chocolate chip cookies...without the brown sugar

I've said before that I often make recipes without some of the ingredients called for.  Sometimes it's because 1.) I don't like certain ingredients; or 2.) I just don't have the ingredient on hand and I know it before going in; or 3.) I'm lazy and don't read the recipe all the way through and then realize halfway through cooking, "Crap!  I need chicken to make chicken Parmesan?  What is this lunacy??"  It's usually #3, but today it was #2.

I had nothing on the agenda today.  At all.  Nothing.  I was trying to figure out what to do to keep busy and decided I wanted to make cookie dough to freeze.  I was a good girl and checked first to make sure I had the ingredients.  Sugar:  check.  Eggs:  check.  Chocolate chips:  check.  Brown sugar:  nope.  I checked online for cookie recipes and realized all the chocolate chip cookie recipes call for brown sugar.  So then I Googled, "cookies without brown sugar."  I found a few recipes and decided on one to try.  I read through the comments and most people seemed to like the recipe.  I noticed a few people had substituted coconut oil for the butter.  That got me thinking:  I had nearly a whole jar of coconut oil in the cabinet and hadn't yet found a use for it.  I decided to make the recipe using half coconut oil and half butter.

I started getting everything ready and then mixed up the butter, oil, and sugar.  I started to put together the flour, salt, and baking soda.  And...guess what?  I hadn't checked to see if I had flour.  Of course.  There it is.  I looked and realized I had no all-purpose flour, but I did have cake flour.  I looked online and found I could make a small adjustment to the quantity and it would work just fine, so that's what I did.  The plan was to freeze the dough, but, since I hadn't made this recipe before, I wanted to make sure the finished product is edible.

I used parchment paper on my cookie sheets. It's fairly foolproof.   I find that I have a tough time using plain cookie sheets.  My cookies either stick or burn, or they're too crispy when they shouldn't be.  Plus, cookie sheets just never clean up very well.  This way I get evenly cooked cookies and there's no cleanup. :)  I also used the fabulous Silpat baking mat my favorite cousin gave me earlier this year.

These cookies baked up very light in color and didn't really spread at all.  The finished product was soft and chewy and had a hint of coconut flavor.  I will make these again, although I might add some cocoa powder next time.  Recipe below.

I ate only one cookie.  That's my limit when it comes to desserts.  Any more than that and I start with the dumping syndrome.

As you can see, they don't really spread much and they're very light.  I cooked them for the full 11 minutes.

(Raw dough on the left, baked cookies on the right.)

If you want to make the original recipe, go here.  The recipe that follows below is how I made my cookies.

Brown Sugar-less Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 36 cookies, depending on how big you make them.

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened 

1/2 cup virgin coconut oil (I used Trader Joe's; it's much cheaper)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups (1 bag) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Note:  You don't have to buy parchment paper.  You can prepare the cookie sheets whatever way you normally do it.
2. Cream together the butter, coconut oil, and sugar. Add the eggs and mix together. Pour in the vanilla and blend until combined.
3. Pour the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and mix until combined. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix until combined.
4. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Use a cookie scoop or a spoon to form tablespoonful-sized balls of dough. Place the dough on the baking sheet two inches apart.
6. Bake for 8-11 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from the oven. Allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes.
7. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.