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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Chocolate-chip cookies minus the guilt

 •  Prize catch

By Elaine Magee

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Jacques Torres' Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies — Light give you less of the bad stuff.

Photo courtesy of Elaine Magee

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Q. I would love for you to take a look at these wonderfully decadent chocolate-chip cookies by Jacques Torres (a chocolate maker). Chocolate-chip cookies are a way of life in our home.

A. Here's the thing about lightening chocolate-chip cookies: If you reduce the fat and sugar too much, it's not a cookie anymore, it's a muffin. I've found over the years of making over cookies, that you can usually only reduce the amount of fat added to make the dough by 33 percent. So if you add the same amount of butter called for (most stick butters and margarine and shortening contribute 12 grams of fat per tablespoon), but use a less-fat margarine (such as Land O Lakes Buttery Taste Spread, with 8 grams fat), it generally works well and cuts the fat added by one-third. I also decreased the sugar a little and substituted whole-wheat flour for half of the white flour. Instead of two large eggs, I used one higher omega-3 egg and 1/4 cup of egg substitute. The original recipe also calls for a pound (16 ounces) of chocolate chunks, but 12 ounces works perfectly.

I've done makeovers on a few different chocolate-chip cookie recipes over the years, and this particular one is definitely the best-tasting. All of the little reductions added up, because the finished cookies contain 25 percent fewer calories, 40 percent less fat, 64 percent less saturated fat and 75 percent less cholesterol than the original recipe.

Original recipe contains 250 calories, 12 grams fat, 7 grams saturated fat, and 33 milligrams cholesterol per cookie.

JACQUES TORRES' SECRET CHOCOLATE-CHIP COOKIES — LIGHT

  • 1 cup less-fat margarine (with 8 grams of fat per tablespoon), such as Land O Lakes Fresh Buttery Taste Spread

  • 3/4 cups granulated sugar

  • 1 cup packed brown sugar

  • 1 large egg, higher omega-3 if available

  • 1/4 cup egg substitute

  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  • 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour

  • 1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • 12 ounces Jacques Torres House (60 percent cocoa) Chocolate or other best quality semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped or bought in chunks or chips

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats if desired; set aside.

    In bowl of electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine less-fat margarine, white and brown sugars by beating on medium speed for about one minute. Add egg and egg substitute, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in the vanilla extract then turn off mixer.

    In medium bowl, combine flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda. With mixer on low speed, beat the dry ingredients into the margarine mixture, just until blended. Stir in the chocolate chunks or chips.

    Drop lightly rounded cookie scoops of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Press down gently on each cookie ball to flatten cookies to about 2 1/2-inches wide. Bake cookies until just turning lightly browned (about 12 minutes). Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.

    Makes about 28 bakery-size cookies.

  • Per cookie: 190, 3 g protein, 29 g carbohydrate, 7 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 1.7 g mono-unsaturated fat, 2.3 g polyunsaturated fat, 8 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 201 mg sodium. Calories from fat, 33 percent; omega-3 fatty acids, .2 g; omega-6 fatty acids, 2 g; Weight Watchers Points, 4

    Elaine Magee is a registered dietitian. Find out more at www.recipedoctor.com.