Choc Chunk Cookies

The store was out of cucciolo mio's favourite 'fresh' cookies.
Last night he was craving a sweet hit, so I offered to make something his style, from scratch.
When I mentioned Betty Crocker white-chocolate-chunk-macadamia-cookies, he said yes please.


I got the cookbook as a wedding gift from his great-aunt, and while I have a soft spot for Betty, she's just not my style. But last night, I sought her out.
I followed the recipe faithfully- with organic butter and vegetarian fed, free range eggs..
But I drew the line with the sugar, and reduced the called for amount, so there was an equal flour sugar ratio (I mean comeon', more sugar than flour!!?)

As they were baking I thought I would probably like a rice milk dunking buddy too-
So I made dark-chocolate-chunk-cookies, based on the recipe from 'Sinfully Vegan'.
They weren't amazing, but they were SO quick & easy.


Sadly & peculiarly, cucciolo mio only had one cookie.. saying they were ok, but nothing great..


Me: You mean not sweet enough?
Cm: I don't know.. just bland
Me: Okay, but if they had more sweetness they'd be better?
Cm: I don't know.. probably.. they just taste flour-y..bland


Recipe makes about 1 dozen
Ingredients:
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup maple syrup (overflowing cup!)
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
2/3 cup dark choc chips
2 1/2 cups spelt flour


Method:
1.Pre-heat oven to 180C(350F).
2.Place canola oil, maple syrup, vanilla essence and choc chips in a mixing bowl, and stir to combine well.
3.Slowly add the flour, and mix well.
4.Drop spoonfuls of mixture, on a lined baking tray, and press to flatten.
5.Bake for about 10 minutes, or until just browned on their bottoms.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Two posts in one day!? ack

Due to a bloody moth invasion, my pantry is very bare, still I had the required ingredients for oatmeal raisin's.
They are also my husbands favourites.. and it is sort of his birthday week.

I altered the recipe from "The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook"
When I got to measuring out the flour, I realised my organic wholemeal flour had been infested- So I nixed that and decided to use 1/2 rice flour instead.
I've never used it before- but I guessed it would be more nutritous than white flour.
Am I being delusional?

If you want a real gooey-chewy cookie- a lot of people like their oatmeal raisin's that way:
Add more 'fat', either in applesauce or canola oil.

Edit 3/11/07: I think I was just so starved for a vegan cookie, any vegan cookie, that these tasted good. Don't get me wrong, they weren't terrible.. but ordinarily they wouldn't have hit my cookie spot. Definitely more fat needed!! And rice flour was a bad idea!

Recipe (I only made a 1/2 batch)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup soymilk
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups rice flour (or like I wanted- wholemeal flour)
1 1/4 cups white flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 pinch of salt
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins (pre-soaked in orange juice or hot water)

Method:
1.Cream apple sauce and oil together. Cream in sugar.

2.Add soymilk and vanilla. Beat until smooth.

3.Beat in flour, baking powder and salt.

4.With a spoon, stir in oats and finally the raisins, until well combined.

5.Bake at 180C/350F oven, for about 10 minutes, or until undersides just start to brown.