Epic Fail ... Sort of.

Okay so maybe "EPIC FAIL" is a bit harsh, but my night last night didn't turn out quite as I was hoping and expecting. After my long day of work and such, I decided to treat myself by making a batch of one of my favorite cookies -- oatmeal dark chocolate chip. I found this recipe a long time ago and have since been able to tweak a little here or there in attempts to make them healthier and heartier. The original recipe consisted of:

• AP (all-purpose) flour
• rolled oats
• sugar
• salt
• baking powder
• vanilla
• egg
• butter
• vegetable oil
• chocolate chips

I took it upon myself to mix it up a bit and put my own spin on it. At first I didn't change too much. I changed the AP flour to stoneground wheat flour. (What I love about a good quality wheat flour, especially stoneground, is that it gives what ever you are making a nice nuttiness to it, with a bit more texture than regular white/AP flour) The only other thing that I changed the first go around was the chocolate chips. Instead of using regular milk chocolate or even semi-sweet chocolate chips, I used dark chocolate and bitter sweet chocolate chips and chunks. There is nothing wrong with your regular semi-sweet nestle tollhouse chocolate chip, but my personal preference is something a bit darker with a bit more bite to it. 

These cookies were great! I loved everything about them. They were chewy, crunchy, oowey and gooey, chocolatey, sweet and savory. And to top it off, they really weren't that unhealthy. They consisted of a hearty serving of whole grains, they had great antioxidants from the dark chocolate, and to top it off, they filled that cookie craving I often get. Over time I continued to wonder if there were any other changes I could make that wouldn't compromise the flavor or texture. One night, I was talking things over with a friend/coworker, Melissa, and we started talking about applesauce. Between the two of us, we came up with a way to substitute the oil from the cookies. I have heard many times that people use applesauce instead of oil in different baking recipes to make things healthier while keeping them nice and moist. I figured I might as well give it a try. So that night I took it upon myself to try it out....and they turned out D-lishh!!! They were every bit as good, if not better, than the modified version I came up with. 

Although these cookies are extremely healthy already, I kind of wondered whether there was anything I could use to substitute for the butter in them as well. (There really isn't much to begin with, and if you are using a good quality butter, there is nothing wrong with that. But once my mind gets wondering, I like to try out new things just for trying's sake) So last night I decided to try substituting the oil AS WELL AS the butter with applesauce............... It didn't quite turn out as I had wanted. The cookies were good, don't get me wrong. But they are not the same. They turned out more chewy then crunchy and were just a little off in the rest of the texture. I think that what happened was the applesauce made the batter a little runnier, causing the oats to be too moist, cookies not to crisp, but to turn chewy instead.

Lesson learned: Keep trying. 

Although these did not come out how I wanted, I am still looking for options to substitute the butter. The options I have come up with so far are:

1. Applesauce  _X_
2. Apple butter ___
3. Nut butter ___
4. Pumpkin puree ___
5. Mashed bananas ___

I will be continuing to make my way down the list and keep you posted on how they turn out! And if you have any other ideas PLEASE let me know! :)