Maggie’s Original Wholesome Chocolate Chip Cookies

When you publish recipes on the internet sometimes they grow wings and fly around to places you (I) never expected.

In 2001, back when we still ate wheat, but after I was diagnosed with PCOS, and trying to increase my use of whole wheat flour, I wanted a chocolate chip cookie that my kids would love but that would be cheap enough and healthy enough that I could eat them too. I worked for a couple of months on this recipe, making it 7 times before I got it right.

I had read about replacing the fat in baking recipes with yogurt, which I used to make every week because it was nutritious and the kids ate it without complaint. So I tried using yogurt for half of the fat in my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and was really surprised when it worked. Later I reduced the sugar by about 1/3 and was amazed that the cookies still tasted so good. For many years, this was the chocolate chip cookie I used as our mainstay.

While surfing the web recently, I found my recipe in a lot of government publications and was quite flattered that this particular recipe had grown wings to fly so far. And also that nutritionists specializing in economical, healthy food found my recipe acceptable to their standards.

In my original recipe, I included an egg. But the way I wrote the method didn’t include adding the egg to the batter. I accidentally left that part out, which is why I believe some of the versions of this recipe include an egg, and others do not. That was a mistake on my part. These cookies really do turn out best if you add an egg to the batter to keep everything behaving properly in the oven.

You can find copies of this recipe all over the web now days, most notably HERE (page 10). Their recipe doesn’t turn out because they left out the egg which was included in my original recipe.

I have yet to make this recipe with GLAD flour and Tofu-yogurt, but I suspect it will turn out fine.

Wholesome Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup margarine or butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt
• 1 medium egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cup whole wheat flour, or half white and half wheat
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 to 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (mini chips are good too)

Directions

First melt the margarine or butter.  Some folks do this in the microwave, but I prefer do it in a small pan over low heat on the stove.  In a large bowl combine the margarine or butter, brown sugar and yogurt (and egg).  Add the vanilla and mix everything very well with a wire whisk.  Stir in the flour, baking soda and salt.  Add the chocolate chips and stir to distribute them evenly.

Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons onto a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray.  Dip the bottom of a flat cup into water and then use it to press the cookies flat.  You have to do this because the cookies don’t have enough fat to spread the way cookies normally do. Bake at 350°: 10 minutes for soft cookies or 15 minutes for crisp cookies.  Cool slightly before removing from the cookie sheets.  Makes about 3 dozen.

Use 1-tablespoon of dough for each cookie.  They are very good; my boys adore them, even though they’re healthy.

Makes 36 cookies.

Per Serving: 87 Calories; 4g Fat (41.1% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 12g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 6mg Cholesterol; 69mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.