Baking Matters

Thus far this week (after prodding from various people telling me all of my brownies had been eaten and I needed to make something else), I've had time to bake two goodies. One of them I made yesterday - David Lebovitz's Nonfat Gingersnap Cookies (http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2009/01/nonfat_gingersnaps.html). My god, they're amazing. And his recipes is one of the first cookie types that I've been able to complete without disastrous results. Cookies do not like me. I've tried to make cookies on various other occasions but they always end up too runny and they're difficult to make substitutions in to lower the fat content. IE: Applesauce for oil and things such as that. That said, I would be grateful if anyone who might come across this post and point me in the right direction towards some good either lowfat or no-fail cookie recipes. :D But anyways, enough of my babbling. As I said before, the cookies turned out great. They were crispy on the outside and nice and chewy on the inside. Because I didn't have time to make the crystalized ginger, I substituted chopped dates for that (more nutrition, woo!) and it didn't seem to make any difference in the taste at all. The recipe also doesn't include that you have to press the cookie-dough balls down onto the sheet before popping them in the oven so I took them out and did that about half-way through the baking time. They've gotten really good reviews from everyone who has tried them thus far except for one person (who I know has a very big sweet-tooth) who said that the ginger bite was too much at the end. Making them took a bit of work but it was well worth it in the end in my opinion. I highly recommend this recipe to anyone who wants to give it a try. :)

My second goodie is currently in the oven as I write this. I found this Mexican Chocolate Cake recipe (http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/02/healthy-delicious-mexican-chocolate-cake-recipe-from-real-simple-magazine.html) last week on one of my favorite foodie websites, serious eats, and I knew I had to try it after reading the reviews. Because it's eggless, I had to force myself not to lick the bowl clean but I admit I did sneak a few tastes of the batter before I washed the bowl and it was delicious. When I find some time to blog again I'll let you guys know how it turns out.