OK - since I am on my let's-try-using-more-whole-wheat and less-sugar journey, I decided to bake two identical batches of M&M cookies. Well identical in that the basic ingredients were the same.
One recipe followed the instructions to a T with the exception of cutting out 1 T of butter (due to necessity). The other recipe used 1/2 whole-wheat and 1/2 white flour AND 1/2 the amount of sugar.
Better than just tasting myself - I had two "professional" taste-testers...my dd aged 8.5 and ds almost 6. I did not tell them how I had altered the recipe b/c I didn't want to prejudice their decision.
The cookie on the left is fatter (hard to tell in the picture) and that is the whole-wheat mix one.
Here are the results on the whole-wheat less sugar cookies:
Dd - "Really powdery...soft and flaky...I like them best."
Ds - "Too powdery!"
Moi - "Very light...floury...dry."
Here are the results on the regular recipe:
Dd - "A little peanut buttery (no peanuts in recipe!)...and flat, more chewy."
Ds - "Good and chewy."
Moi - "More chewy and crisp."
The overwhelming majority (however overwhelming a majority of two can be) liked the regular recipe best. After all was said and done - the boy did say he liked them both. Even though I'm not crazy about the whole-wheat ones (which is actually good b/c if I make them I'll be less likely to consume them myself) - I'm glad the kids liked them enough w/half the sugar and some whole-wheat thrown in for good measure.
Cutting out 1 T of butter on the white flour recipe with no negative results, encourages me to want to experiment with how much butter I could leave out, without altering the flavor or consistency.
One recipe followed the instructions to a T with the exception of cutting out 1 T of butter (due to necessity). The other recipe used 1/2 whole-wheat and 1/2 white flour AND 1/2 the amount of sugar.
Better than just tasting myself - I had two "professional" taste-testers...my dd aged 8.5 and ds almost 6. I did not tell them how I had altered the recipe b/c I didn't want to prejudice their decision.
The cookie on the left is fatter (hard to tell in the picture) and that is the whole-wheat mix one.
Here are the results on the whole-wheat less sugar cookies:
Dd - "Really powdery...soft and flaky...I like them best."
Ds - "Too powdery!"
Moi - "Very light...floury...dry."
Here are the results on the regular recipe:
Dd - "A little peanut buttery (no peanuts in recipe!)...and flat, more chewy."
Ds - "Good and chewy."
Moi - "More chewy and crisp."
The overwhelming majority (however overwhelming a majority of two can be) liked the regular recipe best. After all was said and done - the boy did say he liked them both. Even though I'm not crazy about the whole-wheat ones (which is actually good b/c if I make them I'll be less likely to consume them myself) - I'm glad the kids liked them enough w/half the sugar and some whole-wheat thrown in for good measure.
Cutting out 1 T of butter on the white flour recipe with no negative results, encourages me to want to experiment with how much butter I could leave out, without altering the flavor or consistency.
5 comments:
I have found that I can sub all whole wheat flour in many cookie recipes with no side effects other than maybe a bit more crumbling. But the recipes have to be strongly flavored, like ginger, oatmeal, or peanut butter. Or chocolate. If all whole wheat doesn't work, you can almost always get away with half.
Good luck! I've been experimenting with whole wheat, too, and it's fun!
Ohhh thanks for the cooking tip! I was just wanting to make cookies today so maybe I will try this.
Thanks for the tip - next time I'll try a more robust cookie and see what happens. I think too I should cut out or change only ONE ingredient per experiment. It'll take longer but it will be easier to see what works and doesn't work.
I don't want to give up yummy treats - but I also want to be careful what I, and the rest of the my family eat.
Thanks for the ideas about what to do with the iPod! Serioulsy! thanks!
Thanks for sharing these tips. My wife and I are trying to make different types of cookies in our house in Greenville. Can we add some milk for this? And which is better for chewy cookies? I just visited a dentist last week and had treatments so I'm going for easy to chew food for a little while.
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