August 9, 2010

For those of you with dairy or nut allergies... this is a yummy recipe for you!

I personally didn't do the apple substitute.. but I am sure they would be good.

Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Ingredients
For today's recipe, here's what you'll need:
1 cup of dairy-free margarine (or an equal amount of pureed banana)
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of cane sugar
1/4 cup of soy or rice milk
2 teaspoons of vanilla
2 1/4 cups of whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
12 ounces of dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

If you're feeling really bold, try substituting about three quarters of your dairy-free margarine with applesauce or apple butter. Just don't be surprised when your cookies taste a little... apple-y.

Prepare the Chocolate
Start by preheating your oven to 350, and begin prepping your ingredients. If you're not using non-dairy chocolate chips, try chopping a dark chocolate bar into chip-sized morsels on a cutting board, and set aside for later.

The darker you go, the less chance your chocolate will have an trace of dairy in it. Generally any chocolate that has a greater than 71% cacao content, is not likely to contain any milk or milk fat. But to be sure, always check the ingredients. You do read all your product labels for ingredients, right?
Mix the Cookie Wet Ingredients
Next, mix together your margarine or banana puree with the brown and cane sugar until they reach a smooth, fluffy consistency. Add in your soy or rice milk, then your vanilla.

If your mixture looks a little weird and curdled right now, that's okay. Don't panic. There's definitely no Lacto Bacillus Acidophillus bacteria coagulation going on here - it's just the solids separating temporarily from the liquids, which will all come together in the end with your piping hot delicious cookies.

Combine the Cookie Ingredients
In a separate bowl, combine all your dry ingredients, then blend into the creamy mixture. Finally, add in your chips or chocolate chunks. Using a proper electric mixer definitely cuts down on the elbow grease needed in this recipe, but since you're soon to indulge yourself in some sugary sweet loveliness, why not earn it a little?

Bake the Chocolate Chip Cookies
Next it's time to drop your dough batter onto a lightly greased or oiled cookie sheet in spoon sized dollops a couple inches apart, and pop 'em into the over for about 9 minutes. Remove them from the over and place on racks to cool. The ideal cookie should be a little crispy and browned, but soft and sumptuous at every bite.