The Best Cookie EVER!

I’m in love! This is what my daughter said after tasting one of these cookies for the first time. How could she not be in love with the Chewy Gooey Chocolate Goodness you get from the rich cocoa powder and the chunks of non-dairy chocolate with every bite. These are so good that I cannot stop eating them. Which is very bad, very, very bad!!

I found this recipe by Joanne and Adam Gallagher on the Inspired Taste blog. Here is the link is you would like to take at look at their recipe http://www.inspiredtaste.net/19084/chewy-double-chocolate-cookies-recipe/. 

I added some whole wheat flour and changed the ingredients so that it has no dairy or eggs in it. Give it a try!

Ne eggs, No dairy Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies

Serves: 40

Ingredients

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons Non-dairy margarine at room temperature (2 1/4 sticks)

1 cup sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

2 Egg Replacer (3tsp Egg Replacer + 4T luke warm water)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cups  unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 ounces non-dairy chocolate chunks (about 2 1/2 cups)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In the mixer, add butter and sugars to a large bowl and beat until creamy, light and fluffy. Add Egg Replacer or other egg substitute, then add the vanilla extract and mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine the flours, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and the salt with a whisk. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. The cookie batter will become very thick. Mix well.

Using a large knife to chop the chocolate into small chunks. We used Mega Chunks from Enjoy Life which taste great and are easy to chop. 

Add the chocolate to the batter then use a spoon or spatula to gently stir in the chocolate. Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoons onto baking sheets (or use a medium cookie scoop). Bake 9 to 12 minutes or until the cookies have puffed a little and the tops are dry. 

Cool on baking sheets then transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely. These are ridiculously good!!!

Vive la France! Muffins

This is a special time for me because Katie is finally getting to the age where she actually wants to watch my kind of movies. I'm talking old movies, period films and musicals, especially musicals! For the last 15 years I've had to watch either kids movies or sports. Lots and lots of sports. 

One time, I was so desperate to watch South Pacific that I told my 8 year old son that it was a war movie. Every half hour he would turn to me and say "When are they going to stop singing?" The next half hour he would ask "Where is the fighting?" Each time I would pull him closer to me and whisper in his ear, "Soon, real soon, just be patient." Two and a half hours of singing and an intermission, the war finally started. My son's eyes lit up as he watched the fight between the U.S. navy and the Japanese pilots. Half an hour later at it was all over. "Hey Mom, you jipped me, that was not a war movie!" 

Since then, this old movie viewing has been few and far between. One day I convinced Katie to watch the Sound of Music and Easter Parade one long, rainy weekend. I think she was feeling sorry for me but she watched them anyways and loved them. So I figure I better get my fix now before she gets in high school and she will chose hangin' with her friends instead of hangin' with Mom.

So when Les Misérables came out on video, I rented it right away and quickly planned a girls night “in” for Mom and daughter. The boys were sent down to the basement to watch hockey, basketball, soccer or wrestling (they don't care as long as they get their sports fix). Katie loved the movie so much that she memorized most of the songs and has been singing them over and over again.

In honor of the French Revolution, Jean Valjean, Fontine and Cosette here is a recipe for my Yummy French Breakfast Muffins.

Vive la France Breakfast Muffins

Muffins:

2 cups flour

2/3 cup sugar

2 ½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 egg substitute (Egg Replacer)

1 cup plus 2 T non-dairy milk (soy, rice)

6 T non-dairy margarine, melted and slighlty cooled (Earth Balance or Fleishmann’s Unsalted)

Cinnamon-Sugar Topping:

½ cup sugar

½ tsp. cinnamon

2 T non-dairy margarine, melted and slightly cooled (Earth Balance or Fleishmann’s Unsalted)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease the bottom of a regular sized muffin pan. Makes 12 muffins.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon together and set aside. In another bowl, place the egg replacer, non-dairy milk, melted butter and vanilla together. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid mixture. Mix until well blended then spoon into the muffin cups, fill each about two-thirds full.

Bake muffins for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. While the muffins are cooling, prepare the topping. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. In another bowl, melt the butter. Working one muffin at a time, quickly dip the tops of the muffins in the melted butter and then roll them in the cinnamon sugar mixture.  Roll again if you still need more topping.

These are the best when served warm!!

Spring is finally here!

This incredible feeling of joy hit me this week as I was walking my dog around the neighborhood. At first I thought it was from the sounds of the kids playing playing in the park as I walked by or the hollering of the adults at the nearby baseball game.

No that was not it. I soon realized that I was not walking at my usual fast pace. Instead, I was stopping to inhale the sweet scent of the Lilac bushes as I passed by and taking pictures of the tulips and crab blossoms in our neighborhood. I must have Spring Fever!

Lots of spring snow and heavy flooding must be good for the flowers and the trees because my crab apple blossoms have never looked like this!

Forget all the other seasons, I'll stick with Spring! Get out and enjoy your day!