One Smart Cookie

Book Review by Norene Gilletz

I’m quite experienced when in comes to reducing the fat in most recipes, but creating lower-fat cookies that taste terrific is quite difficult.

I was delighted to discover a wonderful Canadian cookbook – One Smart Cookie by Julie Van Rosendaal of Calgary. This tip-packed book (175 pp) contains photos and over 200 recipes for your favorite cookies, squares, brownies and biscotti…trimmed of fat, but not of flavor! This book will definitely help you reduce the fat in your favorite cookie recipes.

And 31 year-old Julie is really a smart cookie. She’s lost 165 pounds and keeps in shape by exercising 5 days a week. She included low-fat cookies (in moderation) as part of her eating plan while testing recipes for this book!

P.S. When I was on my book tour and visited Calgary, Julie made me some Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies…they were absolutely fabulous! And her Chocolava Cookies are decadently delicious…

Chocolava Cookies

Chocolavas have a deep chocolate flavor and are very addictive. To make big cookies, use about 3 times as much dough as directed and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until set around the edges but still soft in the middle. These are sure to bring a smile to everyone’s punim (face) for Purim!

1 1/3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup stick margarine or butter, softened
3 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
Icing sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt, breaking up any lumps of brown sugar. Stir in margarine until the mixture is well combined and crumbly. Add egg whites and vanilla and stir just until the dough comes together.

Place a few heaping spoonfuls of icing sugar into a shallow dish. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and roll the balls in icing sugar to coat. Place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until just set around the edges but still soft in the middle. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 2 dozen cookies.

Nutritional Information
Per cookie: 92 calories, 2.1 grams fat (0.4 grams saturated), 18 grams carbohydrate, 0 mg cholesterol, 71 mg sodium, 1 g fiber. 20% calories from fat.

One Smart Cookie
by Julie Van Rosendaal
(175 pp, $19.95)

Order Now from Chapters.Indigo.ca or Amazon.com