I know I said I was only going to post on Sundays and Wednesdays, but I had “one of those days,” and needed a little baking therapy. So far this week I’ve made brownies, chocolate chip banana bread, and pumpkin muffins, so I decided to make it simple and comforting and just make your plain ol’ chocolate chip cookies. Mostly because I had leftover chocolate chips laying around. 

Normally when we make cookies we just follow the Nestle Tollhouse recipe that comes printed on the bag when you buy the chocolate chips. However, that recipe has recently kinda sucked a big one for us and I decided to do some research on the subject. Apparently recipes for chocolate chip cookies are pretty uniform across the board, so I did some tweaking and refining and, not to toot my own horn, think I came up with a pretty good end product. 

Heart Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies!

What you’ll need:

• 1 cup coconut oil or butter (melted)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour*
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon Sprite or Sierra Mist (if you don’t have either, you can use water… will explain more thoroughly below.)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup Egg Beaters
• Chocolate chips

Directions for SUCCESS!

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt your coconut oil (or butter) in a medium sized microwaveable container. 
3. Measure out flour and salt into a separate bowl and set aside.
4. Once coconut oil is melted, pour in white sugar, then add the brown sugar and mix until smooth.
5. Add Egg Beaters slowly, distributing evenly and mixing until smooth, then add vanilla extract and continue to stir.
6. At this point, add your Sprite to your sugar mixture, and your baking soda to the flour/salt mixture you set aside. If you don’t have Sprite, mix baking soda and 1 tablespoon of water together until it’s mostly dissolved, then add it to your sugar mixture. The carbonation in the Sprite helps make the cookies a little more “airy” on the inside.
7. Pour your mixture into the bowl with the flour, salt, and baking soda. 
8. Add your desired amount of chocolate chip cookies and mix. I’m not going to tell you how many to use, because it will always be up for debate. I would eat the whole bag before I start baking if I didn’t need them.
9. Place spoonfuls of dough onto a LIGHTLY greased baking pan and place in your preheated oven.
10. Allow to bake for 10-12 minutes or until a soft brown.

Allow to cool, then ENJOY! 

*This recipe is NOT gluten free. However, if you would like to make it gluten free, the all-purpose flour can easily be replaced with rice or coconut flour!

Demeter was most commonly known as the Goddess of the harvest, but in her down time she also protected the fertility of the earth, presided over the sanctity of marriage, and watched over the cycle of life and death. She seems like a pretty beautiful representation of what this blog is about… cooking, my family, and how those things affect our lives.

To fill you in on some of the gory details, my husband has Crohn’s disease, I had a major surgery to cure a digestive disorder of my own, and the more I learn about food the more shocked I am to find out how detrimental some things are to our bodies. 

I’m currently taking a Physiology class that is required for entrance into my local community college’s nursing program, but my original intention for taking this class is backfiring and making me want to pursue something entirely different. So while I promise to post some amazing and easy recipes, tips, tricks, and other fun little nuggets I learn, I’m also hoping I’ll be able to work out all the tumultuous thoughts running through my head that make me want to open a bakery.

So, on to what you really care about!
The first recipe is…..
Gluten Free/Heart Healthy chocolate chip brownies!
(The original inspiration is from the Gluten Free Goddess, but refined for my own personal tastes.)

What you’ll need:

• 4 to 5 ounces of unsweetened baking chocolate (Ghirardelli is my personal favorite!)
• 3/4 cup coconut oil* (found in the organic section of your grocery store.)
• 1 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 light brown sugar
• 1 cup Egg Beaters* (will need to be distributed 1/4 cup at a time.)
• 1 cup gluten-free pancake mix (found in the gluten-free section of your local grocery store.)
• Chocolate chips (I like the mini ones.)
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions for SUCCESS!

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Lightly oil baking pan. Glass works best, but work with what you have. The coconut oil works great to grease the pan with, as well!
3. Melt baking chocolate and coconut oil together in a microwaveable bowl. Should take about 1 minute. Stir together until well mixed.
4. Mix Gluten free pancake mix, baking soda, and sea salt together in a separate bowl. 
5. Remove coconut oil/chocolate mixture from microwave. Slowly add brown sugar and mix. Once mixed, slowly add white sugar and mix. 
6. Place mixture back in microwave for 1 minute increments or until a thick, grainy, but still liquid consistency.
7. Pour mixture into bowl with dry ingredients, and beat slowly. Add 1/4 cup of egg beaters one at a time while blending.
8. Lastly, add vanilla extract and beat until all ingredients are fully blended and batter in smooth.
9. Pour batter into pan and smooth out. Once even, sprinkle chocolate chips over the top and press in slightly. 
10. Place in center of oven. Allow to bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean!
11. Once removed from oven, allow to cool for 10-15 minutes. For an extra bit of flair, sprinkle the top with powdered sugar.

ALL DONE! Enjoy!!!

I hope you like it. If you try it let me know what you thought or any variations you thought worked well so I can test them out for future improvements!

Also, if there’s anything you’d like me to attempt, I’m more then open for suggestions and opinions!

Love,
Jana

*Egg beaters are a fantastic alternative to using normal eggs in cooking. They can actually help lower your cholesterol! And coconut oil is my new favorite trick. Substituted for butter, it’s the only substitute that keeps it’s original chemical make-up when heated, unlike margarine, which pretty much just breaks down into unidentifiable goo.