“C” is for Cookie

I tried a new cookie recipe this week. Well, it wasn’t a new recipe. Just new to me.

I had tasted these cookies at the bread class I went to back in April. They had them as dessert for the luncheon we had after we learned to make the breads. They were oh, so yummy.

My friend Deborah and I decided we just had to make them for our families. Fortunately, they gave us the recipe in our goodie bags, so the plan was made.

And then I forgot about them.

Until this week when Deborah stopped by for a quick visit this week and she mentioned them.

And then I couldn’t stop thinking about them!

So, I decided to whip up a batch, hoping I had the ingredients on hand. I had most of them, which resulted in a few substitutions and a very yummy finished product.

Here’s the result. A chewy, slightly sweet, but not overly sweet cookie. It was a huge hit with the kids and the neighbors.

One little thing, though. These are made without sugar. Or, rather, without “traditional” sugar. They are made using sucanat.

Sucanat is a sweetener made from the juice of sugar cane. First the juice is extracted and then the moisture is evaporated, leaving crystals which are sucralose. It has a rich, sweet, molasses taste and is not as sweet as refined white sugar (which is what most of us use). I also used Sucanat with honey. This is the same, except that a small amount of honey is added before the evaporation process which yields a milder, sweeter crystal.

Both of these work well in substituting for brown sugar (Sucanat) and white sugar (Sucanat with honey) And, if you don’t have Sucanat at home, you can substitute white or brown sugar 1:1 without issue.

So, give it a try if you have a hankerin’ for a cookie one day and want something a little bit different.

I think you’ll be glad you did.

Summertime Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sucanat with honey (or white sugar)
1 cup sucanat (or light brown sugar)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup Heath toffee bits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter and sugars until creamy.
Add eggs & vanilla; mix well.
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder & salt. Add to butter mixture and mix well.
Stir in the oats, chips and bits.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
These will be chewy-gooey when they first come out of the oven, so let them sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before you transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling – if you don’t they will fall apart on your spatula.
Store in a tightly covered container (if they last that long)

Note: the original recipe called for 1/2 cup of shredded coconut and 1/2 cup of chopped nuts. No one in my house likes coconut (except me) and the kids don’t care for nuts, so I substituted the white chocolate & toffee bits for those ingredients.