A New Spin on My Favorite Cookie

I love chocolate chip cookies.  One night, after eating dinner in New York City, my mom and I searched for the perfect chocolate chip cookie, but had a really hard time finding a place that sold them (I think we were in the wrong neighborhood--I'd still like to know where they make the best chocolate chip cookies in NYC).  The cookie we ended up with was a disappointment.  And isn't that the worst? I hate looking forward to a dessert--something you've saved room and calories for--only to be disappointed.

Anyway, I have never once been disappointed by the chocolate chip cookie recipe I found a few years ago online.  I think the secret is the amount of brown sugar.  Or maybe the egg/egg yolk combo?  Or maybe the vanilla.  But when I was craving these last night, I realized that I didn't have any butter in the house.  

I've been wanting to cook more with coconut oil, so I figured I'd substitute it for the butter.  Butter-less=healthy! :) I also used sea salt instead of regular salt, and doubled the quantity of baking powder for the baking soda (I was out of baking soda).  I've been pretty hooked on rich chocolate chips lately, so I threw those in as well (Ghirardelli 60% cacao is delicious).  

This is a pretty forgiving recipe in the first place, so I'm pretty sure any reasonable substitution could work.  But what I loved about these was the touch of coconut flavor that the oil added, as well as the sea salt, dark chocolate combo.

Butter-Less Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

3/4 cup coconut oil at room temperature

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 cups (or slightly less if using rich chocolate) chocolate chips

1.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper or a silpat.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and sea salt.  Set aside.

2.  In a medium bowl or stand up mixer, cream together the coconut oil, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended (it may be a bit crumbly).  Beat in the vanilla, egg and egg yolk until light and creamy.  Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended.  Stir in the chocolate chips by hand, using a spoon.  

3.  Roll cookie dough by hand into balls so that the crumbles soften together.  Place on prepared cookie sheet.

4.  Bake for 13 to 15 minutes (less if cookies are smaller) in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted.  Cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.