My favorite cookie just got a little healthier

These days I have found myself looking for ways to sneak a little bit of "health" into the everyday things we eat. I am not a health nut by any means but I figure if I can make things a bit more healthy but still have them taste good then it is a win win situation and I feel even more like a super mom. So just last week I had a request to fulfill for my husband which was to bake him some "LOVE COOKIES." I also needed some cookies for my stitching bee and so it worked out to make a batch of these delicious chocolate chip peanut butter cookies to satisfy both. We call them love cookies because the way that I met my husband was by sending him a box of these cookies in the mail (we had never met, or talked, or e-mailed or anything). A co-worker convinced me to do it and the rest is, as they say, history!! Well anyway I decided I would take a risk and try and "health" them up a bit and see if my husband noticed. I decided to let him eat them first and then divulge my secrets...and he LOVED them!!! They were super moist and chewy and had great flavor and he couldn't tell at all what I did. PERFECT. So people I am sharing with you!!

Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies (my changes will be in the parenthesis)

2 1/4 flour (2 cups whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup all purpose flour. I actually found my dough to be a bit sticky so I added a bit extra all purpose flour until it was a thicker cookie texture)

1 tsp bkg soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup butter (1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup cooked white beans)

2/3 cup smooth peanut butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Heat oven to 325. Cream butter, (white beans), peanut butter and sugars with mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Add all dry ingredients and mix until well blended. Add chocolate chips and mix to incorporate. Place 1/4 cup size scoops of cookie dough on ungreased cookie sheet. (these are large cookies so don't crowd your pan. I do 6-8 cookies per pan). Bake in oven for 15-17 minutes. Cool for a minute on pan and then transfer to wire racks.

Now people I am not an expert on this bean replacement for fat in recipes business, but I have not had a terrible failure yet. If you don't want to cook the beans yourself you can just used canned beans that are drained. You will want to make sure though when you are mixing them in that you are using a whisk attachment on your mixer if you are using a Kitchen Aid or a Bosch because cookie paddles won't break them up enough. Or you might want to mash them a bit first.

And let me just take a minute to add my two cents here about applesauce and speak for the recipes since they cannot speak for themselves: APPLESAUCE is not a good replacement for fat in recipes. I am sorry but you cannot expect to have the same quality of a product when you replace your fat with applesauce. It does not work. I have heard minimal success stories. It doesn't make terrible products (well yes, actually in some cases it does) but it does not make a high quality product. You could try this bean thing-it might work-I am not saying it will in everything. Sometimes you have to just leave things alone. And one more thing-oil in a recipe does not necessarily have to be replaced with something totally different. Just find a different kind of oil. There are oils that are good for your heart and body. There, I am done now.