It's been way too long since our last post. Over the last month, I've been distracted by foodgawker, the election (I'm supporting "that one") and Penn State Football. I've spent entirely too much time in front of the computer, mostly with foodgawker, making it hard to crank out a post. We've been cooking regularly, but I've been too tired/lazy to pull out the camera and tripod to document our meals.

Hungry Bear has constantly reminded me that I'm neglecting SND. To appease her and some of our loyal readers (I hope you are still out there), we present to you look-we-still-love-you-and-SND everything cookies. As someone who loves to eat anything and everything, this cookie has it all... chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, raisins, nuts, granola and rolled oats.

It's a great recipe that Hungry Bear got from a friend over a decade ago. As the name implies, the cookie has everything you'd want... soft, crunchy, chewy, chocolaty, fruity and peanut buttery. I like to think that they're sort of healthy with the low-fat granola and rolled oats. It lessens the guilt after you inhale half a dozen cookies in five minutes!

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The first time I was offered a tofu chocolate chip cookie, I made a funny face, probably the same look that some of you are giving me right now. With a little hesitation, I took a bite and much to my surprise, the tofu cookie was really good. Ever since then, I've always looked forward to eating the cookies made by our friend, Jeanne. In fact, I like them so much, I've made football game bets with Jeanne, pitting her tofu cookies against my chewy chocolate chunk cookies.

The recipe was created by Jeanne's friend, a certified nutritionist, who wanted to make a healthy alternative to traditional chocolate chip cookies. Butter is not used in the recipe and is replaced with peanut butter and cream cheese. In addition to the soy protein from the tofu, the cookies are made with high-protein egg whites and the aforementioned peanut butter. Lower glycemic index (GI) oat flour is used instead of all-purpose flour. The oat flour is also higher in protein and is gluten-free.

We made the tofu cookies for the first time last week and used white whole wheat flour instead of oat flour, which we couldn't find at the local supermarkets. We thought about using all-purpose flour, but decided to stay true to the healthy intent of the recipe and went with the whole wheat. The tofu cookies were good with predominant flavors from the whole wheat, peanut butter and Valrhona 61% chocolate chunks. I don't think anyone would be able to tell that the cookies contained tofu.

There are definite differences between the oat and wheat flour cookies. I prefer the taste of the oat flour cookies, but I like the texture and crumb of the whole wheat cookies. Since oat flour doesn't contain gluten, it doesn't rise and the cookies are a little more dense. The next time we make the cookies, I'm going to try a 50/50 mix of oat and whole wheat flour.

After eating the tofu cookies for the last few days, Hungry Bear and I decided that the cookies would be a great energy bar alternative. They are relatively low in sugar, a good source of low GI carbs and contain a decent amount of protein. And since they are homemade, you know exactly what's in them and they contain no preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, palm kernel oil or other questionable ingredients. On a long bike ride, I would definitely prefer eating a chocolate tofu cookie over a Cliff bar or Powerbar.

Don't hold me to these exact numbers, but I calculated the nutritional value of the tofu cookies compared to some of my favorite chocolate energy bars and regular chocolate chip cookies. The serving size of the Cliff energy bars are 68 grams, the Balance bar is 50 grams, and the chocolate chip cookie is 55 grams. For comparison sake, I used 68 grams, about 1.5 cookies, as the serving size for the tofu cookies.

Tofu Cookie and Energy Bar Nutritional Comparison

The tofu cookies have less protein than the protein powder/isolate stuffed energy bars, but they also have less calories for a 68 gram serving size, which means you can eat more cookies!

I don't think tofu chocolate chip cookies will ever replace my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, but they are a good healthier alternative. Compared to processed energy bars, the tofu cookies are superior in taste and natural nutrition. The next time you are on a long bike ride or need a post workout boost of energy, grab a few homemade tofu chocolate chip cookies instead of that processed bar.

Updated February 27, 2008: I added the nutritional breakdown for my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe to the chart.

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What do you get when you win a bet against a Hoosier fan? The answer is chocolate chunk oatmeal cookies, if you make the bet with Hungry Bear. My Penn State buddy, Jeff, made a bet with her on the Penn State vs. Indiana football game last month. Since Jeff lives in New York City, they agreed to wager on homemade cookies, which are easily shippable. Despite a valiant effort by the Hoosiers, the Nittany Lions narrowly came out on top and Hungry Bear was relegated to baking cookies! One batch for Jeff and another batch for us to enjoy.

We don't have a tried and true oatmeal cookie recipe, so Hungry Bear used a recipe from The New Best Recipe cookbook, which has our favorite chocolate chip cookies recipe. She followed the recipe with one minor change for the first batch. Instead of using semisweet chips, she used Scharffen Berger bittersweet chocolate chunks for a more rustic look and a richer chocolate taste. The second batch contained half bittersweet chunks and half butter toffee chunks from chopped Hershey's SKOR candy bars.

Both batches of cookies turned out great and had a super nice texture — crispy around the edge, but still soft and chewy in the middle. I have never had oatmeal cookies made with Scharffen Berger chocolate. I loved the fruity, bittersweet chocolate with the oatmeal. The toffee and chocolate batch was equally as good and had an extra gooeyness from the toffee. I preferred the regular chocolate oatmeal cookies, while Hungry Bear liked the chocolate toffee ones more.

The only issue with the cookies was the oatmeal. Hungry Bear used old-fashioned Quaker Oats. The next time we make these cookies, we want to try a higher quality, steel-cut oatmeal and possibly add more of it. The cookies were delicious tasting as is, but we'd like a more prominent oatmeal texture.

Packaging

What's the best way to pack and ship cookies? After a little research, Hungry Bear discovered the best method is to Saran wrap the cookies, back to back in pairs and then place them in a tin. We didn't have a cookie tin; instead Hungry Bear used the round Quaker Oats container and a large plastic yogurt container to store the cookies. On Monday, these containers were carefully packed in a box and shipped to NYC via DHL 2-day service.

Sadly, the package didn't arrive on Wednesday and these pictures are the closest Jeff will get to the cookies right now. Either DHL or the shipping store screwed up and sent the package via ground service, which will take five business days. Hungry Bear is quite upset, as she put a lot of love and effort into baking the cookies. She's afraid the cookies will be stale when they finally arrive in NYC. I think they still will taste good.

The moral of the story is don't ship your cookies using DHL and more importantly, don't bet against a Penn State fan without taking the points! WE ARE...

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As I mentioned in the last post, we had ice cream cookie sandwiches for dessert last Sunday. The cookies for the sandwich are thick and chewy chocolate chunk cookies. The cookies on their own are absolutely delicious with a glass of milk or coffee. Our friends have enjoyed the chocolate chunk cookies many times, so we decided to add a new twist and treat them to ice cream too.

The thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies recipe can be found in Cook's Illustrated's The New Best Recipe cookbook. We really like this recipe because it produces cookies that have a great chewy texture. Another reason why we like the recipe is the butter is melted as opposed to softened, so there's no pre-planning required to make the cookies.

When Hungry Bear and I make the cookies, we don't use chocolate chips, but instead create chunks by chopping bars of bittersweet Scharffen Berger chocolate. Additionally, to create a jagged surface, we break the dough ball in half, rotate the jagged halves 90 degrees and jam them back together. When you click through the slideshow, you'll see a round dough ball and one that was split in half and put back together. A round dough ball will create a cookie with a smooth surface, whereas, a jagged dough ball will produce a cookie with a nice textured appearance. This is one of the tips that you'll find at Cook's Illustrated.

Back to the ice cream sandwiches, they were great and completely over the top. The sandwich is just an excuse to eat two chocolate chunk cookies with some ice cream. I don't think we'll make ice cream cookie sandwiches again any time soon. It was just too gluttonous. But I completely enjoyed my chocolate chunk ice cream cookie sandwich last Sunday!

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Our friend, Deb, recently took a "Venture to Vietnam" cooking class that was offered by First Class Cooking in San Francisco. Deb loved the class and was looking for volunteers to test out her new cooking skills and recipes, so she invited Hungry Bear and me over for dinner this past Saturday.

Deb and her husband, Brennan, are our eating partners in crime when we go to Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc, which is my absolute favorite restaurant in the Bay Area. We even get the Ad Hoc menu emailed to us on a daily basis to drool over, and we sometimes take a last minute trip for dinner in Napa.

Using the Ad Hoc menu template, Deb surprised us and emailed the dinner menu to us on Saturday morning. The menu read...

Vietnamese Spring Rolls
Cold shrimp, carrots, cucumber, bean sprouts, cilantro and mint served
with a crushed peanut lime vinaigrette

~

Lemongrass Beef Skewers
Tri tip beef marinated in a lemongrass garlic mixture

~

Ca Kho To
Catfish simmered in a ginger, chili and caramel sauce

~

Coconut Ice Cream/Mango Pudding
TBA - depending on chef’s mood later today.

Needless to say, we were very excited about dinner. When we arrived at Deb and Brennan's place, Deb had the spring rolls prepared, the beef skewers marinating and was in the process of making the caramel sauce for the fish. There was also a bottle of 2004 Quivira Zinfandel - Anderson Ranch decanting on the table.

Since Vietnamese food is my peep's food, I was impressed that Deb wanted to cook Vietnamese for me. Brennan was actually a little nervous for her, but she wasn't concerned at all.

Deb was right to be confident, as dinner was excellent. All the dishes were tasty and were easy to prepare with fresh, simple ingredients. They were also healthy (very minimal oil/fat) without sacrificing flavor. And the Zinfandel paired well with the lemongrass beef and ca kho.

Deb did make a homemade coconut ice cream mixture, but the ice cream maker had to chill for another 12 hours. So, dessert was MaggieMudd ice cream (toasty coconut, vegan coconut pineapple and mint chocolate chip) with toasted coconut shavings and chocolate chip cookies.  My favorite MaggieMudd flavor was the mint chocolate chip. After we finished dessert, Hungry Bear proclaimed, "Hungry Bear is no longer hungry."

Deb was gracious enough to send us home with leftover ca kho. For dinner on Sunday, Hungry Bear and I stir fried some water spinach and had the catfish on a bed of jasmine rice... yummy! The caramel sauce soaked rice was simply delicious.

Now I have to reciprocate a Vietnamese dinner and pull out my mom's secret recipes! 

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