Eggless Cookie Recipe

Have you ever been in the middle of creating something wonderful in your kitchen and you get to the part of the recipe when you need to add - butter, eggs, oil, baking powder...etc and when you go to reach for the next ingredient, you discover that you are out of it?

NOOOOO! This can't be happening right now!

It happens to the best of us. No one is perfect in the kitchen. I know I've made a lot of mistakes. Especially those mistakes that consist of the same missing ingredient scenario like the above problem. I can't help it though. When I have the huge urge to bake, I bake. When I am craving something bad, I'll cook it! And when I get in one of those experimentive kitchen nerd moods, nothing can stop me! Whether or not I have all the ingredients for success!

Yes, you can be one of those cooks that always makes sure you have everything in stock and if you find something low, you go and buy it just so you are prepared for future baking/cooking moments.

But most likely you can be one of those bakers that buys things at the moment of your decision to make a dish.

I'd say I'm in the middle. Yes I have the usual flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, and powder in my kitchen pantry but I prefer to save my money and not always buying things just because I'm low on corn starch! Which now reminds me, I've been out of mirin for awhile now. Something that keeps slipping my mind. I usually don't mind taking a trip to the grocery store because I could be there for hours and not get bored. But there are those days that it can be inconvenient to have to make a trip at the last minute in order to complete a step in a recipe, worry about gas, AND going out in public looking like a hot mess. ;) I kid sometimes!

I know I'm not the only one who has been in a crunch like this! What's the one thing you always seem to be out of when you need it the most?

So today it happened again. I was in the middle of making some fantastic Dark Chocolate Pistachio cookies with a sprinkle of sea salt on top and when I got to the egg part of the recipe, I went to the fridge and looked....looked....and looked some more. I WAS OUT OF EGGS! AHHHHHH! WHAT DO I DO??

I'm well aware of all those vegan recipes out there, but to be honest, I really am not a fan of them. They always come out odd, too thick, and no texture. And yes, I've made a batch of vegan cookies once just to see what these recipes are all about! So when I realized I was out of eggs, that was the first thing that came to mind. The cookies were going to be ruined.

So I decided to experiment a little. Take a chance. I am a HUGE science nerd - both in the kitchen and working in a hospital setting. I have no problem saying I'm a geek and loving it!

I looked to see what I had available at that exact moment and I found corn starch and lowfat plain yogurt. The corn starch adds to the texture and binds the ingredients of the cookie with the butter and the yogurt makes the dough moist and keep together. Will this make or break the cookie?

So here's the basic cookie recipe that I came up with and then you can come up with your own cookie combinations to satisfy your craving, your likings, or for any special events and holidays. For one ingredient, 1 1/2 - 2 cups would be just fine, for a combo of two, 1 cup of each would be perfect to add to the cookie dough, and for three or more, I'd lessen the amount in order not to overcrowd the cookie, which will change the end results of your cookie. Today I used dark chocolate, pistachio, and coarse sea salt so I'll write what I did and the end result of my experiment.

Eggless Cookie Recipe

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup bread flour
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder

1 stick of butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 Tbsp corn starch
2 Tbsp water

1/4 cup plain lowfat (or nonfat) yogurt
2 tsp vanilla

1 cup pistachios, chopped
1 cup Valrhona dark chocolate, chopped or any semi to dark chocolate chips
Coarse sea salt

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2) Combine dry ingredients; set aside.
3) Cream butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl; set aside. Combine cornstarch and water in a small bowl, then add to the butter-sugar and mix. Then add the yogurt and vanilla. Beat thoroughly.
4) In small batches, add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. (Stir in the pistachios and chocolate well.) *Add your own ingredients here.
5) Use an ice cream scoop and place the rounded cookie dough onto the baking sheets. (Sprinkle the coarse sea salt over the cookie dough.) Bake for around 10-12 minutes for Tbsp sized cookie dough and 15-17 minutes for ice cream scoop sized dough.
6) Allow to cool on the sheets for 3-4 minutes before removing onto cooling racks.

What was the end result?

 

I'll be 100% honest. If someone else had made this recipe and did not tell me about the changes that were made, I definitely would not have known there was no egg in the cookie. They were absolutely perfect! And I'm not just saying this because I made them.

 

Crisp on the outside with a slight chewiness in the middle. Most definitely not like the vegan recipes you find online or in a cookbook. For the record, I know this isn't a 'vegan' recipe but I do put this cookie in a category similar to that of one. I was completely shocked by how good these cookies were. This girl patted herself on the back for a job well done. First times the charm!

 

*I'd like to point out some things in the way I usually bake and also how I baked these cookies before you try these out for yourself:

 

-When it comes to sugar, I NEVER measure accurately. I have never been a super sweet dessert fan so I loosely measure less than the right amount called for in any recipe, whether I create it myself or use someone elses recipe. I measured less sugar than what I put in this recipe. I might even go a little less next time, but I did not want to adjust that above since everyone has their own tastes.

 

-I ended up adding the corn starch/water liquid and vanilla first, the dry ingredients, and then mixed in the yogurt before the pistachio and chocolate so I could see the dough pre-yogurt and with the yogurt. Pre-yogurt, the dough was somewhat dry and only slightly moist. After the addition of yogurt, the dough resembled the regular cookie dough 'look with the addition of egg(s)'. I can assume that if you add the yogurt in before the flour, it'll be just fine?

 

-And I'm guilty of always putting more vanilla than asked...does that make me a bad girl? ;)

 

-But I ALWAYS measure the other dry ingredients accurately. Sometimes I do follow the rules. :)

 

I hope you'll try these out for yourself. And of course, please let me know what you think!

Zucchini Chickpea Burgers

Whaaaat??! Veggie burgers? Where's the meat!

 

I know, I know! Kind of strange seeing this girl post a recipe for a veggie burger but hear me out!

 

I made plans for myself to try to go completely meat-less -minus fish and 2 eggs/week, of course!- for a few weeks, starting this past Monday. Doing it mainly for health reasons and actually feeling great about it! This will be my second meat challenge this year and I'm feeling pumped about doing this again but working harder to eat better meat-less meals.

 

So how to do this without giving up, feeling hungry, and getting discouraged?

 

Get creative in the kitchen. Try new things and experiment. Figure out new flavors or combinations that you like and ones you may not but glad you at least had the guts to try. Play around with your food! Make it fun.

 

The first thing I thought of doing was buying three cans of chickpeas and deciding on making three totally different dishes I've never had before than the usual ways of delving into the garbanzo bean. Gotta start somewhere!

 

I looked online for some inspiration or even a new recipe to try and right away I locked my eyes on the recipe for Zucchini Chickpea Burgers....and that was the first new meal I was going to create with one of my cans. I was a little wary but definitely went in with an open-mind.

 

I found the recipe on Vicky's blog: http://avocadopesto.com

 

and here's the link to her recipe: Zucchini Chickpea Burgers

 

I made a couple of changes for my own preferences (and the fact I rarely follow a recipe!) but here is her recipe below:

 



Zucchini Chickpea Burgers

Recipe type: Dinner

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 6

 

Killer veggie burgers made with zucchini, chickpeas, quinoa and sunflower seeds. This will be your new favorite burger. Vegan and gluten free too!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 3 clove garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, chopped finely
• 1½ cup zucchini, grated on the largest setting of a box grater
• ½ cup sunflower seeds, toasted
• ¾ teaspoons sea salt, plus more to taste
• Black pepper to taste
   
• 1½ cup canned chickpeas
• 1 cup cooked quinoa (1/3 cup dry)
• ⅔ cups water
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
• ½ teaspoon smoked and spicy paprika
• To serve::
• 8 hamburger buns or sliced bread (Udi’s gluten free for gluten free version)
• red onion, thinly sliced
• large handful arugula
• 4 tablespoons wasabi mayo (omit for vegan version)
• 4 tablespoons edamame hummus
• 3 small cucumbers, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a pan. Saute onion and garlic until tender. Add zucchini, and saute until zucchini is cooked through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Grind pumpkin seeds, sea salt, and pepper in a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add quinoa, chickpeas, dijon mustard, lemon, dill, and paprika, to the mixture. Pulse to combine a few times and then run the food processor until the mixture is broken up but hasn’t completely lost its texture. If you need to, add a little water to the mixture.
3. Place the mixture in a mixing bowl and add the zucchini, onion, and garlic. Mix until combined.
4. Shape the mixture into 6-8 patties with your hands.
5. Heat remaining olive oil in a pan on medium heat. Cook burgers for five minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
6. Serve each burger on hamburger buns with a dollop of wasabi mayo, edamame hummus, sliced cucumbers, red onions and arugula.

 

Here's my end result:

 



 

And my changes:

• I ended up replacing the sunflower seeds with pine nuts. 
• No need to add any water to the mix. It was perfectly moist.
• The olive oil was kind of low for only 2 Tbsp and splitting it for the first steps and when cooking the burgers but I stuck to it.
• I had no dijon mustard in my kitchen so I used regular mustard but cut it down to less than 2 Tbsp. I got a hint of it when I tried the burger but not overpowering at all. I wouldn't mind using this again or just buying some dijon.
• I used dried dill instead of fresh. I don't use it that often to buy fresh so dried came in handy today.
• I had smoky paprika on hand already so used that though it isn't spicy at all.
• I added 1 tsp of red pepper flakes for a kick!
• I was out of arugula. :)
• Instead of making wasabi mayo, I made wasabi yogurt instead. Just made about 1/2-1 tsp of wasabi and added to about 1/2 cup of plain low-fat yogurt. It was more than perfect! That and I'm trying to avoid mayo as much as I can.
• And I didn't have edamame hummus - which I absolutely love, by the way!

My thoughts?

 

I actually really like this burger. I forgot that it wasn't meat for a second! I wouldn't mind making this once in a while. I was able to get 7 burgers out of the mix, which I ended up freezing them to enjoy on another day. So far it's been about 5 hours since I had lunch and I'm still feeling full, no appetite at all, and I'm not missing meat...so far! I encourage you to try this out and taste for yourself!