C Is for Can I Get a Do-Over?

Every year around this time, I join some sort of Stepford-like office cookie cult club and promise to bake six-dozen yummy things by Friday to swap with six other overachieving, guilt-ridden moms women. Cookie Swap sounds like fun, but for three years I opted in, and for three years, I screwed off to watch TV  got preoccupied with something very important the night before, and showed up to the cookie swap empty-handed. Boo, hiss – bad form, Karen, bad form.

I guess it’s just that Cookie Swap sounds really great, but my mad cookie-baking skills need more of a spontaneous outlet. They can’t be pinned down to a specific day or time. I can, and do, bake large batches of cookies all the time, but like with so many things in my life, I am a major procrastinator-slash-total dunce and often forget about deadlines and obligations until it’s too late. Then I try to cowboy something up, which turns into a disaster, and then I cry, and then I just show up, late and/or empty-handed, and try to look as cute humble as possible and hope the people I’ve just let down will go easy on me.

Not this year. No, this year, things will be different. For one, I haven’t been invited to participate in Cookie Swap, so phew! I only hope that this is because there is no Cookie Swap, and not just because I am such a colossal cookie loser that they don’t want me. Or my cookies.

Anyway, not the point. The point is, this year, I am doing cookie penance. Cookies for everyone! Unsolicited, non-obligatory cookies for everyone! Cookies for my friends at work; cookies for my in-laws; cookies for my siblings and of course, cookies for my husband and children. And I’m going to do it, I swear I am. I have been auditioning cookie recipes for weeks, and I think I’ve come up with the winner – they are easy to prepare and impressive to present; they are light so you can eat a bunch but they definitely have the soft, chewy centre a cookie should have, and of course, they are chocolate. I’m sure all of my past cookie transgressions will be forgiven after just one bite. I’m going to start baking…. Well, let’s see… it’s December 3… I have until, let’s say the 23^rd…

I’ll start baking in a couple of weeks. That should do it, right? Plenty of time; plenty of time.

Kgirl’s Sorry-I-Blew-It Chocolate Chewits

*For a gluten-free version, simply omit flour.

½ c unsweetened cocoa

2 tbsp flour

2 cups icing sugar

3 egg whites

½ tsp vanilla

2 cups rice krispies

¼ c walnuts (optional)

 

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with silpat, parchment or sprayed aluminum foil.

In a large bowl or stand mixer, mix together the cocoa, flour and icing sugar. Slowly add the egg whites, blending on low speed. Once egg whites have been incorporated, beat on high, 1-2 minutes, scraping the sides down once.

Fold in vanilla, rice krispies and walnuts. Drop by teaspoon onto prepared baking sheets and bake 10-12 minutes. Tops will be glossy and crisp, and the surface should be nicely cracked.

Cool completely and store in an airtight container. Freezes well; goes great with humility.

***

SoundBITE

Unsweetened cocoa yields 12 calories per tablespoon and no sugar (duh – unsweetened), but still gives you all of the yummy antioxidants and serotonin-boosters that we love. Just try not to go Dutch – Dutch-style cocoa is processed with alkali, (yes, the same thing found in batteries) s chemical that darkens cocoa, but also reduces the amount of polyphenols (antioxidants). Because non-alkalined cocoa could ruin a recipe calling for baking soda (a natural alkali), I just avoid recipes calling for both.

Comments

[Naomi (Urban Mummy)]

That recipe sound divine, thanks, I'm going to try.

Just an FYI - the alkali that is used to process dutch cocoa has NOTHING to do with batteries, and is a completely different chemical. An alkali is just something that isn't an acid. It may affect the antioxidants, but it certainly isn't dangerous like battery chemicals.

[kgirl]

Thank you to my sciency friend. I actually wasn't trying to mislead or be sensational (this time); just wanted the folks out there to know what I was talking about. Thanks for the clarification!

[No Mother Earth]

OK, have a pot luck coming up and just may have to try these. I usually make my Hello Dolly squares or Bea's Delight Bars, but these are making me hungry. One question: Are they chocolatey enough. I have a very high sweet threshold, and I like rich, rich, rich desserts. (And men. Rich men are good too.)

[kgirl]

NoMo - I think they are chocolatey enough, but to be fair, I'm not into the really rich desserts. These are like a cross between a meringue and a cookie - maybe on the lighter side, but they offer a really impressive presentation.