This is How We Roll: Yogurt Dough Cookies

Today, Mia and I got to do one of those iconic Mom and baby activities. We took out our rolling pins and our cookie cutters and made cookies!

We don’t do refined sugar at our house. That’s just how we roll. But, cookie making is one of those things I didn’t think about when I decided to go hardcore and bounce the refined stuff. I hadn’t made sugar cookies since I was a newlywed and our collection of cookie cutters made a grand exit several moves ago. (But, please don’t tell my mother in law!) However, sometime in the past few weeks, I had started reminiscing about fun making sugar cookies with my mom and decorating them with bright colored frosting. (When I was a kid, we had pig-shaped cutters because I was in pig 4-H) . I wondered, “How am I going to make those kinds of memories for Mia now that we aren’t eating any of the processed and refined stuff?” That thought was followed shortly by this one, “Am I going to have to compromise my standards in order to have that memory with my child?”

Resolved to at least attempt to have the cookie cutting and baking experience, I decided that I was going to try my options before backsliding into the seedy underworld of confectioners’ sugar and food dye. Armed with my arsenal of cookbooks and online resources, I went to work, searching for cookie recipes that used whole grains, no sugar, and no sugar substitutes.

Why the attitude when it comes to the sweet stuff? Sugar has been shown in scientific studies to be more addictive than cocaine*, and that alone is a good reason for me (a recovered binge eater with a penchant for sweets) to avoid it in processed form.

Strange or not, I’m not as tough when it comes to butter. In moderation, I don’t mind good, traditional fats. Maybe this is because I seem not to want to binge on foods with fat, provided I do not also have the refined sugars and grains in my diet. And having some quality fat in my diet seems to keep me satisfied on less food overall. Besides, I wanted good, buttery cookies and there is only one way to get real butter flavor: Use real butter!

Searching the net for cookie recipes using only fresh, natural ingredients, I stumbled upon someone writing about using yogurt dough (again from Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions) to make cookie cutter memories with their kids. I own the book, so I looked it up. The recipe, I realized, was probably more suited to tart shells, but I remember making cutouts from Mom’s extra Thanksgiving pie crust, so I was inspired to give the dough a go, and add my own twist.

Like all traditional grain recipes, the yogurt dough has to be made in advance because it requires 12 to 24 hours to soak and allow the grain to break down, which makes the nutrients more readily available to the body. (I know... nutrients in cookies? Who would have thought!) The dough itself is made from whole yogurt, fresh ground wheat, and butter. (When I get the perfect mix for this, I'll post it. Or, you can experiment and post one for me!) I mixed it up, covered it, and put it in my pantry overnight.

By morning, I was wondering if it would be sweet enough. I didn’t want to add sugar and I was still thinking about it when I put Mia in her learning tower, which raises her to counter height, and we dumped the dough into my mixer bowl. “Let’s add a banana,” I said to her. She very agreeably answered, “OK.”

I peeled one and dropped it in, hoping it would sweeten things up. My Viking mixer is too powerful to run with my child (aka: Little Long Arms) anywhere near it. It once snapped a spoon and sent it flying so hard that I will never be lax about my babe’s little appendages getting near it. So, I kept it on the counter across from our workspace. The banana made the dough too sticky, so I had to add a little unsoaked flour to stiffen it up again. (Next time I may try leaving the banana out). Once it was the right consistency for rolling, I turned about 1/3 of it out in front of Mia and we went to work.

I rolled it just enough to get started and then let Mia take her turn with her little IKEA rolling pin. The look on her face as she worked was priceless. She had this tiny smile of satisfaction and joy, that said, “This is how we roll!” Her mood was completely infectious. She stopped rolling only to stick her finger into it and say, “Soft! Soft!” (Another new word she seems to have learned completely on her own!) She also wanted to taste the raw dough and despite my attempts to snatch each piece away from her mouth, she got in a few good bites and seems to have survived!

The yogurt dough rolled into a nice, thin layer, but was a bit tough to cut with our particular cookie cutters—a star and a gingerbread man, both from IKEA. However, their dull cutting edges didn’t seem to bother Mia, who played as happily with the cut out shapes as she did with the remnants of dough they left behind. She was very excited to lay the first few on a cookie sheet, but didn’t seem to understand the whole baking concept, and so was just as happy to remove them from the sheet and alternately stick them in her mouth or drop them on the floor for the dog. (That's my girl!) Mama had to move fast to keep the assembly line running in the right direction, but it was fun keeping up!

I tried saying, "Yuck!" But, she looked right at me and said, enthusiastically, "YUM!"

We baked the first batch at 350 degrees. They turned out OK, but tasted more like a Wheat Thin than a cookie. (And that has possibilities for other snack options next time we make the dough!) Our friends Charity and Owen (who is just shy of a year old and already taking his first steps) arrived in time for the first taste test. Charity made the suggestion that we add cinnamon, and I agreed. We went back to the mixer, dumped in a generous dose of cinnamon, a little ginger, and a few handfuls of currants and mixed it up.

Back at the rolling mat, we had another run at the rolling and cutting. Mia shared her learning tower with Owen, but he was a bit too young for it and made both adults nervous by sticking his foot off the back a few times, so we moved him to safety before we got the chance to snap a picture. The rest of the dough made several dozen little cookies with a nice, not-too-sweet flavor. We all had samples a plenty and then I put them away for later.

It was only after Charity and Owen left that I realized I had the perfect “frosting” already in my fridge. Homemade cream cheese sweetened to taste with maple syrup and cinnamon. While not a frosting you can put on before you store them in the cookie jar, it makes the perfect side to a plate of cookies. Daddy, Mia and I had a few frosted ones this evening after eating leftovers for dinner. I have to say, while more along the lines of a really-improved animal cracker than a cookie, they are delicious!

Hmm... they look prettier in person. That ginger bread man isn't very photogenic!

Sarah

P.S. Chicken crepes, from yesterday’s blog, are delicious when reheated for about 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven!

P.P.S. Want to know how to make your own cream cheese (and whey)? Place a colander in a bowl. Line the colander with a flour sack. Pour one quart of yogurt into the flour sack. Tie the ends of the sack around a long-handled spoon (or other cooking implement) to make a little pouch (be careful not to squeeze), balance spoon (with sack hanging from it) over a bowl. Remove collander. Make sure you elevate the spoon enough so that the sack does not sit in the whey that collects in the bowl. Allow to sit at room temperature—but not too hot, please—and drip until it stops. This takes about 8 to 12 hours. Unfold the sack and you have cream cheese. Save the whey for making pickles or soaking grains like oatmeal!

Cream cheese and whey.

*Credit Where Credit is Due: Lenoir M, Serre F, Cantin L, Ahmed SH, 2007 Intense Sweetness Surpasses Cocaine Reward. PLoS ONE 2(8): e698. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000698