Deceptively Delicious – Chocolate Chip Cookies

Is nothing sacred? I mean, really? Now we have to go and healthify our chocolate chip cookies? No, that’s just wrong. But if your kids just won’t eat beans then maybe this is how you can really get them good. Yes, beans. I said beans. Are you still listening? When I saw this recipe I knew it would be one of my six for this week……cookies with beans? Yeah, right. This one calls for a can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans). Now, I’m a BIG fan of chickpeas. I can eat them by the handful. YUMMO! They’re delicious on a salad…..but in my cookies?  Stay away from my cookies, man. It’s been said that I’ll believe anything. Yes, when I was first married to Barry he told me that Affordable Dentures was named that because they sold them used. I believed him…..it was the last time. Anyway, Barry’s Aunt Judy told me that garbanzo beans can make you crazy if you eat too many. If that’s true, bring it on and lock me up because I love ‘em! Let’s make some bean cookies!

We’ll need flour, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, vanilla, egg whites, chocolate chips, butter Crisco, chickpeas, and oats. The recipe actually calls for margarine. But, Stacy the Master Cookie Maker always uses butter Crisco. Always. Do not mess with the Crisco. Cookies bake up better and don’t tend to run all over the pan like they do with butter if you don’t get it exactly right. Trust me. I know cookies.

Break out the colander and rinse your beans. Pop a few in your mouth. Your kids won’t miss them. Yum! Makes me want to go to Ruby Tuesday for the salad bar.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a big ugly mixing bowl, beat the sugar and Crisco until it’s smooth. You can use a mixer or a spoon. This is my favorite wooden spoon, so I use it a lot. We’re very close.

Beat in the egg whites and vanilla. Clean up the mess you just made all over the counter while trying to get the eggs whites and yolk separate. Blame it on your dog, who’s asleep upstairs.

Stir in the chickpeas and chocolate chips. Now, inevitably your kids are going to say “Hey, what’s this in my cookie?” Just say, “It’s a new chip I’m trying….it’s called Chick.” Chick chips. Yep. I make things up….just like my husband.

Add the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Mix it just until it comes together.

Your cookie dough should always be stiff. If it’s not, it will run all over the pan. Your cookies will be flat and sorry looking. If you don’t have a stiff enough dough, add a bit more flour. Flour covers a multitude of cookie sins.

Drop the dough by tablespoons on a cookie sheet. Yet again I didn’t follow the recipe. It said to spray the cookie sheet. I never, ever, EVER spray a cookie sheet for cookies. I just don’t do it. They’re full of butter so why should they stick? I mean, really?  If you are a stickler for rules, go ahead. But I revolt.

Cook them for about 11 minutes or just until they start to get brown around the edges. Never over-bake a cookie. Do you make nasty cookies? You’re over-baking them. Problem solved. You’re welcome. Let them cool a minute on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. You can eat one warm if you want. I won’t tell.

Annie loved these. I mean, LOVED. She kept looking at the container on the counter and saying “More. More. More.” She cried when I said “no.” I’m such a bad Mommy.  Barry liked them too. My dad, well he ate about five at a time…..every time he passed by them. I’m just going to be honest here folks. I didn’t like them. At all. Nasty. Ew. I mean, beans in my cookies? No thanks. I will eat beans with my cookies, but not in them. However, since Annie and everyone else loved them then I would definitely make them again…..and go to the closet to eat some Oreos.