Flour-less Chewy Chocolate Cookies and No Butter Added Chocolate Chip Cookies…made with l♥ve by the Cookie Mama

The fam at Spartan Stadium

This week has been really busy, so I didn’t experiment with new recipes for lunches or dinners.  I pretty much stuck to my “tried and true” recipes that I know my family enjoys. We really didn’t have much of a weekend.  Last Friday after a long week, Ryan had a soccer game.  The reason for the Friday night game was that were “East Lansing bound” on Saturday.  My sorority had a mini reunion and we went.  There were lots of activities that we didn’t partake in, specifically the bar crawls, but we did attend the tailgate and the football game.  We played Eastern Michigan and we won!  Victoria and Ryan had never been to campus before, and they’d also never been to a real football game before.   I haven’t been back to campus in over a decade, so I was pretty excited to show them around.  We left the house early in the morning as the tailgate started at 11:00 a.m. and the game was at 3 p.m.  As soon as we rolled into East Lansing, the portable dvd players and the iPod got stowed, as the kids eagerly looked out the windows at my beloved campus.  They were surprised at all the buildings, and especially all the people clad in green and white.  Ryan actually said, “Mom…I’ve never seen this many Spartans in one place before!”

Speaking of Ryan, I have to share a little story regarding his take on attending MSU when he goes to college.  It is no secret that I am a die-hard Spartan, (GO GREEN!!) and by osmosis apparently, my kids are too. ☺  They have told me for years that they both want to attend Michigan State University when they go to college.  One day last week as I was driving Ryan to school, we got to talking about our upcoming trek to East Lansing.  He asked me “how long will it take us to get there?”  I explained that it took about two hours from our house.  Then he said “…wow, when I go there, I am going to have to leave our house really early in the morning so I’m not late for class.”   I laughed and told him that if he attended MSU, he’d have to live there.  To which he responded “…aw forget then, I am going to Oakland!”  You see, he intends on living in my basement…forever…even after he gets married!  He has told me numerous times that he and his wife will live down there, and that he plans on installing an intercom, so that he can request food that I will then  prepare and bring down to him.  His scenario goes like this “…MOM….GOLDFISH…NOW!”  So stinking funny.  I’ve tried to explain countless times that I am certain that his future wife, whomever she may be, will most likely not want to live in her mother in law’s basement.  Ryan, however, assures me that “…she won’t mind at all.”  I guess we’ll see. ☺

I am happy to report that we had a great time in East Lansing.  The kids were so excited to see “Sparty”, to sing the MSU fight song…yes they know the fight song…the WHOLE fight song, and to cheer our beloved Spartans to a victory.  They liked seeing where I used to live, the buildings where I went to class, the places I used to shop, and of course they loved

Dan and the kids at the tailgate

all the Spartan spirit that is inherent on campus, especially on a game day.  In addition to the football game, they had never been to a tailgate of any kind.  They loved that in the parking lot where we gathered, there was a stand selling all sorts of MSU paraphernalia.  Ryan picked out a MSU football and a Spartan helmet, and Victoria picked out a giant green foam finger and some tattoos for their faces.  They proudly donned their spartan gear, and played catch with the new football in preparation for the game.  We got home about 9:00 p.m. and everyone fell into bed happily exhausted.  Then on Sunday, we had AYSO pictures, grocery shopping, finishing homework and housework that got put off because we had been so busy on Friday and Saturday.  WHEW!

So in a nutshell, I didn’t really have a lot of experimentation time in the kitchen.  That trend pretty much continued this week as well.  There were doctor and dentist appointments, more soccer practices and games, tons of homework, grocery shopping, and the regular school/work week things that keep us busy.  In lieu of that crazy schedule, I only had time to experiment a little bit, and I chose to experiment with my favorite culinary creations…cookies!  I love love love cookies.  As many of you know, last year I did a “cookie of the week” experiment and blog.  I had been trying to convince Dan for the past 5 years to let me bake a cookie of the week.  He admittedly had no self-control, so had always requested that I not bake cookies every single week.  Well finally after five LONG years, he relented, and I baked and baked and baked.  It was awesome.  Even though I don’t bake cookies every single week anymore, I do bake them quite frequently.  This week I decided to bake 2 different types.  Flour-less chewy chocolate cookies, and no butter added chocolate chips cookies.

The flour-less chewy chocolate cookies, I saw on “Pinterest” some time back, and then just decided to make them on a whim this week.  They are really rich and really sweet. In fact, I think they are a bit too sweet for my taste.  They are chewy and very chocolatey, but I only gave them a “B” due to the overwhelming sweetness.  Here is the link to the recipe that I used: http://www.relish.com/recipes/chewy-flourless-chocolate-cookies/

The second cookie recipe I experimented with was unusual in that no butter is used in the recipe.  I also found this recipe on “Pinterest” and of course I pinned it immediately because chocolate chip cookies are my favorite dessert on the planet.  I decided to try these cookies as the first cookie recipe didn’t make a ton, and I wasn’t really crazy about them.  I knew that these cookies would have to be “worse” than the first recipe for me to disappointed, and by looking at the ingredients, I was pretty sure I’d like them.   Well like them I did…YUM!  They are delicious!  Instead of butter, the recipe calls for one cup of virgin coconut oil.  I always have organic virgin coconut oil in the pantry, but I’d never made cookies with it before, so I was eager to give it a try.  These cookies are so great.  Chewy and crispy and so yummy.  If you are worried about them having an apparent “coconutty” flavor, worry no more.  My family totally couldn’t taste any coconut.  What they did taste was an overwhelming deliciousness! These cookies did not last long.  In fact, I made a second batch a few days later, as they were so good, and gone so fast!  Here is the link to that recipe: http://picky-palate.com/2008/03/11/new-chocolate-chip-cookies-on-block/

As I type this, I am ‘DVR’ing” the MSU-Ohio State game.  Ryan is tossing his football in the air as he impatiently waits for me.  We have this routine, in which whenever “our team” scores a touchdown, I throw him a few passes in the living room, and he reenacts the scoring play.  Victoria is sitting in the recliner reading “The Hunger Games”, and Dan is chilling on the papa san cushion on the floor.  Both Dan and Victoria are sick (poor babies), so we really needed a day to just chill out and recoup.   I hope my Spartans win today, and I hope my Lions and my Packers win tomorrow.  In my opinion, football is one of the best things about the fall.  I love love love football, and I can’t think of anything I’d rather do on a lazy fall weekend afternoon, then chill with my fam, watch some football, and eat a few really yummy cookies.  Happy football season to everyone and GO GREEN!!!!!!! ♥♥

My Alpha Xi Delta sisters and me at the tailgate!