Eat More Cookies

Men like my chocolate chip cookies.  

Women like them too, but it seems more in the realm of men to lean towards me, with a cookie between a thumb and forefinger, and declare, "This is my 5th cookie!". . . or 7th or 8th, depending on the man.  (Cyclists seem to eat the most)  I can't speak for all women, but it is rare for me to publicly announce, in quantifiable terms, my over-indulgence.  So it is the testicular version of the species that I most often notice enjoying my cookies.  

Be free from restraint when eating my (Trilety's Old School) chocolate chip cookie, because ingredient substitutions resulted in a tasty, irresistible cookie that is cholesterol-free, dairy/egg free, and lower in saturated fat.  Here are the highlights of the savings reaped by using alternative ingredients:

• Flour:   Spelt flour, a whole grain relative of wheat with more protein than wheat flour and a tougher husk, is an alternative to white flour.  Similar in caloric content to enriched white flour, spelt flour has nearly double the amount of protein and fiber.  Hold a palm-full of spelt flour in your hand and a passing geologist will think you have sloughed Loess soil from a hillside in China or Iowa.  

• Fat:  Canola oil is an alternative to butter.  This plant oil is a good source of Vitamin E, contains "essential" (meaning those oils/acids necessary for good health but not produced by the body) fatty acids/oils, and has no cholesterol.  One cup of canola oil has 16g of saturated fat compared to 116g of saturated fat in every cup of butter.  Unlike olive oil, canola is not pungent and can be used as a blank canvas for any cookie - dip a finger in the canola. 

• Binder:  Flax seeds, ground to a meal and not a paste, can be used instead of eggs.  Being produced by animals, eggs are also a vehicle of cholesterol, whereas flax seed is plant based and delivers fewer calories and fat, and no cholesterol.  Add a little water to the flax meal and you have a goopy, gluey substance that is a delight for kids in the kitchen.  

• Sweetener:   An alternative to refined granulated or refined brown sugar is Grade B maple syrup.  I love the idea of a tree's saliva sweetening a cookie.  Less refined than white sugar, maple syrup retains its minerals and antioxidants.  Grade B maple syrup, with 321mg of calcium per cup, exceeds the 276mg of calcium in a cup of whole milk. . . so maybe maple syrup isn't the saliva of sweet bark, but the milk of knotty wood.  

If you feel like this after eating 8 traditional chocolate chip cookies 

Miles

then eat 8 of Two Birds Bakery's Old School Chocolate Chip cookies and feel like this

Matilda

Check back next week when Meg will give all the reasons to eat her cakey, chewy chocolate chip cookie made with silky white flour, butter, and eggs.  As you bring one of these tender gems to your lips, the scent of butter curls into your nose before reaching a now-wet mouth.  Either way, eat a cookie!

~ Trilety