Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Healthy Twist

This weekend I had an abundance of avocados on hand and what with the heat wave and all I decided baking cookies would be a brilliant idea. Avocados are not a fruit (yes, fruit) people generally associate with cookies, however they can be used to substitute part of the butter in cookie recipes. It sounds weird, but trust me everything turns out just fine in the end.
So why bother with the avocado at all? Avocado contains 75% less calories and fat than butter. While avocados are generally considered to be rich in fats, they contain monounsaturated fats and no cholesterol. Diets rich in monounsaturated fatty acids have been found to lower LDL cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol), total cholesterol, and triglycerides (basically fat) and increase HDL (“good”) cholesterol in the blood for patients with elevated cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia) (source). It has also been suggested that avocados may help to prevent cancer (source). Avocados are also rich in vitamins and minerals like B vitamins, folate, and potassium.
Here is a chart comparing 1/4 of a cup unsalted butter with 1/4 cup mashed avocado:

Chart from: http://www.fitsugar.com/Substitute-Butter-Avocado-When-Baking-8199268

Are you convinced yet? That’s ok time for some pictures.

 Set the oven for 375F and gather all your ingredients

Cream together the butter and sugars. Mash up half a cup of avocado and add it to the bowl. Gently beat in the avocado until blended.

Trust me, it turns out much more yummy than it looks.

Add the eggs and vanilla and mix. Add in the flour, baking soda and salt slowly until it is all mixed in. Next it’s time to stir in the oats.

Fold in the chocolate chips

Spoon onto a baking sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden and crispy.

With respect to the oats, I really think that Quaker’s Old-Fashioned quick-cooking (but not instant) oatmeal is the best. I used Coach’s Oats here and was not as pleased with the result. I’ve been told, however, that Coach’s Oats makes some kick ass oatmeal. I think the rolled oats or Quaker’s gives a less grainy cookie in the end.

Here’s the recipe from London Foodie in NY

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (with avocado)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup peeled, mashed avocado (around 1/2 an avocado)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)
• 6 oz chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375 F
2. Beat butter until smooth, add sugars and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in avocado until blended
4. Add egg and vanilla and mix thoroughly
5. Add flour, baking soda and salt and mix well.
6. Stir in the oats and coconut.
7. Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.
8. Drop tablespoon-sized balls onto a baking sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden and crispy.

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Ever want to look up nutritional information about foods like fruits and vegetables? Search the USDA National Nutrient Database for free: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/

A Weakness

One of my many weaknesses is spending way too long checking out kitchen stuff in stores. It’s sad, really, because I change my residence every year or two, and I really hate packing up all the stuff I have in my kitchen. When I moved out of my last apartment, my mom made me throw away one of my baking sheets! It was quite sad. It’d been in my house most of my life and we had a lovely 3 years together in college and grad school. My other baking sheet was not in much better condition. I’m not sure why I was allowed to keep it. It rattles when you tilt it side to side and it is scored in many directions from having pizza cut on it.
In any case today I came across this baking sheet set and I couldn’t resist.

Plus it’s made by “Nordic Ware” complete with a Viking head. What person with the tiniest smidgen of Norwegian blood could resist? No one, that’s who.
With respect to the chef’s knife on top of the box, I bought that today too. I had kidnapped my mom’s Chef’s knife for the past 3 years, but gave it back when I moved to med school. I was in a discount store and decided I couldn’t live with awkwardly chopping up produce any longer.
I guess I need to bake cookies with nuts now to justify today’s purchases.

A New Beginning

Tonight, in honor of the first post on this blog, I am baking something that I have never baked before: Zucchini Bread. I don’t actually recommend baking things for the first time when the product is for someone else. I am making a new recipe, however, because this is the internet and no one who reads this will be forced to try it and also because I went to the farmer’s market last weekend and I had an extra zucchini.
This recipe is from my family’s cookbook that I acquired over the summer. It was submitted by my aunt, which is why I chose this recipe over the other zucchini bread recipe in the collection. I can blame her if it’s  awful, right? Just kidding. I don’t think that will be a problem.
Here’s what you do:
Get your ingredients together

Grate your zucchini. I cut off the ends and used a cheese grater…because that’s all the fancy equipment med students can afford. I also pressed out some of the liquid with a paper towel. It should look something like this, though hopefully with better resolution in real life
.
Add your ingredients to a decent sized bowl and mix together.



Pour/spoon mixture into a greased baking vessel. Whatever you happen to have around is fine as demonstrated below.

Pop it in the oven for around an hour. It will rise and appear drier as it cooks. Make sure when you stick a fork in the center that it comes out clean and that the bread doesn’t appear to wobble. If you put it too high up in the oven, the top will cook but the center will still be uncooked. If that happens, move it down a rack if possible and continue baking. When it’s all done it comes out a wonderful light brown and smells like cinnamon.

The verdict: I really like the result except that it is much more of a muffin than a bread. That is, it is more sugary that I was hoping. If I make zucchini bread again in the future I might search for a different recipe or I’ll try adding less sugar to this one.
Summary:
Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup oil (I used vegetable)
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 Tbsp. grated orange peel (I didn’t add this)
• 3 Tsp. vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 1 Tsp. salt
• 1 Tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 Tsp. baking powder
• 2 Tsp. cinnamon (best part!)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 325 F. Grease 2 small bread loaf pans (4.5 in x 9.75 in) or muffin tins or whatever you happen to have on hand.
2. Mix the ingredients in the following order: Eggs, oil, sugar, zucchini, orange peel, vanilla, flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, then cinnamon.
3. Bake at 325 F for 50 min. or until done (until a fork inserted in the middle comes out clean. the bread will look more dry and not so soupy).

Many zucchini bread recipes I’ve seen also include nuts or raisins. You could 1/4 cup of either of these if you wanted. Most of the people I get to eat my baked goods don’t like nuts, so I don’t add them very often. I do love nuts, though. If you live alone like me you can freeze the left overs if you want.