| chocolate chip cookies [message #20461] |
Sat, 12 September 2009 07:00  |
criscopolo
Messages: 12
Registered: October 2008
Location: California |
Junior Member |
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I am visiting friends in Italy and I promised them that I would make chocolate chip cookies. However, I just realized that both brown sugar and vanilla extract are not readily available here! Does anyone have any suggestions for different recipes or substitutions so I can make some decent cookies anyway? Thanks!
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| Re: chocolate chip cookies [message #20465 is a reply to message #20461 ] |
Sat, 12 September 2009 09:00  |
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 Black Bear
Messages: 3216
Registered: September 2008
Location: Indianapolis, IN USA |
Senior Member
[Moderator] |
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Now THAT's a good ambassadorial move! 
I'm sure something could be done about the brown sugar if you could get hold of some molasses, but I'm not enough of a cooking chemistry person to know exactly what.
However, I can tell you that in my family we use almond extract in chocolate chip cookies (and in fact, any recipe that calls for vanilla extract--my mom's not a fan of vanilla, and now I find I'm not either since I grew up with the taste of almond in cookies instead.) Generally we cut it half/half between vanilla and almond, but I suppose you could go full on substitution and it wouldn't be horrible. Unless, of course, you don't like almonds...
(And I see this is your first post, criscopolo! Welcome!)
"The time is always right to do what's right."--MLK Jr.
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| Re: chocolate chip cookies [message #20466 is a reply to message #20461 ] |
Sat, 12 September 2009 09:21 |
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AJLR
Messages: 2566
Registered: September 2008
Location: England, UK |
Senior Member
[Moderator] |
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What sort of brown sugar does your recipe use, Criscopolo? Soft light brown, soft dark brown, demerara,...? If you're able to give a little more detail - and say what sorts of sugar you can get in Italy, it might be possible to come up with a substitution.
Or you could try the recipe that Robin posted last year, that's over on Playing with Your Food. She hasn't specified what sugar type in that, so perhaps it wouldn't make much difference (given all the chocolate in there... )
Fingers crossed for you, and yes, welcome!
"Never let a computer know you're in a hurry."
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| Re: chocolate chip cookies [message #20473 is a reply to message #20461 ] |
Sat, 12 September 2009 12:59 |
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The sugar should be fairly interchangeable, if you've just got white sugar, though splitting it up with something darker would make for more complex cookies. For vanilla, if you can get the whole beans, you can split them open and beat the seeds into the butter (I'd say something between one and two beans for a batch of cookies). Using almond extract works nicely too.
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| Re: chocolate chip cookies [message #20546 is a reply to message #20461 ] |
Sun, 13 September 2009 08:07 |
criscopolo
Messages: 12
Registered: October 2008
Location: California |
Junior Member |
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I'm not sure which type of brown sugar is normally used. It is just whatever is normally found in an American grocery store. I'll assume it probably is the soft dark brown sugar. From what I know, the only sugars sold here are regular white, powdered, and raw cane sugar. I found on the internet that brown sugar is translated into zucchero integrale di canna, however, it looks like it is very hard to find. It also looks like I can buy baking powder with vanilla in it, but I'm not sure how different that would be from vanilla extract. A couple other suggestions I've found online are that if vanilla extract is not readily available, you can substitute two teaspoons of vanilla sugar for granulated sugar and that you can use honey instead of brown sugar. Have you ever tried any of these? Thanks for the help!
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These are -"OhHiGladYouMadeItDidYouBringTHOSECookies?" as soon as I come into the room- cookies. 1 batch contains 2 lbs of chocolate. 