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One Smart Cookie: All Your Favourite Cookies, Squares, Brownies and Biscotti... with less fat !
Think rich, chewy, gooey, chocolaty cookies, brownies and squares are off limits? In One Smart Cookie , you'll be thrilled to find over 200 recipes for goodies such as Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Cheesecake Brownies, Pecan Pie Squares and even Nanaimo Bars, trimmed of fat but not of flavour! Everybody loves cookies. They are as welcome at a dinner party as they are tucked into a lunch box or hanging on the Christmas tree. And we all have long-time favorites that have often become family traditions. In this book you will find lower fat recipes for your favorite cookies, squares, brownies and biscotti, as well as a wealth of information that will help you to reduce the fat in your own special cookie recipes. The desserts and snacks in this book aren't just a healthy alternative to the cookies you crave - they are the real thing!
- GenresCookbooks
174 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 30, 2020
Finally giving up on this one.
My mom has a copy, and pretty much the only thing she ever made (regularly) from it are the chocolava cookies - which are amazing (though only right out of the oven - the next day they're just good). She gave another copy to my Gramma as a gift many years ago, which then ended up going to me along with many of my Gramma's other cookbooks and recipes. I love baking, and generally make cookies more than anything else, so I was excited to tackle the book that gave us those beloved chocolava cookies, and see what other treasures it had in store.
I've tried probably close to two dozen recipes. Maybe I've been spoiled by old-fashioned recipes that don't give a hoot about health, but not one of them holds up to their higher-fat counterparts. Most are pretty boring and bland, and whether or not they'll have the right texture is a toss up. Some, like the chocolava cookies, are very good fresh from the oven, but by the time they've cooled off, are still only okay at best. I haven't yet found a recipe that I would make a second time. I found I had to add liquid - sometimes even a whole extra egg - to most recipes get the dough to the proper consistency (and the one time I decided to ignore my instincts and follow the recipe exactly, they turned out hard as rocks after they cooled down). Most of the recipes I've tried aren't bad (keeping in mind that I'm not afraid to tweak things here or there if something seems off), but I've had much better. I don't consider myself a foodie, but I do have pretty high standards when it comes to food, especially if it's junk food and/or I'm making it myself – if it's only "okay" then it isn't worth the calories or the effort.
Unfortunately, this book's attitude towards "healthy" has also become outdated. I don't like that the fat content has been reduced in favour of corn syrup and extra sugar, or that most recipes use egg whites instead of whole eggs. Sure, these cookies may be lower in fat, but at least butter and whole eggs have some redeeming quality in terms of nutritional content (not to mention: fat is flavour!), while sugar and corn syrup do not (nor do they add flavour - only sweetness). These recipes would do in a pinch if I was short on butter (and happened to have some corn syrup around - though I don't really have much use for it outside the recipes in this book), but I much prefer my more traditional "full-fat" recipes (most of which I've tweaked to use the lowest amount of sugar I can get away with).
The one thing I do like about this book is the sheer number of cookies and variations – I will definitely be keeping this book around and revisiting it for ideas, even though I won't be following the recipes anymore.
My mom has a copy, and pretty much the only thing she ever made (regularly) from it are the chocolava cookies - which are amazing (though only right out of the oven - the next day they're just good). She gave another copy to my Gramma as a gift many years ago, which then ended up going to me along with many of my Gramma's other cookbooks and recipes. I love baking, and generally make cookies more than anything else, so I was excited to tackle the book that gave us those beloved chocolava cookies, and see what other treasures it had in store.
I've tried probably close to two dozen recipes. Maybe I've been spoiled by old-fashioned recipes that don't give a hoot about health, but not one of them holds up to their higher-fat counterparts. Most are pretty boring and bland, and whether or not they'll have the right texture is a toss up. Some, like the chocolava cookies, are very good fresh from the oven, but by the time they've cooled off, are still only okay at best. I haven't yet found a recipe that I would make a second time. I found I had to add liquid - sometimes even a whole extra egg - to most recipes get the dough to the proper consistency (and the one time I decided to ignore my instincts and follow the recipe exactly, they turned out hard as rocks after they cooled down). Most of the recipes I've tried aren't bad (keeping in mind that I'm not afraid to tweak things here or there if something seems off), but I've had much better. I don't consider myself a foodie, but I do have pretty high standards when it comes to food, especially if it's junk food and/or I'm making it myself – if it's only "okay" then it isn't worth the calories or the effort.
Unfortunately, this book's attitude towards "healthy" has also become outdated. I don't like that the fat content has been reduced in favour of corn syrup and extra sugar, or that most recipes use egg whites instead of whole eggs. Sure, these cookies may be lower in fat, but at least butter and whole eggs have some redeeming quality in terms of nutritional content (not to mention: fat is flavour!), while sugar and corn syrup do not (nor do they add flavour - only sweetness). These recipes would do in a pinch if I was short on butter (and happened to have some corn syrup around - though I don't really have much use for it outside the recipes in this book), but I much prefer my more traditional "full-fat" recipes (most of which I've tweaked to use the lowest amount of sugar I can get away with).
The one thing I do like about this book is the sheer number of cookies and variations – I will definitely be keeping this book around and revisiting it for ideas, even though I won't be following the recipes anymore.
November 2, 2018
This is a really easy to follow and make cookie cookbook. I have used the book from the library so many times,l finally bought my own copy.
August 17, 2022
This book is fantastic. It has taken me ages to find it as it seems to be out of print and I found it at a thrift store. Keep your eye out for it if you are a thrifter!
January 11, 2012
Tried quite a few of these recipes. My favorite was the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. The nanaimo squares base is good but the middle just tasted like icing sugar. I liked that each recipe had calorie information with it.
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June 16, 2007A sweet tooth's dream! Without a doubt, my favourite baking book. Never a failed recipe and all recipes have reduced fat!
December 27, 2011
They actually taste good! So, five stars, I would try the whole book out.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews