We love chocolate chip cookies--my mom's and Matt's grandma's are our particular favorites! For some reason we couldn't perfect either of these recipes, so we decided to look around for our own. In a mission to find lower fat recipes (knowing we can never eat just one cookie), we discovered that A) it is not recommended to use apple sauce in cookies to replace the fat, and B) you can simply half the butter in a given recipe without much harm. Over time, we tried both. Subbing half the fat with applesauce wasn't too bad, but it wasn't the texture we were looking for. Subtracting half the butter actually worked perfectly!! The cookies were crispy on the outside and still soft in the middle (without being cakey).
Here's the recipe we used (adapted from the Ghiradelli chocolate chip bag). I think the even amount of brown and white sugar makes these cookies particularly tasty--almost a bit like toffee!
Lower-fat Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (we use more than half whole wheat flour)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened (this is already halved; we used a 50/50 smart balance blend stick)
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs (we used one whole egg and one egg white)
2 cups semi-sweet (or dark) chocolate chips (we used a little less than 2 cups)
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
~Heat oven to 375.
~Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside.
~In large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar at medium speed until creamy (if you halve the butter, this will be less creamy and more sandy).
~Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mix on low speed until incorporated (you don't need a mixer if you prefer using a spoon like my mom taught me to do).
~Gradually mix dry ingredients into creamy mixture.
~Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. This is a little more difficult with less butter, so be patient!
~Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet. You will find the dough doesn't stick together quite as well if you halved the butter, so you may have to pinch/round the dough together.
~Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
We won't claim these are "healthy," but if you try the 50/50 Smart Balance butter sticks, halve the butter, and use one egg white, they are definitely lower in fat than your traditional chocolate chip cookie. And we promise they are equally delicious. They have become our home recipe for when we can't get mom's and Grandma Betty's!
Enjoy!
