CHOCOLATE CHIP PECAN COOKIES

Before we modified our diet, when I baked chocolate chip cookies to a golden brown Gary complained that they were burnt. And when he did the baking, they were more like slightly warmed-up dough. The nice thing about using Fruit Sweet instead of sugar is you can bake the cookies to a golden brown and they're still moist and chewy.

There’s a wonderful recipe book full of sugar-free desserts, Sweet & Natural Baking by Mani Niall. This recipe is basically his Chocolate Chip and Pecan Cookies recipe with the slightest of tweaks.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl with an electric hand-held mixer, cream together:

6 Tbsp Earth Balance Natural Buttery sticks

1 cup Wax Orchards Fruit Sweet

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

3. Stir in until well blended:

1¾ cups plus 2 Tbsp whole wheat pastry flour

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

4. Stir in:

1 cup grain-sweetened chocolate chips

1 cup pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped

5. Drop by heaping tablespoon onto cookie sheets.

6. Place in oven and set timer for 7 minutes. When timer goes off, switch racks and bake an additional 7 minutes (do not over-bake).*

7. Let cool slightly on cookie sheets and then place on waxed paper to cool completely. Store in airtight container. Makes 18 large cookies.

*NOTE: When baking cookies, I have always switched racks and turned cookie sheets around for even baking … but Mani Niall’s recipe is the only one I’ve ever seen with these instructions actually included. We keep our cookies stored in the freezer and try to limit to one a day.

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