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So I read this sneaky tip in a magazine a while ago: Add white beans (pureed with a Tbsp of water) to any recipe in place of half the butter called for. Hmm. How can chocolate chip cookies with beans taste good? I decided to try it out, be brave, go for broke. And won big time! It's so good. The batter is absolutely indistinguishable (I think); and the finished product is a different texture than regular cookies, but not an unpleasant one. They're kind of like a cross between a mini scone and a cookie. Right tasty though!
A couple of recipe experiments later, here is my favorite variation:
Healthy Cookies
1/2 c butter, softened 1/2 c white bean puree** 3/4 c white sugar 3/4 c brown sugar 2 egg whites or 1/2 c egg substitute 2 c whole wheat flour 1/2 c oatmeal 1/2 c shredded coconut 1 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1 tsp cinnamon 1+ c chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350. Cream the butter, beans, and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract. Mix in flour, oatmeal, soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheets. Bake for 10 min (cookies will still be soft); let sit for 1 min (but not much more) on pan before removing to cooling racks. Freeze additional spoonfuls on a baking sheet until hard; put in freezer container until ready to bake again. Add 1-2 min of baking time for frozen dough.
**15 oz can of beans pureed with 1 Tbsp water. Use leftover beans not used in cookies for half the butter in other recipes, or stir in some lemon juice, garlic powder, salt and herbs as a veggie dip.