Ahhhhh-gave

In my quest to at least limit, if not totally eliminate sugar and carbs from my diet, I finally found agave. For a while there, I dabbled with Splenda. Here and there I experimented with Equal. For a two day period when my office only stocked Sweet'n'Low, I went there. These liaisons were short, fleeting, and unsatisfactory.

And then, today, I found agave syrup, the perfect sugar substitute. Let me just say... it. is. fabulous! Agave nectar is commercially harvested from a variety of agave plants in Mexico. The particular agave syrup I found is from the blue agave plant, if anyone cares about specifics. It tastes like heaven. Except better.

For my first baking attempt with agave, I tried Martha's Oatmeal Cookies. I knew that I wouldn't get it perfectly right the first time, particularly because agave is a liquid sweetener, and is therefore not a perfect baking substitute for sugar. In addition, I was planning to bake vegan, which adds a whole additional element of difficulty. Both of these elements combine to produce flat, cake-y cookies that don't stay together as well as regular cookies.

I started with two cups of agave, subsituting for both the brown and granulated sugar. Because agave has such a unique, sweet flavor, I figured this would be appropriate. Instead of butter, I mixed in two sticks of vegetable margarine with the agave. In place of the eggs, I stirred in a cup of Sprite Zero.

For the dry ingredients, I mixed together three cups of rolled oats, one cups and two tablespoons whole wheat flower (instead of white flower), baking soda, baking soda + creme of tartar (to replace the baking powder) and 1/2 cup flax meal (to replace the wheat germ). I skipped the toffee bits/raisins all together because I am really not supposed to have either of these.

While, as expected, the resulting cookies were a bit flat and crumbly, they were absolutely delicious. I really love the agave alternative. It definitely doesn't taste as fake as Splenda; plus, while more expensive, it's all natural and not full of chemicals with unknown biological actions.



Recipe (from Martha Stewart, http://www.marthastewart.com/282206/oatmeal-cookies?&backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/oatmeal-cookie-recipes#slide_4):

Ingredients

• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 12 ounces good-quality chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 1/2 cups golden raisins, or 10 ounces toffee pieces

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and butter in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Starting with the mixer on low speed and increasing until it is on medium, beat until the mixture is creamy and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs and the vanilla extract, then scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, and mix to combine.
   
2. Combine the rolled oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and wheat germ in a large bowl, and stir to combine. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture, then mix on low speed just to combine, 10 to 15 seconds. Remove the bowl from mixer stand, and stir in your choice of chocolate chunks, golden raisins, or toffee pieces.
   
3. Line the baking pans with parchment paper. Use a large (2 1/2 ounce) or small (1 1/4 ounce) ice-cream scoop to form balls of dough. Place the balls of dough about 4 inches apart on baking pans. Bake until golden and just set, about 18 minutes for large cookies and 14 minutes for small cookies. Remove from oven; let cool on pan 4 to 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.