Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

As you know, I'm allergic to eggs and vanilla, making cookie baking a challenge. Today we made eggless, Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies. Basically we replaced the vanilla with almond extract, and the eggs with a Xanthum Gum/water mix.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup baking sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon Xanthum Gum
1/2 cup water
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (Dark are great too and then you can get away with less of them)


Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

Make Egg Replacement:
Put 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 teaspoon of xanthum gum in a small Tupperware container and shake.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and almond extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add egg replacement, beating well. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

* May be stored in refrigerator for up to 1 week or in freezer for up to 8 weeks.


If you want the cookies to be thinner and crispier, heat the dough slightly before cooking i.e. leave the cookie tray on top of the stove for a minute after scooping out the cookie dough and before cooking

These are NOT vegan, they are made with butter however if you use a butter replacement and dark chocolate, you should be good to go for yummy vegan cookies.

These would also be good with nuts added, but we prefer the texture without, and the almond extract still gives you a delicious nutty flavor! I will take pictures and add them to the post tomorrow.

You may ask how does eating chocolate chip cookies help you be healthier? Well honestly if I didn't eat the eggless ones we make occasionally at home I would "cheat" and eat the kind others serve. But knowing that I can make my own and not get hives, I am not tempted to eat them elsewhere. I still have to limit how many I eat or I will regain that weight I've lost. Tonight we did over indulge. Once in a while, that is fine. Tomorrow we'll eat a nice big salad and balance things out a little ;)

Baking without eggs and yeast

Recently I have been feeling up to baking. Not every day mind you, but once or twice a week. I'm having another small surgery tomorrow so I suppose I won't be up to baking nor blogging for a while, so I thought today I would try futzing around with Milo's flaky vegan pizza crust and seeing how I did. I made a couple changes because I am not only allergic to eggs but intolerant of potato and potato starch is in most egg replacers you find out there. (or "egg product" itself, which just makes me laugh) so I have been getting creative with my baking recipes, and have found some I really enjoyed. A nice moist and fluffy Coffee Cake for one, YUM!

For Milo's Vegan Flake Pizza Crust recipe go here: http://keepingvegan.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/milos-vegan-flake-pizza-crust/

And here's the slightly altered recipe I made for whole wheat vegan pizza crust:
3 teaspoons of Xanthum Gum (or Guar Gum) 6 Tablespoons of water and 2 tablespoons pear sauce (place in airtight container and shake until fluffy/gummy this is my version of an egg replacer)
1/4 cup of oil
1/2 cup of soy, nut, or rice milk
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1/4 cup of rice flour
2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of oregano (optional)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)

1. In a small bowl mix together egg replacer mix, milk, and oil till it's the consistency of lightly whipped eggs.
2. In a larger bowl mix flours, baking powder, and salt (oregano and garlic too if wanted).
3. Add wet mix to dry mix. Knead for a bit then stretch out unto and oiled baking sheet.
4. Poke holes in crust with fork. Spread sauce or oil. Add toppings.
5. Bake at 450 for 12-15 minutes.

Now I haven't quite figured out how to make that first light and fluffy coffee cake I made, because unfortunately it was the first thing I baked after recovering a bit from my last surgery and I was so tired out after making it that I didn't feel up to eating it let alone recording the recipe. The next time I made it, I did the best I could from memory and the resulting recipe can be found in my sparkpeople recipe box here: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1523101 which is also delicious and is inspired by a delicious low fat blueberry coffee cake recipe I found. I made some changes. Used whole wheat flour and switched up the sweetener, but it's pretty good. I think next time I make it I may use 1/2 the guar gum and use pear sauce (blended canned pears and pear juice) instead of the agave nectar.

I also tweaked Chef Meg's Orange Oatmeal Cookies a bit and got this recipe for citrus whole wheat oatmeal cookies which was pretty good, and REALLY good with semi dark chocolate chips!

It's tricky cooking breads without yeast. It won't raise, so how do you get it light and fluffy? I'm finding the right combination of baking soda, baking powder, and guar or xanthum gum in the mix seems to help. And pear sauce adds moistness like applesauce or banana would when used as egg replacement. Since I have a food intolerance to apples and bananas those don't work. It's a matter of playing around with each recipe to get the mixtures just right tho. When I get each recipe perfected I'll say so here. And let me know if you find a better way of mixing things up than I do in the mean time!

Happy baking!