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I abrubtly cut all dairy products from my diet last October. It wasn't the typical, fussy baby experimentation with dairy elimination, but rather a joyful, healthy-looking daughter with bleeding intestines that fueled this sudden change to my diet. I am fortunate to have never struggled with my weight, and so have never had the experience of thinking extensively about what I was eating. Saying goodbye to milk and yogurt were okay. Cheese and butter have been the most difficult. Most of our family meals were cheese-based and so we've now switched to more local meats and eggs. And the butter.... this is where my sweet tooth kicks in. I just love baking, as you know, and most everything I bake has butter in it. Oh, loss! I miss the muffins, cakes and cookies that I enjoy so much. I have, of course, found quite a number of good substitutes, however, and these cookies have become an absolute staple in my diet. I make them and sometimes eat five or six. I know so much sugar is not healthy for my body but I just can't help it; my diet is so low in fat now that I'm craving sweet carbs to make up for it. So this is it: my favorite, current cookie. It's not awful for you, and it tastes absolutely wonderful. After probably 20 batches I feel I've perfected this recipe. I hope you'll try it.
Molasses Ginger Crinkles (makes about 30 cookies)
Mix 2/3 cup vegetable oil with
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
Mix in one large, beaten egg.
Add 1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
Then, in another bowl, mix together the following dry ingredients:
2 cups of flour (I use "white whole wheat" flour by King Arthur. If you don't have access to this very mild, gentle whole wheat flour you could try half all purpose and half whole wheat pastry flour, or oat flour if you can get your hands on that. Or all purpose, of course....)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves
Mix the dry into the wet to form a stiff dough. Roll out into balls and dip them in granulated sugar to coat. Place on a cookie sheet a few inches apart.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes. The cookies will split and crack on top as they puff up.
I've made these pumpkin cookies (http://www.simplehealthytasty.com/2008/10/pumpkin-cookies.html) a few times with great success. Of course I've tweaked the recipe a few times, and here are my changes:
ReplyDelete1) omit the water & flaxseed--the cookies will be crispier without it, and more like muffins with it. I like the crispier version
2) I pulsed raw cacao nibs in a blender for a few seconds and mixed them in with the batter, along with dark chocolate chips. The cacao nibs give the cookies tiny crunchy intense bursts of chocolate. mmmm.
3) I put a less raw sugar (sucanat) in, probably close to 1/2 of what it called for. It was just perfect that way.
Anyway these are really fantastic. I've done them with pumpkin and butternut squash--whatever I have on hand.
Thanks, Rixa! Those sound amazing!
ReplyDeleteMy son is severely allergic to milk (among a few other things) so I understand how hard it can be. I actually started a blog of recipes and products that we have learned to love. Feel free to stop by and check it out. :-)
ReplyDeletehttp://holdthemilkpleaseandtheeggpeanuts.blogspot.com/
Spent about four+ years dairy free with both kids...Oreos and cheeseless pizza really saved me. Your cookies sound delish! Happily, the boy could do dairy at about 2 and the girl at about 1 1/2. Hope Maeve progresses just as smoothly!
ReplyDelete