Enlighted Malt Ball Cookies

World Peace cookies from Dorie Greenspan

This week has been donated to my country. Between the elections and baking and, of course, eating for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is amazing that I have even had time to work! It is all a blur, cookies, elections, cookies, elections, oh and the post office.  I joined, Baking Gals, which is a group of baking fools dedicated to baking cookies for soldiers risking their lives everyday. (http://www.bakinggals.com/ ) Even though I am not in favor of the war, I am behind all these brave young folks whom I have the utmost respect and honor for. I thought that by baking as much love as possible into these cookies, it would be the most personal way to help and send love and support. Soooooooo over in the other side of my already over extended mind is Tuesdays with Dorie, and being the practical and somewhat creative individual that I am, I decided to combine the two.

 

 Now let’s face it Rugelach is not a cookie that would make it to Iraq or Afghanistan in one piece or without mold growing on it, so I decided to make a cookie that TWD had already made before I joined, Chocolate Malt Ball cookies. Oh and I couldn’t help myself, I had to make a few World Peace Cookies too. I mean, why not? I held true to my duty to save the world of obesity, one cookie at a time, and lightened up the cookies a bit.  I was a tad nervous about adding things like applesauce to cookies that were going to fly thousands of miles away, so I didn’t get radical with the reduction of calories. I can honestly say that I thought the Malt Ball Cookies were going to rock my world. I liked them quite well but they weren’t world stopping. (Like last nights elections!!! YEAH!) Here is my version that some soldiers will be snacking on.

 

Lighter Chocolate Malt Ball Cookies

 

2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup of malted milk powder

¼ cup dark cocoa powder

1 teaspoon of baking powder

½ teaspoon of baking soda

¼ teaspoon of salt

1 stick butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of a good vanilla

¼ cup of non-fat milk

1 ½ cups malted milk balls

1 cup of coarsely chopped dark chocolate

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the dry ingredients with a whisk. Using a mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and eggs till smooth, and add the vanilla. Add half the dry ingredients to the wet, with the mixer on slow till the batter is just barely mixed.  Then with the mixer still going, add the milk in a drizzly stream till mixed in.  Add the rest of the dry ingredients till you are thinking that looks like fudge brownie batter. Fold in the chocolate and chopped malted milk balls. I used my trusty mini ice cream scoop to plop balls of cookies dough onto well greased baking sheets. Bake for 12 – 14 minutes till just barley beginning to get brown around the edges. Let them set a few minutes till you transfer them to cooling racks. It’s a good idea to use silicone mats or baking parchment with these cookies as they STICK to the pan. I mean STICK. This was all for my country, but my waistline definitely suffered. All the broken cookies could not go to waste! Or was that waist?