Sunday, November 18, 2012

Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

      I realized that it has been almost 2 months since my last post, and I had to ask myself why. Turns out having to put pictures up here is time-consuming and annoying, so until I can figure out an easier way to get pictures up here, I will post without them. I can't let that stop me from sharing awesome recipes with you.

      Let me paint a picture for you with words instead: Imagine a couple of soft, buttery chocolate chip cookies, still warm from the oven. These cookies are everything that is right with the world. Okay, maybe that is an exaggeration, but they are pretty darn good. Know why? I stole the recipe from Nestle Toll House. I made some changes to it, though, to make these cookies not only heavenly, but healthy too. You can always substitute ingredients in any recipe, like sprouted flour instead of regular. (By the way, healthy should always taste delicious in my book. Anthropologically speaking, why on earth would we as humans eat foods that didn't taste good? Nature did not come up with low-fat. Misguided 20th century humans did.) Okay, I'm off my soapbox now, and here's the recipe, tweaked for health.

Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies


Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups sprouted whole wheat white flour (see below about sprouted grains)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt (use sea salt or Himalayan salt to retain important trace minerals.)
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup sucanat
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
chocolate chips (I've been trying to find a soy-free brand. No luck yet. Read about why soy is bad here)


Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter, sucanat and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well.

Gradually beat in flour mixture.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 9 to 11 minutes. Cool on cookie sheets for 2 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.


To close, here is a quote on sprouted grains:

      “The process of germination not only produces Vitamin C, but also changes the composition of grains and seeds in numerous beneficial ways. Sprouting increases Vitamin B content, especially B2, B5, and B6. Carotene increases dramatically – sometimes eightfold. Even more important, sprouting neutralizes phytic acid, a substance present in the bran of all grains that inhibits absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc; sprouting also neutralizes enzyme inhibitors present in all seeds. These inhibitors can neutralize our own precious enzymes in the digestive tract.

      A portion of the starch in grain is transformed into sugar. Sprouting inactivates aflatoxins, potent carcinogens found in grains. Finally, numerous enzymes that help digestion are produced during the germination process.”

-Sally Fallon Morell, President of the Weston A. Price Foundation (page 112 of Nourishing Traditions)


Happy baking!