HAPPY NATIONAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DAY!

(As if we needed another excuse to eat cookies)

With such an important National Holiday, MOGO decided to celebrate in the best way! We twisted around an original chewy chocolate chip recipe to meet Victoria’s and Heidi’s dietary restrictions, but still give them the fun of a delicious chocolate chip cookie. In this blog we will be discussing a lot of nutritional value in different ingredients and choices to add to cookies, but it is important to remember to make your cookie and enjoy it too! Yes, Victoria and Heidi both have foods that they cannot eat, but if you do not have any dietary restrictions, today is the best day to not worry about the ingredients or calories and just enjoy your cookie! There is absolutely nothing wrong with indulging every once in a while. But, since we do have these restrictions, we thought it would be a fun twist to try new ingredients and see how they affect our cookies!

If you are gluten free or dairy free and have found the perfect substitutes for baking, let us know in the comments below!

Cookie Recipe Test #1: Victoria’s Gluten Free Cookie

Victoria has celiac disease and has major stomach problems when she consumes gluten. She is also dairy free, but can consume dairy in small portions every so often. When creating Victoria’s recipe, we knew for sure to opt for gluten free flour. There are so many gluten free flour options, such as almond flour, oat flour, or coconut flour, but Victoria chose to use the Arrowhead Mills gluten free flour, because she has used it before and knows it it something she likes.

Victoria and I talked for a while about whether, coconut oil, crisco, or butter would be the best option to use in her cookies, because each has very specific pros and cons:

Crisco: Crisco seemed like a good dairy free option, and with a butter flavored crisco, could possibly mimic butter very well. However, we were not happy with the lengthy ingredients list, and fully hydrogenated oils that were used to make crisco.
Coconut Oil: Coconut oil is often used when trying to make healthier versions of cookies, but it also contains a good amount of saturated fat, even more than regular butter. Victoria is also not a fan of using concept oil in baking, because of the coconut flavor.
Butter: At first, we did not want to use butter, because of Victoria’s need to stay away from dairy as much as possible. But while talking, we realized that it may be her best option.

While weighing the options, Victoria and I decided it would be best for her to use butter, because of the small ingredients list, zero trans fats, and relatively low cholesterol level (when consumed in small portions). Although crisco could be a good dairy free option for Victoria, the ingredients list seems endless, and it includes trans fat because of hydrogenated oils, which is not ideal. Victoria also does not enjoy having coconut oil used in her baking, because of the way the coconut oil melts, and how it gives the cookies too much of a coconut flavor. Although coconut oil can be a good option in cookie making, Victoria would not enjoy her cookies as much, and that is the whole point! So coconut oil was also taken out of the mix. Since Victoria can have dairy every once in a while, and in small quantities, butter seemed to be the best choice health wise and cookie wise!

Victoria’s Gluten Free Cookie Ingredients:

1-1/4 Cups of softened butter
2 Flax Eggs (Described down below)
3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
3/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1-1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Cups Sifted, Gluten Free Flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
8 oz. Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Chopped Walnuts

How to make a flax egg: Simply add 1 tbs of ground flaxseed meal and 3 tbs of water to a bowl. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes. The mixture will turn into an egg like consistency. Do twice for this recipe!

We baked these cookies at 375 degrees fahrenheit for roughly 15 minutes. They tend to spread, so keep an eye on them when baking and adjust the time if necessary!

Cookie Recipe Test #2: Heidi’s Vegan Cookie

Heidi has followed a vegan diet for ethical reasons for the past four years, and chooses not to consume meat, eggs, or dairy. So, Heidi’s cookie recipe will look a little different than Victoria’s! Although Heidi usually tries (keyword: tries) not to have a lot of added sugar in her diet, she kept roughly the same recipe as Victoria to have a sweet treat for the best national holiday! She switched out the eggs and butter for other alternatives.

Although coconut oil can also be a good vegan alternative for butter, Victoria and Heidi both agree that they do not like using it in cookies, because of the coconut taste. So, Heidi decided to use cashew butter instead of coconut oil, to replace butter and give her cookies a little extra protein. She also decided to use a flax egg to replace the chicken egg, which can also add some micronutrients and dietary fiber to her cookies!

Heidi’s Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe:

1-1/4 Cashew Butter
2 Flax Eggs (described down below)
3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
3/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1-1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Cups Sifted Gluten Free Flour
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
8 oz. Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Chopped Walnuts

We baked these cookies at 375 degrees fahrenheit for roughly 15 minutes.

How to make a flax egg: Simply add 1 tbs of ground flaxseed meal and 3 tbs of water to a bowl. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes. The mixture will turn into an egg like consistency. Do twice for this recipe!
Benefits of Flax:
High Content of Omega-3 Fatty Acids, aiding in brain, heart, and eye health
Easy to incorporate into everyday foods such as salads, oatmeal, smoothies, etc.
3 grams of Dietary Fiber per serving
Source of Calcium, Magnesium, and Phosphorous
2 grams of protein per tablespoon

The Results:

Victoria’s Cookie:

Don’t be fooled by the funny shapes, these cookies were down right DELICIOUS! Gooey chewy gluten free chocolate chip cookies, possibly one of Victoria’s favorites! Victoria doesn’t usually gluten free bake, because she often doesn’t like the cookies as much as when they have real flour. But, she thinks she found her favorite recipe with these cookies! Gluten free cookies tend to flatten out , so we used parchment paper to help hold these cookies in a little more!

Heidi’s Cookie:

The cashew butter seemed to be a nice alternative for butter, and kept these cookies crunchy yet chewy, without much of a cashew taste! We noticed that in the original recipe, with either gluten free flour or regular flour, the cookies usually spread much more. So, there is a possibility that the cashew butter helps keep the cookies together more!

There are so many ways to recreate the original chocolate chip cookie and cater it to your needs! Whether you have allergies or are trying new ways to eat, there will always be a way to chocolate chip cookie in your future :)

Happy Best National Holiday!

Your MOGO Team!