When we put on our aprons that Saturday morning, I first explained some basics to Kay. Making treats without butter, egg yolks, whole milk, sugar and white flour is not as simple as it sounds. Whittling a recipe down from traditional high-fat ingredients requires learning new rules. Take sugar, for example. Cookies and bars are mostly sweetener, and in traditional recipes, sugar bonds the dough by crystallizing as it bakes.
Crystallized sugar is what makes cookies crisp and crunchy.
If you've already tried an alternative sweetener, such as honey, maple syrup or even fruit juice concentrate, you may have discovered some difference. A common result. In baking, fat includes dairy products, egg yolks and oils. Low-fat cooking means very little of the first, no egg yolks at all and much reduced amounts of oil. Sweets are often 50 percent or more fat - just scan a traditional cookie recipe and weigh the ratio of butter or oil to flour.