Chocolate Chip Cookies

Now this was a make it or break it item for me.  When I found out about my daughter's milk allergy and realized I couldn't have milk, I knew that I needed to find out some way to get in my chocolate chip cookie quota or she would be on formula.  Well it was easier than I thought.
The first problem is the chocolate chips:  Nestle- no good contains milk.  However, the semi-sweet versions of Ghirardelli or Guittards chocolate chips don't contain milk.  But a word of caution, they are processed on the same equipment as milk and they might contain traces.  My daughter has a pretty severe milk allergy and she has never had a problem with me eating those kinds of chocolate chips.  The other part is the butter.  Use nucoa margarine spread (milkless) or substitute shortening for the butter.  My sister's mother-in-law always substitutes shortening for butter, she says it makes them better tasting.  The last substitution I make is I use my cornstarch concoction (1TBSP cornstarch+3 TBSP water) for each egg, that way my son can have some cookies as well.  I am very picky with my chocolate chip cookies, and so is my husband.  But guess what, neither of us can tell a difference.  The dough looks different after  adding the cornstarch, but the final product looks and tastes the same.  So here is my recipe for chocolate chip cookies (altered from the Nestle recipe) and you can always put back in 2 eggs, 1 cup butter, and nestle chocolate chips if you don't have a problem with the allergies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 cup nucoa buttery sticks or shortening

3/4 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 Tbsp cornstarch mixed in a cup with 6 Tbsp water

2 cups Ghirardelli or Guittards semi sweet chocolate chips (may contain traces of milk)

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.  Beat nucoa (or shortening), granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy.  Add cornstarch/water mixture.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheet.

Bake for 7-10 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes, remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Sorry, that's 2 cookie recipes in a row.  I'll add some variety next post.

Did you know that in most baked goods, cornstarch can be substituted for an egg?  It's true!  

1 egg= 1Tbsp cornstarch + 3Tbsp water

An amazing friend told me about this because she said that her mom used to do this when they would run out of eggs on a Sunday and they couldn't go to the store.  I have tried it on pancakes, cakes, cookies, and breads and it has worked perfectly on everything so far.  This is what I made yesterday for some dinner guests.   No eggs and No milk products in this recipe:

Snickerdoodles

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup Nucoa Margarine (a brand of margarine sold in many stores including Albertsons and Ralphs that is milk free)

1/2 cup shortening

2 Tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with 6 Tablespoons of water

2 3/4 cups of flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Mix sugar, nucoa margarine, shortening, and cornstarch/water mix in a large bowl.  Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.  Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls.  Mix 1/4 cup of sugar with cinnamon.  Roll balls in cinnamon sugar mixture.  Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 6-10 minutes (baking times vary according to oven and elevation.  Mine usually take about 7 minutes but I always check them after 6 minutes)

Now, if you don't have any allergies and you want this snickerdoodle recipe (there are none better in existence, this once takes the cake so believe me, you want this recipe), you can use 1/2 cup of butter or any kind of margarine instead of the milk free Nucoa, and you can use 2 eggs instead of the water/cornstarch mixture.  Believe me, they are good the milk/egg free way and the milk/egg way.  Our house guests ate 4-6 (milk and egg free) cookies each and my husband and I ate even more than that.  Jif has been asking for them all day today and exclaimed "I love cookies!" during his consumption of it.