for 6 minutes, flipping the pan, and then cooking for another 6 minutes, I did 5 minutes. Every oven is different!
And voila! I removed them from the trays fairly soon after taking them out of the oven – otherwise the trays continue to cook the cookies, and they get too hard.
My family and I did some taste testing of course. Our household approves – these taste indulgent, despite the healthy whole wheat flour and buckwheat used in the recipe. Maybe it was that real butter and Splenda-less brown sugar? 😉
Thanks to Rachel for putting on such a fun virtual blogger event, and to Luisa for an inspired recipe!
What’s your favorite “healthified” cookie type?
