Cookies?

 

My first attempt at no sugar added baking. I had been avoiding this like the plague because really, baking just does not work the same without good ol' granulated sugar. It's like the sugar in sweet baked recipes adds the caramelization and some sort of invisible culinary magic that sugar substitutes can't even come close to mimicking.

As I was stimulating the economy by shopping at Whole Foods, I came across this sweetener in the baking aisle that had the words "organic zero" on the front. I figured, if it's sold at Whole Foods, it can't be bad for you, at least according to the FDA and the healthy folk who stock Whole Foods shelves. "Organic Zero" is apparently organic erythritol, which, though it sounds like an antibiotic, is a naturally fermented and crystallized sugar alcohol. I think I read somewhere that the fermentation process is similar to how they make kombucha, but I can't really cite that as I am blogging, except as "the internet". Anyway, I thought I'd give this no-calorie sweetener a whirl, even though "sugar alcohol" usually means an unpleasant after-effect on your digestive tract. Fortunately, I did read up on a few sites that erythritol is the least irritating to your digestive tract, and Tyson and I can attest to that after sharing a batch.

I adapted an old peanut butter/chocolate chip/oatmeal cookie recipe that I came up with years ago. I've only brought myself to make two tiny batches since this "Organic Zero" crap is, like, $12.99 for a 12 oz. bag. So I can label this post "no sugar added", "healthy", but definitely NOT "budget".

Organic Zero Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 egg
1/4 cup TJ's natural salted crunchy peanut butter
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup Organic Zero (plus an extra hefty sprinkling, about 2 tbsp?)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder (the baking soda and baking powder are just thrown in for good measure since they're expected to be used for baking.I really have no clue what they would do to this recipe.)
1/2 cup Sunspire Grain Sweetened Chocolate Chips

Ah yes, grain sweetened chocolate chips. They're like ordinary semi-sweets, but instead of being sweetened by refined sugars, they're sweetened with malted grains. They fit into Tyson's arbitrary rules.

Bake for however long cookies should bake. My oven is broken so I can only set it at 400 and turn it off to hit temps in the 300's. I think I baked them for 15 min.

I'd have to say, these taste just so-so when you first take a bite, but throw in an ice cold glass of Fat-Free Milk and the cookies do disappear quite quickly.

Pink is the new orange.

So I've joined my wonderfully handsome diabetic boyfriend Tyson (like Top Chef's Sam!) in the "no sweets with added refined sugar" commitment, and so far it's been a solid 9 months. Yup, 9 months. A whole human gestation period. Well, almost a whole gestation period. I did work my way up to a "planned cheat" for Leah and Tony's wedding cake (hey, they were more excited about the cake than most of the other wedding things, so it was my duty to partake in its splendor). And there has been a taste here or there, justifiably to actually taste what different desserts taste like as I continue on my quest to cooking greatness.

But really, I have not eaten "sweets with added refined sugar" (mind you, it's a descriptive yet arbitrary rule) for quite some time now. And it has just become a way of eating. I've completely lost my craving for lots of sweets now, such as cookies, candy, and cake (yes, definitely cake, in fact I have somewhat of an aversion to seeing people eat cake). I do, however, have intense cravings for chocolate. Luckily they are satiated by fruit juice sweetened double chocolate cookies from Mrs. Fabes (avail. at Whole Foods for a pretty penny) and Mani's (avail. at both their Fairfax and Main St. locations for a pretty penny). And things like Carbolite from Bigg Chill and no sugar added Fudgesicles. But really, I'm not that into going broke at Mani's (and increasing my carbon footprint) or putting all that artificial crap into my body. And sugar-free chocolate is known to have a laxative effect. ew.

So here I am, during an afternoon lull in front of my computer. I saw Mell's away msg "resisting thin mints" (she has given up sugar for lent. and will eat dizzying amounts of sugar on day 41 if anyone would like to join her) and immediately had a craving for something sweet.

So I grabbed a Cara Cara orange from the fridge. I'd have to say, I'm not a fan. And it's a freakin' orange, so who says they're NOT a fan? But it's flavor was just so so, even though it was juicy, and that color is oddly off putting. Kind of like God threw a little red 40 dye into his naval orange cauldron just for kicks.

Did I just get a bad Cara Cara (ha, a lemon)?