The Cookie Monster is kind of a nickname I gave myself (is it lame to give yourself a nickname? Especially one taken from a Muppet? Oh well).
If I’m being disciplined (which isn’t often), I can say no to sweets. But I cannot ever refuse cookies. At least, not chocolate chip cookies.
No amount of discipline keeps me away from those.
Of course, the sugar rush I get from them makes me feel gross so I set out quite a while ago to try to make the perfect, naturally-sweetened cookie recipe.
I mainly toyed with agave nectar, because I believed that was the closest tasting to sugar, but because it’s a liquid sweetener the cookies always came out like mini cakes.
But I like my cookies chewy. Really, really chewy and gooey. YUM!
So when I got sent a stevia kit from the lovely folks at NuNaturals (today is the last day to enter my stevia giveaway – go now!), I decided I would give cookie baking a try using stevia.
I’ve already used stevia to make an orange sour cream bundt cake, better-than-Starbucks’ pumpkin cream cheese muffins, and a delicious fall apple walnut cake! But today’s task was cookies. How did they turn out?
Well…I’ll let the results speak for themselves.
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INGREDIENTS (makes about 18 small cookies):
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1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup NuNaturals MoreFiber Stevia Baking Blend (it’s the last day to enter my stevia giveaway!)
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tbsp olive oil-based margarine (or Earth Balance, for vegans)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a bowl, whisk together Stevia Baking Blend, oil, margarine and vanilla on medium with an electric mixer.
2. When well blended, slowly add flour. The mixture will begin to look crumbly as the remainder of the flour is added.
3. Now add UP TO 1/4 cup water in increments. You want to stop when the consistency resembles cookie dough.
4. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Drop by tablespoonfuls or with a handy cookie scoop (I love mine!) on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking oil. Can I just take a moment to show off my cookie scoop?
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Okay, sorry about that. Now please note: these cookies will not flatten as they cook. This enables them to stay chewy inside. If you want crispy cookies, flatten them with the back of a spoon prior to cooking.
.
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6. Bake in a preheated oven (350 F) for 10-12 minutes or until slightly golden.
*NOTE: You can change this recipe up! Here are some suggestions:
- For chocolate chocolate chip cookies, add 2 tsp cocoa powder to the flour
- For chocolate chip walnut cookies, simply add 1/4 cup chopped walnuts at the same time you add the chocolate chips
- For oatmeal raisin cookies, remove the vanilla essence and instead add 1/4 cup rolled oats, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg to the flour. Reduce the flour by 1/4 cup. Replace the chocolate chips with raisins.
- For white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, use white chocolate chips instead of milk or dark and add chopped macadamia nuts at the same time you add the chocolate chips.
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Nutritional information given per cookie if recipe makes 18:
Nutritional information courtesy of caloriecount.about.com
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My son loves Cookie Monster, he actually has it as his middle name on facebook, lol!
These look so good, the chunks of chocolate chips, YUM!!
I need to come visit so we can bake all kinds of yummy stuff together!
Happy Thursday! xoxo
Anthony and I would be great friends, I can tell :). Yes! You must come up here – it’s a beautiful city to visit and I would love to meet you (and bake with you :))!
The cookies look great and thanks for the cookie scoop tip. Where did you get it?
Bed, Bath and Beyond would you believe! So I’m sure they’ll have it in the US one. $5! Works like a charm.
YUM! ❤
Yumm! I love cookies! I just got some stevia, and I love experimenting with it!
these cookies look so much more “plump” than when I make chocolate chip cookies, and also way less ingredients! I will have to bookmark and try it out.
They’re so plump I know – they didn’t flatten out at all during baking. But then I flattened some prior to baking with the next batch and they came out crispier, so unless you want crisp cookies I wouldn’t recommend that! The plumpness helps them stay soft inside which I love! xx
how would i make these gluten free?
Hi Rebecca! I have not tried this recipe gluten free, so I am making these suggestions only for you to experiment with! But Gluten-Free Girl has a great recipe for an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend: http://glutenfreegirl.com/how-to-make-a-gluten-free-all-purpose-flour-mix/. I would recommend replacing my flour with this. Also, you would probably have to use another kind of granular sweetener than the Morefiber Stevia blend. It is yeast and wheat free but I do believe it has gluten.