It can be tough to maintain healthful eating habits in stressful times, when the snack you hanker for probably begins with "chocolate" and ends with "cookie."
Chef Nicole Burgess offers some help through a recipe she developed for National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, observed Aug. 4. Burgess, the pastry chef at Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California, wanted a recipe for those who may be working to shed so-called quarantine weight.
But these definitely don't taste like diet cookies.
"I originally made these 'healthy' chocolate chip cookies on accident at home," said Burgess, who decided to substitute almond flour on a day when she was out of regular flour. The almond-flour version, lower in carbohydrates and higher in healthy fats and fiber, was a pleasant surprise.
Comparing the new version with the original, "They tasted the same to me," she said. "So I incorporated this into the special events we baked for at Pechanga before COVID-19 hit, and added on more and more healthy substitutions as we went to make them healthier and healthier.
"So far, we've had great feedback!" Burgess added. "Personally, I love them. They're the same decadent cookie taste, but without the guilt. And now that so many people are struggling from gyms being closed, it's the perfect time to try what we call a 'diet cookie.' "
Although the cookies are not on the regular menu at Pechanga, they have been served for special events, she said.
"Oftentimes we receive requests for specific dietary restrictions _ low carb, vegan, keto, etc., and we can almost always accommodate them. From what I've been told, guests who have had these as part of a special event say that they taste the exact same as regular, calorie and fat-ridden cookies _ just guilt-free."
