Happy Father's Day Low-Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy Father's Day, everyone! My father taught me how to make real southern biscuits and how to grill onion-stuffed hamburgers, but he has no idea what to do when it comes to baking cookies. And he loves cookies, so this has been a real handicap for him. He has to depend on my mom and I to make him cookies, which we do for special occassions. 

My dad is also pre-diabetic, and everything he eats is low in sugar or sugar-free. Now I don't even want to know what a sugar-free homebaked chocolate chip cookie would taste like, but I made these low-sugar ones, and they taste pretty similar to regular chocolate chip cookies. The secret: tons of nice vanilla and almond extract, half butter/half margarine, White Lily flour, and egg whites only. 

Low-Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from the Guittard Standard Recipe

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups of White Lily All-Purpose Flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt (+ more for sprinkling over the tops before baking)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup margarine or shortening, softened

1 1/4 cup Splenda

1/4 cup brown sugar (these are low sugar, not NO sugar!)

2 large egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

2 cups (or less, depending on your taste) semisweet chocolate chips -- the darker, the better, IMO

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. 

2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. 

3. In a large bowl, cream the butters/margarines with the sugars until light. Beat in the egg whites and vanilla and almond extract until smooth. Gradually add the flour mixture until combined. Add in the chocolate chips and nuts. 

4. Drop by the teaspoon onto a baking sheet (I prefer to use parchment paper on these and then there's no cleanup). Bake for 8-10 minutes or until light brown. Allow to cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet and then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Flour and Sugar,
Carrie Melissa