Tasty Tidbit

Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Timeless: The ultimate comfort sweet treat. A tender buttery cookie with delicious flecks of semi sweet chocolate chips made from a tried and true recipe. If you’ve never been privy to Betty’s Crocker’s Cookbook, now’s the time to dig out your mom’s/grandma’s/great grandma’s book. I use my mom’s circa 1980’s edition. The pages are falling out, stained and the cover is worn from years of use. I love it with all my being.
• Testing: If you can contain indulgence to a minimum, making each bite count, then it is worth the splurge. If you find yourself tasting the batter during the mixing stage, sampling the dough while forming the bites of heaven, and then of course, taste testing the cookies fresh from the oven, you may have to exert some willpower over the sugar high. See my post on “Exercise.”
• Aliment Alert: If the sugar high doesn’t deter you, food poising may. Raw cookie dough can cause Salmonella from raw eggs and flour (because it is uncooked) can be contaminated with E. Coli. The bacteria in flour can survive quite a while-up to a year with normal storage. Most people don’t think of flour as being harmful. It’s important to know the risks before consumption. Disclaimer: I have been “quality control/taste testing,” prior to baking, for the better part of 40 years.
• Justification: Known to increase calcium consumption. A glass of milk with a few magnificent cookies, can be just the ticket. Semi sweet chocolate has been shown to be beneficial in heart health. Those little morsels are a source of magnesium, copper as well. Magnesium assists in regulation of several nutrients and is necessary for muscle health. Red blood cells require copper.

Everything in moderation. A dietitian mantra. I am of the opinion that some recipes should not be revised, adjusted, altered or reworked to be “healthier.” No sugar coating there, plain and simple.