A journey with cookies

I love chocolate chip cookies. Since our first allergic was diagnosed, I rarely indulge in making them. It means making two batches, one from what was a short list of  3A approved cookies, and the chocolate chip cookies. So time consuming! To simplify things, I've been testing ways to make our favorite cookie recipes safe for all of us to enjoy. 

The main obstacle ~ butter/shortening. Folks use applesauce for healthier cookies, and oil can substitute butter. I figured those would be the best solution. But each came with their own issues.  

Too much oil make the cookies greasy. Too much apple sauce make the cookies poofy.  I want to stay true to the original cookie, if possible. 

With some testing, I found the right ratio of oil & applesauce to avoid the greasy problem. If a recipe calls for 1 cup of butter, I will use 1/4 cup oil and 1/4 cup apple sauce. 

However, the cookies were still a little too poofy and cakey. Then I thought: What if I drain it? You know, eliminate as much extra moisture as possible.

First, I dumped a bunch of apple sauce in a tea towel and squeezed the juice out. Then used the remaining sauce. It worked!!! But, I felt like I was losing too much of the apple solids in the squeezing process. 

Now, I use a fine mesh strainer to drain the apple sauce. You can also use a tea towel lined colander over a large bowl. I let it drain while I gather all the ingredients and combine the flour mixture. 

That was my "aha moment" in baking cookies for my kids with allergies! 

P.S. Jake pointed out that we have palm kernel shortening.  Uh . . . that works too :) 

I used this technique in these recipes:

Cowboy Cookies

Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

Lemon Cookies

Lemon Zucchini Cookies

Cranberry Pistachio Cookies

Chili for a Crowd

I have posted chili recipes before, but they were for small batches to feed a single family. If you are cooking for a crowd, you need something that scales better! The recipe below can be doubled, tripled, etc. as necessary for large groups of people.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 2 cans pinto or red beans (or one of each)
• 1 large jar pace picante sauce
• Garlic Salt
• Chili Powder, Cumin, Oregano, Black Pepper

Directions

Brown Ground Beef with ½ teaspoon garlic salt. Add beans and picante sauce. Add 1 teaspoon chili powder and ½ teaspoon each of cumin, oregano, and black pepper.

Paprika-Spiced Cauliflower Soup

I had a bunch of veggies that needed to be used so I looked for a recipe to combine them all and I found this, and made some alterations.

Dumplings

1/3 cup flour
½ tsp. kosher salt
2 tbsp. oil
1 egg

Soup
4 tbsp. oil
1 ½ tbsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
6 cups chicken broth
1 small head cauliflower, large stem removed, cut into florets
1 medium carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 celery stalk
squash
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a food processor, blend together flour, salt, and 2 tbsp. oil. Add egg and blend until dough forms; refrigerate until ready to use.

Heat remaining oil in a 6-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat; add onion, carrot, celery, paprika, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add vegetable stock and  cauliflower. Cook for 5 minutes. Add squash, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.

Using a ½-tsp. measuring spoon, portion out and drop all dumpling dough into simmering soup; cook, stirring occasionally, until dumplings are cooked through, about 3 minutes.

To serve, ladle soup and dumplings into 6 serving bowls.

Notes:
1) #2 asked for more. Woo hoo!
2) Next time, we will double the dumplings. There just wasn't enough of those tasty little morsels. 
3) Or decrease the amount of broth. It was too brothy so we pureed it. We like thick soups.