~ "By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; Through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures." ~ "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing" ~ "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." ~ "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."~

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Chocolate Chip Cookies Made Without Eggs...using Yoghurt instead.



Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies with Yoghurt...so soft. What do you do when you have some yoghurt that needs to be used up?...make chocolate chip cookies of course. I've been known to make plenty of baked goods with ingredients that need to be used up. Recently I made some chocolate-avocado-almond butter cookies...where the avocado was used in place of all the butter. Now, that was different...different, but edible:)...But through all the experimenting that goes on in the kitchen, you learn a ton of valuable information...like the fact that avocado doesn't melt as would the butter...so the cookies never really spread out. Still need to tweak the avocado cookie recipe a bit:). But this recipe for chocolate chip cookies fared much better...
When making these eggless cookies I went off a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe and adjusted ingredients to go a bit healthier...I cut down the amount of sugar, the amount of chocolate chips, substituted some of my yoghurt for the egg, and replaced some of the butter with a bit of extra-light olive oil. Because I used only a bit of butter, the cookies don't spread out very much....so you'll need to press each ball of dough down a bit. This way the cookies will bake evenly...and look like a cookie:). I love this recipe because you can actually use one bowl to mix all of the ingredients(apart from melting the butter)....and it's also easy and super quick to whip up a batch. The baked cookies were nice and soft... they sort of reminded me of the Grandma's cookies I used to eat back during my college years....
If you are allergic to eggs... or maybe can't have eggs in your diet, you may want to give this recipe a try...and let me know what you think. Even if you aren't allergic to eggs, but you like soft cookies, this might be worth making. And because we rather liked these cookies, I thought I'd share them...even if it is for my own personal reference:). I'll be making these again for sure. Hope you enjoy...

Note: While I used all purpose flour, I am sure you can play around with a variety of flours...oat, whole wheat, spelt and coconut would probably be good ones.

Tip: Feel free to increase the sugar if you like... or just use all brown sugar, which will give you a caramel-y flavor. You can add more chocolate( even varying the type used) and even include some cinnamon. You can opt to use all melted butter or even substitute some coconut oil.

You will need:
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup extra light olive oil
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup sugar
1 TBS pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup plain Greek yoghurt
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1/3 - 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips*
1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped, optional
*now, I put a range here...in case you would like to add more chocolate. For the first batch, I added 1 1/2 cups...chocolate-y, and probably a bit too sweet. I also made a batch with 1/3 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup pecans...felt they were just right for us.

Directions:
Preheat Oven to 375 deg.
1. In a large bowl, add melted butter, oil and sugar. Mix until thoroughly combined.
2. Add the yoghurt and vanilla... and mix until smooth and combined.
3. Add flour, baking soda and pinch of salt(you can place this in a flour sifter if you want...I didn't bother). Mix until dough comes together.
4. Add chocolate chip and nuts, if using. Combine.
5. Using a 1 1/2 TBS cookie scooper( or make balls by hand) place dough on parchment lined cookie sheets.
6. Press down cookie balls to about 1/2 inch thick( or a bit thinner).
7. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges.
8. Let cool on cookie sheets for 3-5 minutes. Remove and cool completely on wire racks.


20 comments:

Andreea said...

Hi Ellie,

what a nice recipe! I will definitely try it.

M Family said...

Its so healthy Ellie, I want to try it, but its soooo healthy! And you know me, the more butter and chocolate the better! Man, I am going to have to try this one though, if there are going to be cookies on hand, we need to have a healthier version...LOL.

Ellie said...

Thank you, Andreea. ...I made 3 batches and felt they were worth posting. I really like them, and I am hoping you will too:).

Ellie said...

M Family, Too, Too Funny:)!! Thanks for the chuckle...I know, the butter and the chocolate do add richness to the cookies...but I think you will probably like them, even if you throw in another handful of chips and use all butter:).
I would love to know how the all-butter plays out in the recipe...so, if you try them, l let me know.

Mihaela said...

Ellie, I never made chocolate chip cookies, and I probably had them only once or twice, but now I am very curious to see how the yogurt variation is :) You always make interesting stuff. Have a nice weekend :)

megi said...

Ellie, I would love to use yogurt instead of eggs, I love to experiment. :) I am planning on trying it with coconut oil, I'll let you know how it turns out. By the way, I made the quinoa cake and it was a hit! Thank you.

Mihaela said...

I'm tempted by these cookies, they look so soft!

Ellie said...

Mihaela, These yoghurt in these cookies make them really soft...

Megi, Oh I would love to know how coconut oil works...
So glad you enjoyed the quinoa cake:)!

Mihaela, Yes the cookies are quite soft...and we really like them as they aren't very sweet:).

Annie said...

Hi Ellie, Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. I baked these cookie tonight & they smelled great & tasted wonderful! p.s. I used brown sugar & extra virgin olive oil (instead of butter & white sugar) & they came out really nice & caramel-y.

Ellie said...

Annie, I'm so glad you liked the cookies... And thanks a bunch for the feedback! I really appreciate it.
I absolutely love how you adjusted the recipe...love the idea of using all olive oil. I've been making this recipe a lot recently and served it to guests as well. They loved the cookies...some even made ice cream sandwiches:)...
Anyway, I'm thrilled that you enjoyed them.

Anonymous said...

the cookies were really good. i tried it yesterday! Thanks!

Ellie said...

MKrabbit, Oh, yay! I'm so glad you liked them...as they are a favorite of ours. Thank you so much for your feedback...so appreciated!

persistentassistant said...

I found your recipe because I was out of eggs. Pleased to find your recipe...bit of a healthier version. I added a tsp. cinnamon to mine, additionally in flattening the cookies w/a glass, I also used sugar/cinnamon to coat the top. Adds a bit of sweetness.

I love the cookies...now we will see what the family thinks, considering they are used to a traditional chocolate chip.

Thank you for posting.

Ellie said...

Persistentassistant, Thank you for your feedback on the cookies... I just love how you made teh cookies work for you. I especially like the addition of the cinnamon and cinnamon/sugar coating.
I've started adding a bit of cinnamon to regular chocolate chip cookies, and I have to say I LOVE it.
Hope the rest of the family enjoys the cookies...thanks for stopping by

Alyssa in Alberta, Canada said...

These turned out surprisingly well! I had no eggs in the fridge but did have some plain yogurt and chocolate chips kicking around so this worked out well! Thanks!

Ellie said...

Alyssa, I am so glad you enjoyed the cookies! Thank you for your feeback on them... it's nice to have a recipe for those days when we run out of eggs. But then you have to have some yoghurt:)... I think I made them using sour cream as well.
Thanks again for stopping by...
Have a wonderful day!

Sofia said...

Hi!
I'm an allergic from Norway that happened to stumble upon your recipe, and boy am I glad I did!
The best cookie recipe I have ever tried. Eating them right now, yum!

Ellie said...

Hi Sofia, So thrilled to hear I could be of help... as I am sure it must be tough when you have allergies. It makes my day to hear that you enjoyed the cookies:)!

Thanks a bunch for stopping by all the way from Norway:)... Really appreciate you sharing your feedback.

Have a wonderful day!

Ivy said...

Found this while searching for eggless cookie recipes-- it was fantastic! I used all butter instead of the light olive oil, and the cookies were delicious. My coworkers loved them.
Thank you so much for sharing!

Ellie said...

Ivy, Oh you are welcome! So glad you and your co-workers enjoyed the cookies... makes my day:).

Thanks a ton for stopping by and sharing your feedback. Really appreciate it!