Tuesday, January 4, 2011

TWD- Midnight Crackles

I know what you are thinking. Why do my Midnight Crackles look so different than everyone else's?
Well, it's because I kinda did my own thing and really tweaked this week's TWD recipe.
I didn't make New Year's Resolutions, but rather I am taking this year one month at a time and focusing on a few goals each month.
One of my goals/rules this month was that I am not going to buy any butter until February. This sounds slightly silly, but, I'm doing it anyway.
I only use butter to bake, so basically I am restricting the amount of baking that I am allowed to do this month.
I wanted to make these cookies anyway, since it is the 3rd anniversary of Tuesday's with Dorie- so I just experimented and crossed my fingers for an edible result.

Luckily this cookie dough starts out with melting the butter, so I got away with using canola oil (although I did learn, from a little research, that you don't want to swap oil for butter in exact measurements). I also used semi-sweet chocolate chips, white wheat flour and mixed the entire thing in a saucepan. I had to add a Tablespoon or so of skim milk to make the dough come together.

I was afraid for what might happen, but to my surprise- these cookies actually came out looking like cookies. I finished them just in time for my kids to get off the school bus and they loove them! Success! I sampled one and they are really tasty.

This recipe was chosen by TWD's founder Laurie and another member- Julie, to celebrate TWD'S 3rd anniversary. I joined this group just 2 months after it started, so I have participated almost the entire time. You can find the original recipe for Midnight Crackles over at Tuesday's with Dorie, along with the links from the other members who baked along this week.


Midnight Crackles from Dorie Greenspan's Baking:from my home to yours

heavily adapted by Me

3 Tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons (10 Tablespoons) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups white wheat flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/16 teaspoon ground cloves
1 large egg

2-4 Tablespoons skim milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Put the oil, brown sugar, and chocolate chips in a saucepan over low heat. Melt completely, stirring occasionally and remove from heat.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves.

Add the egg and stir, until blended into the chocolate.

Add the dry ingredients, at mix until a dough forms. If it is too dry to come together completely, add a Tablespoon of milk or so, until there are no dry ingredients visible.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or lightly spray it with cooking spray.

Using a Tablespoon cookie scoop, form balls of dough and place them on the cookie sheet. Flatten them using the back of a spatula.

Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges are dry and tops looked baked.

Let the cookies rest on the cookie sheet for a few minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack.

Repeat with remaining dough.

Makes about 25-30 cookies.


7 comments:

  1. Love your butterless variation! Nicely done.

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  2. No butter until Feb?! These cookies look great.

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  3. very interesting substitutions! and I can't imagine restricting butter! good luck dear!

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  4. Great looking cookies..I love the pictures!!

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  5. Butterless january!! Don't think I could do it.

    Cookies look great. Have to try your butterless version. (Or so my hips tell me!!)

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  6. Glad your variation worked. Thanks for baking along with us!

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  7. Wow, kudos on your swaps! I admire your sense of adventure. Good luck with not buying butter the whole month :)

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Mary Ann