Chocolate Chip Yogurt Cookies

Chocolate Chip Yogurt Cookies

A healthy cookie?  Isn't that an oxymoron? The notes off to the side of this recipe say that this cookie has about 3 grams of fat compared to 8 grams found in a traditional cookie.  It eliminates the eggs and nuts and reduces the butter, shortening, chips and brown sugar.  The calories drop from 130 to 80 calories per cookie.


I noticed on the first batch that they browned nicely, but the inside was still a little doughy so I lowered the temp to 350 and baked them a couple minutes longer (mine took about 11 1/2 minutes at this temp).


How do they taste?  Really good!  They definitely are not as sweet as a traditional cookie and the mini chocolate chips make them less chocolaty, but they are light and tasty.  They are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Warning:  Since they are lighter and not as sweet it is easy to keep eating these.  You can easily end up getting the same number of calories. 


My kid reviewers say these are their favorite next to the Cocoa-Mallow Cookie-wiches.  Andy gave them 100 stars and Callie gave them a thumbs-up. Adults in the house have give them a surprisingly 4 out of 5.


Here is the recipe:

Chocolate Chip Yogurt Cookies
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.  In large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, butter and shortening; beat until light and fluffy. Add yogurt and vanilla; blend well.  Stir in flour, baking soda and salt; mix well.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

2. Bake at 375 for 8-12 minutes or until light golden brown.  Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets.

Cocoa-Mallow Cookie-wiches

Cocoa-Mallow Cookie-wiches

I looked at the recipe for these and thought, "The kids are going to love these."  I didn't think I'd like them, though. Once again, I was wrong!  These were soooo gooood!  My daughter said they tasted like Oreo Cakesters.  I've never had those, but they tasted just like the Hostess Cupcakes. The cookie part was more like cake than cookie.  I thought the filling would taste like frosting, but it doesn't.  It is a light and creamy filling.

Although they taste great, these get my vote for the messiest cookie so far.  The cocoa powder went everywhere and so did the powdered sugar.  Let's just say the mixer got a nice thorough cleaning.  Besides being messy, the recipe was really easy.  When making the filling, I suggest stirring it up by hand a little before using the mixer.  This may cut down on the mess. The only ingredient I don't normally have on hand was the marshmallow creme.

The only thing we need to figure out for this recipe is how to store them.  I have a nice big container, but they got soggy after a day or so.  I ended up keeping the lid off slightly from the container and it dried them out a bit.  With cats and a dog around, this is probably not the best idea overall, though.  Any suggestions?

What to do with the extra filling?  My mom used to put frosting inside saltine crackers.  The sweet and salty flavor is great together.  It works great with this filling also.

Cracker-wich

These cookies got a warm response from all age groups.  The kids did love them, like I expected.  The adults did also.  The only one upset was the college student who didn't get one because they were all gone!  We give them 4 out of 5 rating.  I think the kids might give them a 5, though.

Here is the recipe:

Cocoa-Mallow Cookie-wiches
Cookie
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Filling
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup marshmallow creme
1/4 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
3 to 4 tsp milk

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease cookie sheets (I only did this prior to the first batch).
3. In large bowl, combine sugar and 1/2 cup butter; beat until light and fluffy.  Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and egg; blend well.  Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheets.
2. Bake at 375 for 7 to 9 minutes or until edges appear set.  Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet.  Cool 15 minutes or until completely cooled.
3. Meanwhile, in large bowl, combine all filling ingredients; beat 2 minutes or until light and fluffy.  To make sandwich cookies, spread filling between 2 cooled cookies, placing flat sides together.  Repeat with remaining filling and cookies.  Store in tightly covered container.

Caramel Frosted Banana Drops

Caramel Frosted Banana Drops

This is a very difficult cookie to make in this house.  The reason? Because my kids love bananas and very rarely leave any to get ripe for baking!  I had to announce to the entire house that no one could eat the last 2 bananas.  Guards were posted and had to hold off angry mobs that wanted these treasured items.  Finally, they were ripe enough to bake (they could of used another day of ripening , but I couldn't take the chance).

Prior to Frosting.

Of course, cookies can not be allowed to be completely cooled in this house prior to taste testing so some were eaten before they were frosted.  Everyone agreed that they tasted like banana bread.  They are not super sweet so they are probably pretty healthy if you don't frost them.  We eventually did frost most of them.


Ingredients: You'll notice there is no egg in this cookie.  I thought maybe it was a miss print, but the banana must be the replacement for the egg.  My banana bread recipe has eggs, though, so it did surprise me.  There was also no baking powder or baking soda.  That explains why they did not rise or spread out much.  They taste good, though, even with these differences.  I'm not a 100% sure I made the frosting correctly.  It said to melt butter and brown sugar until the sugar dissolved.  It never really dissolved.  My burners are intermittent and I used a non-stick pan - both of which I have heard can affect the results of cooking.  It tastes fine, but I'm wondering if it is suppose to be creamier???


Rating within the family?  The 2 littlest ones love these.  Rod, Jenn and I are torn.  They are good, but compared to the other ones that we have had, we just can't give them as high a rating.  We decided to give them a 3 out of 5 (littlest ones give them, "YUM!!" rating).

Here is the recipe:

Banana Frosted Banana Drops

Cookie Ingredients
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup (1 large) mashed banana
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Frosting
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 to 3 Tblsp milk

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup butter; beat until light and fluffy.  Add banana and 2 tsp vanilla; blend well.  Add flour and salt; mix well.  Stir in walnuts.  Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.  (I pressed them down a little so they would bake more evenly).

2. Bake at 350 for 9 to 14 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  Immediately remove from cookie sheets.  Cool 15 minutes or until completely cooled.

3. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup butter.  Cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring constantly.  Cool slightly.  Stir in powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp vanill and enough milk for desired spreading consistency.  Frost cooled cookies.