Monday, September 19, 2011

(You'll Never Know They're Dairy Free) Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't have much of a sweet tooth but when I do get a craving for sweets my one weakness is definitely Chocolate Chip Cookies. I LOVE fresh home baked chocolate chip cookies- chewy, not crunchy. I have found lots of recipes for healthy vegan chocolate chip cookies, but that just doesn't seem right to me. I mean, a cookie isn't supposed to be healthy, it's supposed to be a treat. It's a COOKIE after all! And unless you have serious allergies to eggs or are a vegan, I don't see the point to making them vegan.

As most of you know I am a huge fan of Trader Joes, and have started doing about 80% of my grocery shopping there. On my last trip I picked up some chocolate chips (Not reading the back, because I knew no matter what my kids and husband would want cookies at some point). I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the Trader Joes Semisweet Chocolate Chips are DAIRY FREE!!


I had been a little hesitant to try making chocolate chip cookies using dairy free margarine instead of butter. But since it was a yucky rainy weekend and I had time on my hands (well, as much as I could have with 3 little ones running around!) I decided to give it a try. And to my surprise they turned out PERFECT! I could not wait to share the recipe with all of you!

I got this directly from the back of the chocolate chip bag. I am sharing it especially for my friends who do not have a Trader Joes near them. ;-)

Ingredients:
2 and 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar (I use turbinado)
1 cup softened dairy free margarine (I use Earth Balance)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 package Trader Joes Chocolate Chips (Or other Dairy Free ones)



Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.


2. Combine brown sugar, granulated sugar, softened margarine, and vanilla in a a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer (or use your Kitchen Aid if you have one) until creamy. Add in the eggs and beat.


3. Add in your dry ingredients and beat until combined.


4. Stir in the chocolate chips.


5. Drop mixture by rounded tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.(It says teaspoons, but I like bigger cookies so I always use a tablespoon.


6. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Although I found that they needed a little longer than 10 minutes because I made them tablespoon size instead of teaspoon size. I recommend setting the time for 9 minutes and watching them closely.






These are sooooo good! To me I can't tell they are completely dairy free and neither could my husband. They taste just like Nestle Tollhouse cookies. I made them for a girls' movie night this weekend and shared them with friends- who also loved them! I have found that storing them in a Ziploc bag is keeping them very fresh. If you don't make anything else from this blog, I do hope you try these. They are just that good!
Happy Baking!

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