Friday, March 19, 2010

Mint Chocolate Cookies- I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Experiment

Hooray for the weekend! How are you doing? I hope your Friday is treating you well! Mine has involved a good deal of running around, but has been great overall. It seems as though there has been a serious lack of baking in my kitchen lately...


...but today, all that changed! The nice people over at I Can't Believe It's Not Butter gave me the opportunity to try some of their product in my baked goods. I usually stick to regular butter or Smart Balance, but figured I'd give ICBINB a chance. I picked up a container of their ICBINB cooking & baking sticks at the food store this past weekend using the coupon they sent me:

I used it to make up Jessica's Double Chocolate Chip cookies and added in some mint & chocolate chips. These cookies are going to be given (along with a few other special gifts) to one of our friends whose birthday was this past week! The outcome:
They baked up nice and fluffy:

I had Josh, my official cookie taste tester, given them a try. His thoughts: "They're delicious but they taste a little more cake like (in consistency) vs. cookie like." So there ya have it!
Thank you I Can't Believe It's Not Butter for the coupon! Do you bake with butter, butter substitutes, or do you use fruit substitutes (like applesauce) in place of the fat in recipes? I do a little bit of all of the above. Depends upon what/who I'm making the recipe for.
And just because its been a while, a little Frank:
Have a great weekend!!

36 comments:

Sarah said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sarah said...

Cake-like cookies sound pretty good! I usually bake with regular unsalted butter, but perhaps I will give that a try, I think a cakey texture would be a hit in my house.

I love that you made cookies with mint chips; it reminds me of a recipe that my aunt used to make when I was a kid. It was a chocolate mint cookie, but they had a mint center. Sort of like a black bottom cupcake, but the mint cookie version. I don't have the recipe, I should send her a note and see if she still has it. . .

Have a lovely, restful, and enjoyable weekend!

Jessie (Vegan-minded) said...

Real butter or not, those cookies look delicious! I like both cakey and chewy cookies, they are all good in my book. :) Have a great weekend!

Diana said...

Back in the low-fat-craze days I definitely used ICBINB often, but now I'll just use regular butter or coconut butter since I don't have a need for butter much in general. I'd just rather have the real thing!

vanillasugarblog said...

I know I'm supposed to comment on the cookies, but I love Frank!!!!

Averie @ Averie Cooks said...

You know what's so ironic is that i went to the ICBINButter site about 2 mos ago b/c of some give away i entered and they actually had a recipe for a truffle ball choco recipe that looked good & i was tempted to make it.

I use ICBINB sometimes...I always have it on hand, that and Earth Bal but the former is cheaper and more readily available than the later...but i agree w/ diana, too :) c oconut butter baby!!!

Janetha @ meals + moves said...

ive been missing my doses of frank, thank you!! cookies look good and i love your dish towel! awesome. i usually use butter when i bake treats, can't beat the real thing. if i am trying to do a healthy version of a recipe i will use pumpkin or applesauce. have a fun weekend :)

Christina said...

typically i just use real butter, but i have also used i can't believe it's not butter. good stuff!

Lauren @ Eater not a runner said...

Ahhhh Frank is too cute!

Esi said...

Have a fabulous weekend!

Julie said...

hey hey girrrrrrrrl. haha i'm so jealous of your kitchen towel.

and how amazing are mint chocolate chips. i think my favorite part about them is that they're green. those looked like a good st paddys treat haha but regardless your friend is gonna be one lucky camper

i'm usually a sub-er and used pumpkin or applesauce which a lot of the time makes things not good to give to anyone else but my family hahaha fail. i forget that real people remember what butter tastes like

have fun this weeekeeeeeeeeend

Molly said...

You just made my day with that Frank pic. I'm hoping to get my own dog and my own apartment, and I've been spending copious time looking at free dogs on Craigslist. I want my own Frank so bad haha!!

Cookies look delicious - what are the ingredients like in ICBINB? Are they similar to Smart Balance or is it trans fatty?

homecookedem said...

I don't use ICBINB when baking b/c it never turns out right for me. I finally decided life is too short to cut out real butter completely, so now I just always use the real stuff. It really does make a difference. So worth it to me! But, I have to say, those cookies look wonderful!! I'd definitely be a taste tester!! ;)

Love the picture of Frank!! Such a handsome boy!! :)

Paige (Running Around Normal) said...

Those cookies sound amazing! I love cake cookies:D
And, um, please submit that picture of Frank to get published now. It looks like he could be a calendar dog!!
Have a great weekend, sweetie :D

Michelle said...

Haha I love that picture of your dog, and the cookies look delish!

Andrea @ CanYouStayForDinner.com said...

Frank makes my day every time I see his adorable wrinkly face!!!
And I agree with you- I use different ingredients under different circumstances. If I'm just baking something that Daniel and I want to eat everyday- like a healthy brownie or bread, I will make substitutions. But for the most part I feel like other people just want things that taste delicious, and I too usually want the real deal. It's worth it a lot of the time.
I still love to see creations using different ingredients though! Good for you for being creative and experimenting! Have a happy Saturday my darlin!

Andrea @ CanYouStayForDinner.com said...

Frank makes my day every time I see his adorable wrinkly face!!!
And I agree with you- I use different ingredients under different circumstances. If I'm just baking something that Daniel and I want to eat everyday- like a healthy brownie or bread, I will make substitutions. But for the most part I feel like other people just want things that taste delicious, and I too usually want the real deal. It's worth it a lot of the time.
I still love to see creations using different ingredients though! Good for you for being creative and experimenting! Have a happy Saturday my darlin!

Anonymous said...

Cake-like cookies sound great to me! I often sub in applesauce or pumpkin for butter/oil in recipes. I've never used low-fat butter...go big or go home! :P

Enjoy your weekend!

Andrea @ CanYouStayForDinner.com said...

Frank makes my day every time I see his adorable wrinkly face!!!
And I agree with you- I use different ingredients under different circumstances. If I'm just baking something that Daniel and I want to eat everyday- like a healthy brownie or bread, I will make substitutions. But for the most part I feel like other people just want things that taste delicious, and I too usually want the real deal. It's worth it a lot of the time.
I still love to see creations using different ingredients though! Good for you for being creative and experimenting! Have a happy Saturday my darlin!

Pam said...

Such a neat kitchen towel!

Cookies....yumm! Mint....even more yumm!.... ha ha! Look'in good!

I LUV U Frankster!

Have a great weekend, Sweetie!

xoxo

Susan said...

Those cookies looks so good Erica!

When I bake, I actually use oil a lot. I don't eliminate fat completely because it's so healthy for us! Okay, the right kinds of fat are healthy for us. And some butter here and there never hurt anyone!

teresa said...

i love mint chocolate cookies, those look delicious! happy weekend my friend!

Anonymous said...

I am not a baker my any means, when I make cookies they turn out like scones and when I make brownies, I burn them so I will stick with cooking and buying baked goods :)

I would totally be down with a cookie that has a cake consistency though!

Deva (Voracious Vorilee) said...

I use real butter or smart balance 50/50 blend in my baked goods. Used to use margarine but it's all about the same price and I prefer the flavor that I get from butter!

Krista said...

Awe....baby Frank.....kisses!

The cookies look great and they're huge!! ;) I almost always use fruit purees when I bake. I have never been able to get past the look of oil in my baking. Even in my eat whatever kinda crap I want days.

CaSaundraLeigh said...

Frank looks SO squishy--love it! And I am a huge fan of ICBINB tub spread, I use it all the time in cooking and usually use applesauce or baby food in baking.

Holly said...

frank = love.

interesting about the cake-like vs. cookie texture - i definitely have to side with josh. i like my cookies crunchier and NOT cake-like. hope you are having a wonderful weekend lady :)

Holly said...

I definitely mix things up when I'm baking, too! And it really depends on who it's for. Like if it's for me and my fam, I'll sub applesauce/nanners if I can. But if I'm taking it to a cookout or party, I'll usually go for real buttah. Thanks for the review, though - I've always wondered if you could tell a difference with ICBINB!

tam said...

Those cookies look delightful! I wish I could get those mint choc chips over this side of the pond! x x

Stephanie @cookinfanatic said...

I just love those embroidered kitchen towels - they are darling! I've used the ICBINB a few times and I think it's pretty darn good. The Man loves it on warm bread and on corn. I am not a big butter user but def need to try it in a baking recipe - those cookies sound deelish!

Stephanie @cookinfanatic said...

I just love those embroidered kitchen towels - they are darling! I've used the ICBINB a few times and I think it's pretty darn good. The Man loves it on warm bread and on corn. I am not a big butter user but def need to try it in a baking recipe - those cookies sound deelish!

allijag said...

oh.my.FRANK! that's it - i'm driving down overnight and stealing him :)

Nicci said...

Omg, I started using applesauce as a substitute to see how it would taste...I love it! I still love my butter though. lol

Sophie @ yumventures said...

I am a tride and true real butter person! Though I really want to try the applesauce substitute. I have used yogurt once and it made a cake amazingly moist and delicious!

Erica said...

Molly- I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter has 70% less saturated fat than butter and no hydrogenated oils - so there’s no trans fat per serving. For more info, check out their website: http://www.icantbelieveitsnotbutter.com/home.aspx , where there is a nutrition facts chart comparing ICBINB! with butter and Smart Balance. Hope this helps!

Kitchen Butterfly said...

I bake with butter and oil mostly. The one time I tried half-fat butter , it was a disaster. I haven't used fruit subs yet.........that coconut bread looks good!