C is for Cookie

My inner child just had to post the cheesy, but heartwarming cookie monster song. He's my fuzzy blue Freudian Id. This blog post is inspired by love for my man, whose om nom nom nom love of cookies makes me want to bake! But now I'm baking with a new found sense of health and wellness, out of a deeper sense of love. Today's recipe experiment is another baking renovation of our household favorite: chocolate chip cookies. The original recipe belongs to Martha Stewart's Cooking School and her recipe for traditional drop cookies. I renovated it with new measurements and alternative ingredients. And, it turns out that "health food" can be pretty tasty after all. Just to give you an idea of their healthy qualities, these cookies are rich in good-for-you fats, including Omega 3s, and a ton of vitamins and minerals. Three separate taste testers have confirmed that they are very yummy cookies.

Double Chocolate Chunk Flourless Cookies
(Nutritional stats per serving: 1 cookie = 1 serving: 96 calories (76 cal w/Stevia), 3.0g protein, 7.9g carbohydrates (2.6g carbs w/Stevia), 2g fiber. 36 servings total)

1-1/2 cups Organic Golden Flaxseed Meal
1-1/4 cups Almond Flour
1/4 cup Whey Protein, or other protein powder (non-denatured, 100% grass fed is best)
2 Tablespoons Organic Cocoa Powder (omit this to create more traditional blond cookie dough)
1-1/2 Teaspoons Sea Salt
2 Tablespoons Baking Soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) Unsalted Raw Grass Fed, or Whole Milk Organic Butter
1 cup Grass Fed, or Organic Whole Milk Plain Yogurt (firm, not European style)
1 cup Organic Unrefined Blond Coconut Palm Sugar (This is a low glycemic sweetener, but if you want to reduce carbohydrates/calories further you can substitute with Raw Unrefined Stevia. If so, do not omit the Cocoa Powder, or your cookies will be green!)
2 large Free Range Eggs
1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
2 Cups Dark Chocolate Chunks, or Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (you can modify with your own add-ins, ie., dried fruits, nuts, etc... this will obviously change nutritional counts above)

Follow these directions explicitly, or your cookie experiment will become a stiff cookie pancake:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. One rack in center, one rack in bottom 1/3 of oven. Line two cookie sheets with parchment, or grease sheets with butter. Whisk together flaxseed meal, almond flour, protein powder, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. Place room temperature butter, yogurt and palm sugar in separate mixing bowl. Cream together sugar mixture by mashing and stirring with a wooden spoon (or electric mixer), for approximately 3 to 6 minutes until the mixture is very light and fluffy. Don't over mix, or the cookies will become runny. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until thoroughly incorporated after each. Stir in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three additions, allowing each addition to fully incorporate before adding the next. Then add chocolate chips, or other mix ins. Seal bowl and refrigerate mixture for at least 30 minutes, allowing flaxseed meal to expand and creamed ingredients to stiffen. Drop chilled mixture onto cookie sheets using a small 1-1/2 inch ice cream scoop (approx. 2 tablespoons per cookie), allowing for 3 dozen cookies.

Bake for 13 - 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Rotate cookie sheets top to bottom/bottom to top halfway through baking time. Serve warm. Cookies will be soft right out of oven, but will harden when cooled.