Necessity fuels invention. Wheat, gluten, grain, dairy products, and sugar, aren’t essential to our health and well being but these foods have become so commonplace that going without them can seem like a stretch or even a sacrifice. And yet, giving up any or all of these foods can provide the impetus for discovering new foods and for coming up with new and better recipes.
I found that true for myself and so did David J. Fulton. For years he watched his wife, a brittle diabetic, diligently try different diets, diabetic desserts, and artificial sweeteners to control her blood sugar. He desperately wanted to be able to make sweet treats for his sweetheart.
Starch and sugar always led to a rapid rise in blood sugar for his wife followed by a precipitous drop in blood sugar. He’d never heard of baking without starch but he wanted to give it a try. He thought of replacing starch with fiber.
David's cookie quest
David tested out his ideas in the kitchen and his wife willingly taste-tested every batch of cookies he made. She didn’t suffer from any blood sugar spikes or crashes so she was happy and he kept tinkering with the recipe. His goal? To create a delicious starch-free, sugar-free cookies using premium, natural ingredients with zero net carbs.
Say, No! To Yo-Yo Dieting and Yes! To Cookies
As the testing and tasting continued, David and his wife, on the advice of their physician, transitioned to a starch-free, sugar -free, paleo (short for Paleolithic) diet. Over a two-year period, David and his each lost 100 pounds! David’s blood pressure stabilized and with the help of his doctor he discontinued his blood pressure meds. His wife’s blood sugar stabilized. They both felt healthier following their starch-free, sugar-free diet and David’s cookie recipes continued to get better and better.
Whenever their sweet tooth called, they knew the answer was Yes! To Cookies––David’s cookies! Eventually, their friends started asking for samples and encouraging them to share their cookies commercially. They launched Yes! To Cookies, the first cookies made from fiber and natural non-caloric sweeteners.
You can buy their ready-made cookies or purchase their cookie mixes (CocoaLicious and Strawberry Banana Blitz) to make the cookies at home. Each 1/2 ounce cookie contains about 1/3 of a gram of digestible carbohydrate. David’s ready-to-eat baked cookies contain 40 to 45 calories and 5 to 6 grams of fat each.
What’s not in these cookies?
Grain, gluten, starch, casein, sugar, and artificial sweeteners. Note: They do contain whey protein, a dairy product, so they're not part of a strict paleo diet. However, whey protein is less allergenic than casein, another kind of protein derived from milk.You'll have to be the judge of how they agree with you.
What’s in these cookies?
Cocoa-Licious flavor cookie mix contains:
Erythritol, Cereal Fiber Psyllium, Whey Protein Isolate, Cocoa Powder, Psyllium Husk, Organic Gum Acacia, Natural Vanilla flavor, Spices, Cellulose HP-SA, Sodium Bicarbonate, Rebaudioside A (as a sweetner) and Salt.
Strawberry-Banana Blitz flavor cookie mix contains:
Erythritol, Cereal Fiber Psyllium, Whey Protein Isolate, Psyllium Husk, Organic Gum Acacia, Natural Strawberry, Banana and Vanilla flavors, Cellulose Gum, Sodium Bicarbonate, Rebaudioside A (as a sweetner) and Salt.
Cocoa-Licious flavored ready to eat cookies contain: Erythritol, Cereal Fiber Psyllium*, Butter, Egg, Whey Protein Isolate, Cocoa Powder, Psyllium Husk, Organic Gum Acacia, Natural Vanilla flavor, Spices, Cellulose HP-SA, Sodium Bicarbonate, Rebaudioside A (as a sweetner) and Salt.
Strawberry-Banana Blitz flavored ready to eat cookies contain:
I made a half batch of each flavor according to the package instructions. My taste-testers and I thought the chocolate cookie mix needed more sweetener and that both flavors might benefit from slightly more fat, which did indeed improve the texture. Adding more fat gave them a delicious crunchy texture.
1) The directions say to add “12 tablespoons soft butter or margarine,” I would change that to read:
3/4 cup soft butter (12 tablespoons) or 3/4 cup virgin coconut oil or palm shortening
I wouldn’t offer margarine as an option since it’s loaded with inflammation-producing polyunsatured omega 6 oils, even if it comes from a natural foods store. I suggest non-hydrogenated palm shortening or coconut oil for anyone who is sensitive to the trace amounts of casein or lactose found in butter.
How you measure matters!
Although sticks of butter often have incremental tablespoon markings, if you’re measuring out fat or oil (not cutting into a block of butter) or anything else, it’s more accurate to use the largest cup measurement you can. So use a 1/4 cup measure if you need 4 tablespoons of something. Use a 1/2 cup measure and a 1/4 cup measure if you need 12 tablespoons, which is equivalent to 3/4 cup. If you measure out fat or oil by the tablespoon then compare it to using measuring cups you’ll find a large discrepancy in the amounts you get. Try it! If you measure out 4 tablespoons of water or oil, then pour it into a 1/4 cup measure you’ll cup up short.
2) The directions say to combine cookie mix, eggs and butter or egg whites and margarine in a mixing bowl and mix until dough forms a ball. I would say:
In a mixing bowl with electric beaters or the workbowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine the cookie mix, eggs and butter or egg whites and oil or shortening. Beat or blend until dough comes together in a ball.
I used a food processor, which I found fast and easy. I noticed on the web site that David used a stand mixer. I think mixing by hand would be cumbersome given the fibrous nature of the ingredients, and might not incorporate the ingredients as well.
3) The instructions say to bake at 375˚F for 15 minutes. I experimented with two baking temperatures and preferred the cookies baked at 350˚F until lightly golden on the bottom, about 8 to 10 minutes for some batches, 10 to 12 minutes for batches that included more eggs or more eggs plus mashed banana. I liked the results better from the cookies baked at the lower temperature for a shorter time. The cookies do firm up as they cool.
4) The package doesn’t say to do this, but I found it helpful to flatten each ball of dough using my fingers or the tines of a fork (like most peanut butter cookie recipes suggest) or with the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in water. The fork flattened cookies looked the prettiest.
5) The package says that it yields approximately 18 to 22 cookies. I actually got 16 to 20 banana cookies to 18 to 22 chocolate cookies from each half batch forming the cookies into tablespoon-size size balls, about 1-inch in diameter, then flattening them to a thickness of about 1/3 to 1/2-inch.
Of the combinatio of ingredients I tried, I liked these best.
Almond Cococa-Licious Yes to Cookies
Prep: 20 minutes Cooking: 10 minutes Yield: 23 cookies
Ingredients:
Ingredients:
Buttery Banana Blitz Yes to Cookies
Prep: 20 minutes Cooking: 10 minutes Yield: 20 cookies
Ingredients:
Starch and sugar always led to a rapid rise in blood sugar for his wife followed by a precipitous drop in blood sugar. He’d never heard of baking without starch but he wanted to give it a try. He thought of replacing starch with fiber.
David's cookie quest
David tested out his ideas in the kitchen and his wife willingly taste-tested every batch of cookies he made. She didn’t suffer from any blood sugar spikes or crashes so she was happy and he kept tinkering with the recipe. His goal? To create a delicious starch-free, sugar-free cookies using premium, natural ingredients with zero net carbs.
As the testing and tasting continued, David and his wife, on the advice of their physician, transitioned to a starch-free, sugar -free, paleo (short for Paleolithic) diet. Over a two-year period, David and his each lost 100 pounds! David’s blood pressure stabilized and with the help of his doctor he discontinued his blood pressure meds. His wife’s blood sugar stabilized. They both felt healthier following their starch-free, sugar-free diet and David’s cookie recipes continued to get better and better.
Whenever their sweet tooth called, they knew the answer was Yes! To Cookies––David’s cookies! Eventually, their friends started asking for samples and encouraging them to share their cookies commercially. They launched Yes! To Cookies, the first cookies made from fiber and natural non-caloric sweeteners.
You can buy their ready-made cookies or purchase their cookie mixes (CocoaLicious and Strawberry Banana Blitz) to make the cookies at home. Each 1/2 ounce cookie contains about 1/3 of a gram of digestible carbohydrate. David’s ready-to-eat baked cookies contain 40 to 45 calories and 5 to 6 grams of fat each.
Grain, gluten, starch, casein, sugar, and artificial sweeteners. Note: They do contain whey protein, a dairy product, so they're not part of a strict paleo diet. However, whey protein is less allergenic than casein, another kind of protein derived from milk.You'll have to be the judge of how they agree with you.
What’s in these cookies?
Cocoa-Licious flavor cookie mix contains:
Erythritol, Cereal Fiber Psyllium, Whey Protein Isolate, Cocoa Powder, Psyllium Husk, Organic Gum Acacia, Natural Vanilla flavor, Spices, Cellulose HP-SA, Sodium Bicarbonate, Rebaudioside A (as a sweetner) and Salt.
Strawberry-Banana Blitz flavor cookie mix contains:
Erythritol, Cereal Fiber Psyllium, Whey Protein Isolate, Psyllium Husk, Organic Gum Acacia, Natural Strawberry, Banana and Vanilla flavors, Cellulose Gum, Sodium Bicarbonate, Rebaudioside A (as a sweetner) and Salt.
Cocoa-Licious flavored ready to eat cookies contain: Erythritol, Cereal Fiber Psyllium*, Butter, Egg, Whey Protein Isolate, Cocoa Powder, Psyllium Husk, Organic Gum Acacia, Natural Vanilla flavor, Spices, Cellulose HP-SA, Sodium Bicarbonate, Rebaudioside A (as a sweetner) and Salt.
Strawberry-Banana Blitz flavored ready to eat cookies contain:
Erythritol, Cereal Fiber Psyllium, Butter, Egg, Whey Protein Isolate, Psyllium Husk, Organic Gum Acacia, Natural Strawberry, Banana and Vanilla flavors, CelluloseGum, Sodium Bicarbonate, Rebaudioside A (as a sweetner) and Salt.
How do they taste?
I think they’re pretty good for a zero car cookie but they do take some getting used to. They don't taste exactly like conventional cookies or even the typical gluten free cookies made from flour that you’d find in natural foods stores and the health food section of supermarkets.
They do have a slight after taste from the erythritol they contain. Some people describe the flavor of this zero calorie sweetener as cold or cool on the tongue. Xylitol often elicits the same reaction. I also think the kind of stevia used or David's cookies (the newly patended Reb A) may have a stronger flavor than the less refined, more natural form of stevia you'd get from buying pure stevia extract powder or clear stevia extract liquid.
However if you're committed to following a grain-free, starch-free, low-carb, or sugar-free diet, you may find that your fondness for them grows over time. I think adding more fat to David’s cookie mix and adding unsweetened or bittersweet chocolate to the CocoaLicious cookie mix reduces the aftertaste. They contain a lot of fiber (from the psyllium cereal fiber used as the base for the mix and packaged cookies). Eating them on a regular or daily basis could irritate the colon. I’m not totally sold on them.
You'll just have to try them for yourself and see what you think.
David sent me a sample package of each of the two cookie ready-to-eat cookie flavors and two sample boxes of each of his cookie mixes. Over a 5-week period, I made four half batches of Strawberry Banana Blitz Cookies and four half batches of the CocoaLicious Cookies, experimenting with different variations.
I made a half batch of each flavor according to the package instructions. My taste-testers and I thought the chocolate cookie mix needed more sweetener and that both flavors might benefit from slightly more fat, which did indeed improve the texture. Adding more fat gave them a delicious crunchy texture.
I tinkered with other ideas, making 3 more half batches of each of the two mixes, making multiple changes in some batches and recording what I did. I sent some of them in to a nutrition class for taste testing, so I had plenty of help eating the cookies.
- I made a half batch of each flavor doubling the amount of eggs.
- I made a half batch of each mix increasing the fat from 6 tablespoon (1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) for a half batch to 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup).
- I added 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon clear stevia extract liquid to one batch of chocolate cookies. 1 to 2 tablespoons of honey to another, adding 1 to 1.5 grams of net carbs to each cookie.
- I added 1/2 teaspoon almond extract to one batch of chocolate cookies.
- I added melted unsweetened baker’s chocolate to one batches and bittersweet dark chocolate in another, adding maybe 1 to 2 gram of net carbs per cookie.
- I added cinnamon to one batch and orange zest to another.
- I added mashed banana to one of the batches of Strawberry Banana Blitz cookie mix.
1) The directions say to add “12 tablespoons soft butter or margarine,” I would change that to read:
3/4 cup soft butter (12 tablespoons) or 3/4 cup virgin coconut oil or palm shortening
I wouldn’t offer margarine as an option since it’s loaded with inflammation-producing polyunsatured omega 6 oils, even if it comes from a natural foods store. I suggest non-hydrogenated palm shortening or coconut oil for anyone who is sensitive to the trace amounts of casein or lactose found in butter.
How you measure matters!
Although sticks of butter often have incremental tablespoon markings, if you’re measuring out fat or oil (not cutting into a block of butter) or anything else, it’s more accurate to use the largest cup measurement you can. So use a 1/4 cup measure if you need 4 tablespoons of something. Use a 1/2 cup measure and a 1/4 cup measure if you need 12 tablespoons, which is equivalent to 3/4 cup. If you measure out fat or oil by the tablespoon then compare it to using measuring cups you’ll find a large discrepancy in the amounts you get. Try it! If you measure out 4 tablespoons of water or oil, then pour it into a 1/4 cup measure you’ll cup up short.
2) The directions say to combine cookie mix, eggs and butter or egg whites and margarine in a mixing bowl and mix until dough forms a ball. I would say:
In a mixing bowl with electric beaters or the workbowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine the cookie mix, eggs and butter or egg whites and oil or shortening. Beat or blend until dough comes together in a ball.
I used a food processor, which I found fast and easy. I noticed on the web site that David used a stand mixer. I think mixing by hand would be cumbersome given the fibrous nature of the ingredients, and might not incorporate the ingredients as well.
3) The instructions say to bake at 375˚F for 15 minutes. I experimented with two baking temperatures and preferred the cookies baked at 350˚F until lightly golden on the bottom, about 8 to 10 minutes for some batches, 10 to 12 minutes for batches that included more eggs or more eggs plus mashed banana. I liked the results better from the cookies baked at the lower temperature for a shorter time. The cookies do firm up as they cool.
4) The package doesn’t say to do this, but I found it helpful to flatten each ball of dough using my fingers or the tines of a fork (like most peanut butter cookie recipes suggest) or with the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in water. The fork flattened cookies looked the prettiest.
5) The package says that it yields approximately 18 to 22 cookies. I actually got 16 to 20 banana cookies to 18 to 22 chocolate cookies from each half batch forming the cookies into tablespoon-size size balls, about 1-inch in diameter, then flattening them to a thickness of about 1/3 to 1/2-inch.
Of the combinatio of ingredients I tried, I liked these best.
Almond Cococa-Licious Yes to Cookies
Prep: 20 minutes Cooking: 10 minutes Yield: 23 cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 egg white or 1/2 egg (tricky to measure, but do-able) or 1 whole egg
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons soft butter, palm shortening or liquefied virgin coconut oil
- 1/4 cup roasted, unsalted almond butter (mix well before measuring)
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, optional
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon pure stevia extract powder or 1 to 2 tablspoons powdered erythritol
- 1/2 package Yes! To CookieCocoa-LIicious Cookie Mix
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Lightly oil a large baking sheet or line with unbleached parchment paper.
- Combine egg, shortening or butter, almond butter, stevia or erythritol, and 1/2 package Yes to Cookies Cocoa-Licious Cookie Mix in a mixing bowl with electric beaters or the workbowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Beat or blend until the dough comes together to form a ball.
- Form dough into tablespoon size balls (about 1-inch in diameter). Arrange on prepared baking tray about 2-inches apart. Flatten with the tines of a fork.
- Bake for approximately 10 minutes until barely golden on the bottom.
- Remove from oven. Wait 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a cooling rack. When cool, cover and store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
Double Cococa-Licious Yes to Cookies
Prep: 20 minutes Cooking: 12 to 15 minutes Yield: 22 cookiesIngredients:
- 1 egg white or 1/2 egg (tricky to divvy up but possible!)
- 1/2 cup soft butter, palm shortening or liquefied virgin coconut oil
- 1 1/2 ounces (by weight) unsweetened baker’s chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, optional
- 1/2 package Yes! To CookieCocoa-LIicious Cookie Mix
- Melt chocolate over very low heat in a saucepan or in the top of a double boiler and allow to cool slightly.
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Lightly oil a large baking sheet or line with unbleached parchment paper.
- Combine egg, shortening or butter, melted chocolate, honey, and 1/2 package Yes to Cookies Cocoa-Licious Cookie Mix in a mixing bowl with electric beaters or the workbowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Beat or blend until the dough comes together to form a ball.
- Form dough into tablespoon size balls (about 1-inch in diameter). Arrange on prepared baking tray about 2-inches apart. Flatten with the tines of a fork.
- Bake for approximately 12 to 15 minutes until barely golden on the bottom.
- Remove from oven. Wait 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a cooling rack. When cool, cover and store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
- Increase to 1 whole egg above; replace unsweetened baker's chocolate with a 3.5 oz. bar of bittersweet dark chocolate; and use 1 to 2 tablespoons of honey agove. Each cookie will contain about 2.5 grams of sugar.
Buttery Banana Blitz Yes to Cookies
Prep: 20 minutes Cooking: 10 minutes Yield: 20 cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 egg white or 1/2 egg (a bit tricky to measure)
- 1/2 cup soft butter, palm shortening or liquefied virgin coconut oil
- 11/4 to teaspoon almond extract (double if desired)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried orange zest or 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh orange zest, optional
- 1/2 package Yes! To Cookie Strawberry Banana Blitz Cookie Mix
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Lightly oil a large baking sheet or line with unbleached parchment paper.
- Combine egg, shortening or butter, vanilla, optional orange zest, and 1/2 package Yes to Cookies Strawberry Banana Blitz Cookie Mix in a mixing bowl with electric beaters or the workbowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Beat or blend until the dough comes together to form a ball.
- Form dough into tablespoon size balls (about 1-inch in diameter). Arrange on prepared baking tray about 2-inches apart. Flatten with the tines of a fork.
- Bake for approximately 12 to 14 minutes until barely golden on the bottom.
- Remove from oven. Wait 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a cooling rack. When cool, cover and store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
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