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Esurientes - The Comfort Zone

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Low fat! Cocoa fudge cookies


Yes, another low-fat winner from the talents of Alice Medrich. I saw this recipe a few weeks ago on Baking Sheet and bookmarked it to try. A low-fat cookie that tastes like a brownie? Hell, yeah! It's worth having a low-fat biscuit recipe up your sleeve anyway, and seeing it was one of Alice Medrich's indicated that it'd be guaranteed not to taste low-fat. Her things rarely do; I'm a big fan, as evidenced by my postings about her fallen souffle cake, chocolate layer cake, souffles and lemon yoghurt cake.
I actually made these about a month ago for mother's day. The present I ordered for mum from Amazon hadn't arrived so I came home late from a concert on the Saturday, whipped up the mixture, stuck it in the fridge and baked them up the next morning to take up to her for breakfast with a cup of tea. I know, warm chocolate biscuits for breakfast is bit over-the-top, but what more decadent way to spend the morning in bed?
I had plans to photograph them for the blog but they all disappeared!! She took some to work, where the girls reckoned they were the best chocolate biscuits they'd ever tasted, couldn't believe they were low-fat, and demanded the recipe. So, in the interests of other people who may be interested, and so I could actually post about them, I whipped up another batch.
Now, Nic notes that this recipe was published in Cooking Light magazine, so from that I'm assuming that it is a low-fat recipe. I've never seen a Cooking Light magazine, but from what I've heard it's about cooking......umm....light, yeah? They have a fantastic texture: a crispy shell encasing soft, almost gooey insides. They're light, and not greasy. Luxurious taste without the luxurious calorie count.
Read on for the recipe:

Cocoa Fudge Cookies
(from Cooking Light, recipe by Alice Medrich)

1 cup plain flour
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
7 tbsp cocoa powder (unsweetened)
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup dried tart cherries or cranberries (or mini chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350F (175C).
Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.
In a large, microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter in the microwave. Stir in cocoa powder and sugars. Stir in yogurt and vanilla extract. Add flour and mix until just combined. Stir in cherries or mini-chocolate chips, if using.
Drop tablespoonfuls of batter onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Press down slightly to flatten; cookies do not spread a lot.
Bake at 350F/175C for 9-12 minutes or until set and slightly firm at the edges. Allow to cool on the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 2 dozen.

Note: *Adding mini choc chips and topping with nuts probably ups the fat content a bit, so leave them out if you're concerned about that.
*Refrigerating the mixture overnight made biscuits with a less "perfect" texture and shape. Using the mix immediately seem to produce a better looking and better textured biscuit.


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14 Comments:

  • Thanks, Niki, for a great recipe. I just made a batch, with a little variation - I added coconut & rolled oats to the basic mixture. I decided to add some milk to make it less dry & they came out great. No yoghurt on hand but used sour cream. Son #2 declared them delicious & best eaten while still warm.

    By Blogger Pene, at 6/09/2006 07:56:00 pm  

  • Who would have thought something that looks so devilishly rich and bad for you would be, low fat?
    There are some things in life that work in your favour, this is of them!

    By Blogger Jen, at 6/10/2006 05:34:00 pm  

  • We tried them out yesterday and yum - they are brilliant! I cut back on the cocoa (4 tbs rather than 7) and have since had demands from Hannah for chocolate biscuits for dinner last night and for breakfast this morning (no I didn't give in).

    I hope you don't mind me copying the recipe on my site (for ease of grandparent use - a new egg-free biscuit is a biscuit to treasure!).

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/11/2006 03:01:00 pm  

  • It looks simply delicious!!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/12/2006 12:08:00 pm  

  • Thanks for a great recipe- I made these today- in a study break (i.e. procrastination!), and they were so easy to make, and tasted fantastic. I used some dried cranberries that I had lying around. They are delicious!

    xox Teresa

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/12/2006 02:51:00 pm  

  • These are great cookies, perfect for a fast chocolate fix since you don't have to wait for the butter to come to room temperature. My husband is not the biggest fan of reduced-fat cookies but loves these.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/12/2006 03:18:00 pm  

  • Thanks for the great recipe, I found though that mine spread quite a lot when I baked them but I am not sure why. They did not come out a perfect round shape like yours at all- they still tasted great though! I am planning to make another batch and maybe put in some more flour to make them less runny- what do you think?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/13/2006 11:55:00 am  

  • Hi! I've only just got back to blogging/blog reading.. at least I get to eat your masterpieces! Hehe.

    By Blogger Belinda, at 6/14/2006 10:05:00 pm  

  • I just made them yesterday and they are awsomely fine! They are very tasty and super chewy...

    By Blogger Rosa's Yummy Yums, at 6/15/2006 12:35:00 am  

  • Pene - Yes, I find the mixture can tend towards some dryness, and have had to add a little extra yoghurt sometimes. I like the sound of your variataion, and agree they're best warm!

    Jenjen - It's the great wonder! They taste too good to be low fat!

    Din - So glad they worked out for you and Hannah, and I truly don't mind if you use the recipe on your site. I cut and pasted it from Nic's site anyway!

    Hijackqueen - thanks!

    Teresa - I remember those procrastination 'study breaks' very fondly! I'm glad I could assist in your enjoyment of one! Yes, the dried cranberries are a great addition.

    Pumpkin pie - I'm with your husband on low-fat desserts, but Alice Medrich doens't seem to fail (at least not yet). And yes, they're so quick to make using the microwave. It takes me longer to shape them onto the baking trays than to mix up the batter!

    Emiloo - I'm not sure what might have happened, because it should have been a very thick mixture - almost solid in fact. I've (and Pene above) had to add extra liquid to make the dough workable. The reason mine were so nice and round was because the texture was thick enough to roll a perfect sphere between my palms. The first batch I made, however, I had refrigerated and they were much harder to work with.

    Belinda - And you'll get more tomorrow night!!

    Rosa - I know. A great keeper, this recipe!

    By Blogger Niki, at 6/15/2006 01:36:00 pm  

  • hey hey nikki, dropped by ur blog to say Hi! so, HI!! great blog u have there, keep it up ;)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/17/2006 01:30:00 am  

  • I tried making them again and second time was a charm. I think I put too much butter in the first lot which was why they went runny. The second lot were a much better consistency and shape. Thanks for the great recipe I shall be making it again.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/20/2006 11:19:00 am  

  • I made two batches and took it to work and everyone loved them. My brother ate 6 pieces in one sitting. I didn't have some of the ingredients so I substituted something else. Instead of plain flour and bicarb soda, I used wholemeal selfraising flour. Instead of plain yogurt, I used low fat strawberry yogurt and instead of butter I used olive oil spread. It still tasted delicious and was soft and gooey and sticky. It was very hard to peel off the aluminium foil that I used (as I didn't have baking paper). I think I'll make another batch soon using less sugar as I'm watching my sugar intake nowadays.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7/18/2006 10:57:00 pm  

  • i was searching the net for low fat choc recipes to make and came across this. it looks absolutely delicious, however i dont see how its low fat? it still has a quater of a cup of butter and 1 cup of sugar. i guess at the end of the day it cant be regarded as even 'ok' for u healthwise...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9/15/2007 08:23:00 pm  

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