Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Protein Cookies (apres yoga?)

Full disclosure, this is not really a recipe. More full disclosure, I do not practice yoga. I prefer the martial arts, where I can kiai, since I'm not meant to yell at my children. Or hit them. And I don't. I hit the bag in the gym. Hi-ya! See? That feels good, right? Not to take you away from your breathing, which improves flexibility, energy and is generally restorative and centering. I know. I have tried it. But on leaving class I always wanted, very badly, to kick something, hard. It's true. I failed at yoga. Tell no one.

Back to baking.

Some Caveats. These cookies are, in fact, cookies, and therefore NOT good for you. Lots of fat, lots of sugar. (See below for agave substitution.) Some salt even. That said, I feel better about my boys eating them knowing I've hidden some protein in the treat. Additionally, these cookies are NOT vegan. They can be made vegan by using the substitutions included at the end.

Step One. Pull out your favorite oatmeal cookie recipe. I like the Cook's Illustrated one, I think it's in American Classics. This is not just because I used to share a sitter with Chris Kimball. Though that makes me feel special every time I'm in the kitchen. It's because the recipe is just that smidge better than the one on the Quaker Oats box. You know you love that recipe.

Step Two. BE SURE TO USE THE BEST INGREDIENTS YOU CAN STOMACH PAYING FOR. Maybe that should be step one. Regardless, use unsalted butter and unbleached wheat flour. If there is a wheat allergy you are dealing with - make pudding. Really, at some point the substitutions become ridiculous and it's like eating "vegan bacon." There is no such thing. There's smoked strips of dead pig and there's smoked tempeh, a soy bean product - see the difference? No one should ever eat one and pretend it is even remotely like the other. Acknowledge the integrity of your food and the wit of your senses. Fine. If you truly want to make wheat free cookies experiment with spelt and nut flours. Once you are done, please post your recipe. I promise to do the same. Currently I use white whole wheat, as it adds flavor, but not too much.

The CHOCOLATE. Welcome to church. Our sermon for today is on fair trade chocolate. Please, please, please, eat less chocolate if you have to but make it all fair trade chocolate. The chocolate industry is, indeed, an industry and it is rife, still, with the sins of colonialism. The attendant price is paid, as of old, by the people who actually grow and harvest the cacoa pods. A good reference on the costs of chocolate is Bitter Chocolate: The Dark Side of the World's Most Seductive Sweet by Carol Off. I know, you just want to have one simple pleasure. Could you try, then, to use more fair trade chocolate? Simple steps. If Candy Freak Steve Almond can make the effort I am sure we all can.
I like to use Grenada Chocolate 60% chocolate bars which I break into chunks. (http://www.grenadachocolate.com/)
My theory has long been that if I buy expensive chocolate I'll go broke before I get fat. In this case, the money goes to a co-op of organic farmers so more good goes around. Plus, it's excellent chocolate. I just wish it were more expensive.


REQUIRED substitutions. This is why I get to call them protein cookies. I cheat here, too. I use the Cornell Triple Rich formula. I'm not sure where I first read about this, it may have been in Vicki Lansky's book Feed Me! I'm Yours. It was developed at Cornell, thus the name.

THE FORMULA. For each cup of flour called for in the recipe place 1 Tbsp each milk powder, wheat germ and soy protein powder in the bottom of your measuring cup. Now fill it the rest of the way with your flour.

The Soy Powder. At the grocery store you are often limited to chocolate or vanilla protein powder. You can use the vanilla, it's not a problem; but, if you prefer to use unflavored soy powder, health food stores usually have it. Vege Fuel works.

Spices. If you are using a raisin oatmeal cookie recipe it likely calls for cinnamon. You may skip the cinnamon, however it is very good for you. It is a great antioxidant. And it stimulates your metabolism, or so some studies indicate. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2602825#B11

Plus, cinnamon and chocolate are a wonderful combination. Ground clove works as well, also very good for you. (but NOT if you smoke the clove. Try to avoid sucking smoke into your lungs.) Cinnamon and clove are better for you in a bowl of oatmeal, but if you are going to have a cookie anyway . . .

Were we baking?

Add your other ingredients and mix together. If you are using the vegan substitutions blend your dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately and then add your dry to your wet.

Now, stir in the oatmeal, chocolate chunks and walnuts. The more walnuts the more protein and more omega 3. Chopped small you can get a cup in. My boys will NOT eat cookies with nuts on principle. They eat nuts plenty, just not in their cookies - or so they think. I grind the nuts in my mini-prep until they are paste like and add THAT to the mix along with the flax seed and tofu or eggs if going omnivore.

That's it, really, and you can use the Cornell Triple Rich on any baking recipe that calls for flour.

VEGAN SUBSTITUTIONS:
For butter, substitute 75% oil or coconut oil. (1 cup of butter – ¾ c. oil)
1 egg = 1/4 c. firm silken tofu = 1 T ground flax seed + 3 T water whisked together. I have only done up to 3 eggs.
From: http://eggbeater.typepad.com/shuna/2009/02/vegan-baking-substitutions-solutions-advice-for-flavourful-alternative-baked-goods.html
This is a GREAT reference. If you are using the substitutions you really should read the whole article.
Sugar substitution: You can use 2/3 cup agave nectar or 2/3 cup maple syrup instead of the sugars. (I mix, half and half when I do this.) You will need to make up for the extra moisture. Generally you can cut down on the liquid by 1/4, but I find that tricky with all my other changes so I just grind up the oatmeal into a flour and add about half a cup until I get my cookie dough consistency. Why do I bother? I have vegan friends who do not believe that any sugar is vegan. They are wrong. It may be true that all sugar is a drug, or that sugar is not fairly traded and many other things but there are major sugar producers, as well as smaller ones, that do not use bone char when processing their sugar. Domino is one of them. Still, to make them happy, I substitute.

What you learned: For each cup of flour add one tablespoon each wheat germ, milk powder and soy powder to cup, then fill cup with flour. Now, pretend it's health food and take the cookies along instead of gorp on your next hike

NB: When making brownies you can also substitute cocoa powder for some of the flour called for in the recipes. Obviously, not too much. Make certain you have enough gluten and that the batter is the right consistency. My kids like me to make them brownie sundaes so it's a good bribe for a week of getting their homework done and all their practicing in. For them the best treat is when I put minty fudge sauce over it. They love it, and their father won't try to steal any. He hates the mint-chocolate combo.

Next chocolate installment: making your own chocolates. Next issue: Why can't a woman be more like a man?