Chocolate Chip Mookies

Today is Thanksgiving on the prairies in Canada!It feels a little more like Christmas than Thanksgiving today as the snow continues to swirl around and around! So is the weather on the Canadian prairies -- highly unpredictable as to what one day is like from one to the next. But of course today we must reflect on our blessings! Obviously they are many in comparison to other countries struggling for adequate food and water.

Canada is now a huge melting pot of many cultures and thankfully we're all getting along pretty splendidly -- at least from my viewpoint. Edmonton is a friendly city and most people are decent folks. I am going to give thanks on this day by sharing a simple, and delicious veganized sweet that will also fit the bill for those that are gluten sensitive and those that like the idea of a low-fat treat. These received a thumbs up from several willing guinea pigs. They taste a lot more decadent than one would expect -- a sweet surprise indeed. They kind of remind me of butter tart filling taste and I was thinking next time I might add raisins instead of chocolate chips and cooking mixture in a small pastry shell.

I was considering making a peanut butter icing for these as the little indentations lends itself well to a dollop of such added pleasure! However I held back due to the fact I'm kind of watching my calories a bit - at least for this week :) We're holding our thanksgiving get-together next weekend as over 50% of the family was out of town this weekend. Looking for lots of vegelicious ideas for Thanksgiving? Search the world's largest collection of vegetarian recipes at VegWeb!

1/4 cup earth balance margarine
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp. ground flaxseed plus 3 tbsp. soy milk
1 teaspoon frontier pure vanilla

7/8 cup organic brown rice flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 tbsp. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Soften earth balance in a large mixing bowl. I prefer to use Earth Balance margarine because it has no added color or other junk and gives consistent excellent results in all my veganized recipes)for a bit -- add applesauce, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Put the flaxseed in a little bowl, add the soy milk and let it sit for a minute, stir and add to the above ingredients. I use Premium Gold True Cold Milled™ Flax seed because it's so handy for vegan baking -- it is golden in color and has a shelf life of 22 months with no refrigeration required. Once everything is in the bowl together -- beat with a electric hand mixer for a few minutes until light and fluffy!

Mix together the rice flour, baking soda and chocolate chips (and yes I only used 3 tbsp. -- measure them or the dough could get too gooey). Blend the rice flour mixture into the wet ingredients using a wooden spoon.

Line muffin tin with -- If You Care paper cup liners. I really like these because you never have to grease anything -- they're unbleached and available here in Edmonton at Earth's General Store or Planet Organic.

Put equal amounts of dough in each muffin liner -- don't fret the dough is not going to be thick like cookie dough but more like cake batter. Bake for about 12 minutes --check at 10 minute mark in case oven temps differ. Mine took full 12 minutes -- till edges are browning and toothpick isn't stuck with raw batter! Approximate calorie count on the mookies -- about 100 each.You can let them cool in the muffin pan for quite some time -- they take about an hour or so to set.

Veggie Prairie Girl Rambles
I was lucky enough to find Western Family Pure Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips at Save-On Foods that had only four ingredients -- sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter and soy lecithin. They're quite tasty -- and that's saying something because I've had a lot that were down right yucky and would never purchase again. You have to be careful to always check your ingredients even if you have purchased them before as sometimes ingredients DO change. Be especially diligent if you are lactose intolerant as so many have whey powder added to them.