Cookies!!!

MIA OVER! Hopefully. Today, because things weren't going my way, I decided to make cookies. Mistake (so it seems, haven't tried a cookie yet). Nevertheless, I'm here to let you know about the endeavor. The original recipe I nabbed from allrecipes.com and can be found here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/outrageous-chocolate-chip-cookies/detail.aspx. This is how I made the recipe.


1/2 cup butter
1/21/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup [natural, low sodium] peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg 1 tbs. ground flax seed, 3 tbs. water
1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips


Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the peanut butter, vanilla and egg until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter just until moistened. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Drop by tablespoonfuls on to lightly greased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 22 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges start to brown. Cool on cookie sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Now, my favorite thing to do when "cleaning up" recipes, as I noted above with strike-outs, is to forget how much heavier whole wheat flour is than white. When I was preparing the cookies to go on the cookie sheet, I could tell they were WAY too dry and as I sit here eating them they definitely are not as moist as they should be. I cut the batch in half, cooking some and freezing the rest. When I thaw the rest, one day, I will most likely add apple sauce to give some moisture back. Indeed, even though I cut the amount of white sugar, I feel the amount of both sugars could have been cut and replaced with applesauce. Think about it, there is definitely sugar in the peanut butter AND semi-sweet chocolate chips. To add ANOTHER 2/3 cup of sugar seems like a whopper. Of course, these are things I only think of in retrospect. On a random note, once I finish using this bag of chocolate chips, I am intending on switching to carob chips. I, generally, cannot tell the difference.

Overall, I give the recipe 3 stars out of 5. Mainly for my mistakes. [Though we all know this girl is still going to eat ALL the cookies]. I do think this is an excellent recipe to start with if you are interested in attempting to clean up recipes or modify according to your dietary preferences. Salud!