All-Natural Berger Style Cookies

Baltimore's famous Berger Cookies could change or disappear due to a trans fat ban!

I haven't consumed the original cookie in years because my family enjoys our organic/all-natural food lifestyle. I also adapted the following recipe from King Arthur Flour's online recipe to be an All-Natural Berger Style Cookie. It does the trick and is ohhhhh so delicious.

I hope you enjoy these jumbo-sized cookies that are topped with rich fudge like frosting.

All-Natural Berger Style Cookies

I always use organic/all-natural ingredients when possible.

For the Fudge Frosting - 

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli.)

1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (Best if sifted.)

Fudge Frosting - 

In a medium-size saucepan, over medium-heat, melt the chocolate chips, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and heavy cream until mixture begins to bubble. Remove from heat and continue to stir until smooth. Adding small amounts at a time, beat in the powdered sugar. Set aside while you make the cookies.

For the Cookies -

1/3 cup unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/3 cup milk

Cookies - 

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large-size mixing bowl, cream the butter, salt, vanilla, and baking powder until smooth. Beat in the sugar, then the egg, mixing well. Alternating the wet and dry ingredients, add and mix well the unbleached all-purpose flour and milk. 

Using a tablespoon, drop the cookie dough onto parchment covered cookie sheets, placing at least 2 inches apart from each other. With cold water, wet your clean fingers, then gently press down on each cookie mound to slightly flatten each. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are slightly golden. Be careful not to over cook/brown the cookies. These cookies are meant to be a bit soft, so check the bottoms for just a slight golden color. Cool cookies on pan for a couple of minutes before transferring to wire racks for cooling.

I think it's easiest to wear disposable rubber gloves when frosting the cookies. Give the fudge frosting another good stir before starting to dip each cookie into the mixture. Berger Cookies have a rounded bottom, so make sure to dip the flat side of the cookie into the fudge frosting and swirl around to get a good coating on top. The thicker the better. Place cookies back on the cooling rack after dipping. Spoon any extra fudge frosting on top of the cookies for extra fudginess!

Enjoy!

The Hart Senate Building where activists protested against Monsanto

@CHARLIESPIERING VIA TWITTER

Check out the story on NY Daily News.

Trip to Greece: Athens

After cramming 2 weeks worth of travel attire and needs into a carry-on, flight delay, missing a connection, and what seemed like 12+ hours of travel time, we finally made it to Greece. 

We showered, rallied, and head out 

for sightseeing. 

The Parthenon (Greek: Παρθενών) is a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece.

Late night we stopped into Brettos for a fun traditional Greek cocktail.

Rakomelo - raki boiled with honey

So far, so fun!

Wellness in the New Year

Happy New Year!

Many of us vow healthy goals for New Year's resolutions. A segment of the Kojo Nnamdi Show this week really spoke to me, and has made me choose some simple and achievable goals that will benefit my health and overall wellness. The discussion was about wellness in the workplace, and I thought... What about wellness in the home, in school, and so on? The guests talked about how they felt the U.S. has a "diseasecare" system, instead of a healthcare system, and how we need to focus on preventing illness, aches, and pains - not just masking them. I feel that many of the ideas given in the show would benefit families, not just companies.

Overall wellness is often a New Year's Resolution for many people. Make a simple goal to listen to this show.

Listen to the show: The Kojo Nnamdi Show - Wellness And The Workplace

The white fillings in are teeth are made out of BPA!

Depositphotos.com: Healing teeth | Stock Photo © Dmitriy Shironosov #10730087

BPA stands for bisphenol A. BPA is an industrial chemical that has been used to make certain plastics and resins since the 1960s. The National Toxicology Program at the Department of Health and Human Services has some concern about the possible health effects of BPA on the brain, behavior and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children. The Food and Drug Administration now shares the concern and is taking steps to reduce human exposure to BPA in the food supply by finding alternatives to BPA in food containers.

Thanks again to the Feingold Association for their continued research on behavioral issues.  In their July issue of eNews, Feingold posts an article titled "Now What?" This article describes a connection between the fillings in our teeth and behavior. Shocking!

Now What?

---

Ever since we realized that amalgam fillings were 50% mercury, many of us have been opting for "white" fillings as a safer choice. They certainly are prettier. But ARE they safer?

Now we find that these fillings - and the dental sealants that are supposed to protect our children from fillings - are all made with BPA. Yes - that stuff we have been trying to get out of baby bottles and food can linings. We are actually paying to have it put directly into our kids' (and our own) mouths.

New research shows that children receiving such fillings lose "just a few" points on a neurobehavioral scale, becoming "just a little" more moody, more aggressive, and less well adjusted.

I have tried to find both sides of the issue, so - if you have teeth - read more here:

Science News

Huffington Post

AOL Video News Clip

Feingold Association. "Now What?" - Feingold.org 
"Putting BPA-based Dental Fillings In Perspective - Science News." - Science News
Horowitz, Janice. "Dueling Docs: Are Dental Sealants Safe for Kids?" - The Huffington Post

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