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Not-Samoas
It's nice to be home after our vacation in Maine. Prior to our departure, I had made a batch of what I might call "Not-Samoas."
The primary reason for making drop cookies was to use a new utensil I recent bought:
The recipe comes from a vegan site, Where's the Revolution. However, I made only minimal changes, but had a very different resulting cookie. Please visit Bazu's site for the original recipe.
My alterations:
1. Used 1 1/2 cup white whole wheat and 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour.
2. Used unsweetened coconut.
3. Used 1/2 cup unsweetened carob chips in addition to the nuts.
4. Added 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.
5. Used 1 cup of agave nectar for the sweetener.
6. Used canola oil instead of coconut oil.
7. Baked the cookies at 325 degrees F.
8. With the scoop, my yield was 45, more than twice Bazu's. I'm guessing she meant tablespoons instead of "spoonfuls." But, I could be wrong.
My cookies did not spread at all. Hers spread quite a bit, she said. I baked mine for 6 minutes before turning the pan, then another 6 minutes.
Finally, they didn't taste like samoas at all to me. Just tasty, nutty, a-bit-on-the-hard-side oatmeal cookies. I followed the directions, careful not to overmix or over bake. 
On the other hand, they were popular with my friends, who don't normally like carob. I might noodle around with this one a bit more.
6 comments:
Hello! This is my first visit to your blog (I followed your link from Celine's page), and I am loving it.
I'm sorry these cookies didn't work so well for you. I used about half (or a little more)brown rice syrup and half (or a little less) agave nectar, which might explain the difference in texture? I'm not sure. I know that the brown rice syrup gave it that "caramel-y" flavor that reminded me of the Samoas.
funny thing, mine didn't spread at all either! I'm wondering if the flour was actually spooned and leveled instead of just scooped? I've had trouble with the spoon & level method recently in the sense that it yielded flat cookies, so I went back to the good ol' scooping method, but that might not be key with this particular recipe. look at me babble!
Thanks, Celine. You raise a good point. I typically use a scoop to fluff the flour first, then measure into a measuring cup. I used to always sift my flour as well, but have gotten a bit lazy.
My guess is that it might have to do with the humidity of kitchen, or perhaps the oil measurement.
Hey Bazu,
So glad you're loving my blog! I totally enjoy yours. The cookies were definitely tasty, and I'm going to noodle with them again.
Perhaps my kitchen is dryer than yours. It's been pretty dry here lately.
I'll let you know how it goes.
I'm so pleased to see someone else has tried my cookie recipe! As for your results, it looks like you may have used 1/4 cup too much flour (total flour should = 1 3/4 cups). Also, I highly recommend unrefined coconut oil for baking - canola oil will not yield the same texture. You may also want to add some brown rice syrup, as that lends the cookies their caramel, samoa-like flavor. Hope that helps - happy baking!
Thanks, Kati! That must be it. I'm not a big fan of coconut oil, so I'll probably still use canola oil. But thanks for stopping by and clearing up the mystery!
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