week 5: early spring

this week on the little dream farm

By this point in the winter it begins to feel a bit like Groundhog Day. But according to ol’ Punxsutawney Phil, we’re shaping up for an early Spring!

This last week held within it the celebration of Imbolc—also known as St. Brigid’s Day. It’s a Gaelic traditional festival which marks the beginning of spring. Generally celebrated on February 1st or 2nd, Imbolc marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and spring equinox.

Last year we attended a wonderful Imbolc party one of our neighbors put on—warm clothes, a big bonfire outside, cozy, nourishing foods, lots of candlelight, and good company.

This year Imbolc came and went for us while Chris and I are busy preparing for the next few weeks. Chris will be in Las Vegas for work all this coming week in preparation of the Super Bowl. Then, I’m in Denver all the following week for a conference for work.

The last time we were apart for more than a week was back in 2018 when I was deployed to the U.A.E. for six months!

As far as the farm’s goings on, this week was a quiet one!

It’s as good a time as any share with you a favorite recipe of mine…something I whip up every now and then when Chris and I get a sweet tooth.

I have to add, while I’m hyper-focused on my health at the moment, I’m totally avoiding gluten and mostly avoiding sugar altogether. But like I preach to all my health coaching clients, perfection is not the goal…consistency is the goal.

And out of that consistency was born my Half-Batch Perfectly Soft Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.

This recipe is gluten free, (lower) sugar, and made with better-for-you chocolate chips.

Two years ago Chris and I started an experiment to find and hone our own recipe for THE perfect chocolate chip cookie. We experimented with all the things—butter temperature, types of sugar, amounts of sugar, mixing speeds and duration, oven temperatures, baking equipment, and the like. We also tried lots of different recipes and compared and contrasted what we liked about each.

Finally, we landed on something we both REALLY love…chocolate chip cookies baked with less sugar than what most recipes might call for (which makes a not overly-sweet cookie that stands taller and keeps the shape of the cookie scoop) and underbaked so that the cookies stay soft for days after they’ve been baked.

If you’re anything like us…when there’s treats in the house you can’t help yourself. One turns into three turns into five, and the whole batch is gone in two days. So, we started making half batches to satisfy our craving but not go overboard.

Be sure you bookmark this post in your email, print it out and put it with your recipes, and send it to your family and friends who you share recipes with, too. You’ll want to keep this one around and make it any time you’ve got a sweet tooth, or the next time you need to whip up a batch of these better-for-you chocolate chip cookies that’ll have everyone asking you…“What’s your recipe?!”

Now they might look underbaked but that’s the secret to their softness!!

Half-Batch Perfectly Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Time: about 30 minutes | Makes: about 24 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup salted butter at room temperature (room temp is key here!)

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 1/3 cup light or dark brown sugar

• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

• 1 large egg

• 1.5 cups King Arthur gluten free measure-for-measure flour

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1/4 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 cup chocolate chips (I always use these, no bad ingredients and allergen free)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or these silicone baking mats.

2. In the bowl of stand mixer, cream together butter and both sugars until combined.

3. Beat in egg and vanilla until incorporated.

4. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

5. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet, adding in batches and running the mixer on low speed until just combined with each addition.

6. Add the chocolate chips and mix to combine.

7. Using a small cookie scoop, arrange cookies on lined baking sheet. Because they don’t spread, you can place them super close together…I generally can fit 24 on a single baking pan.

8. Bake for 8-10 minutes but check them at 8 minutes—I take them out at 9. To achieve the kind of cookie we love, you want to take them out just before they begin to turn brown at the bottom edges. They’ll look totally underbaked, but once they cool you’ll see why we love them!

9. Let them sit on the baking pan for a few minutes before removing them to cool.

10. Once cooled, store in an airtight container for up to a week (but let’s be honest, they never last that long!).

I hope you love this better-for-you version—let me know if you bake them and what you think!

Always glad to have help around here! Thanks LL!

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1. Did you know that David’s book, Simply Being Present is now published and available for purchase?! I hope you’ll grab a copy and I can’t wait to hear what you think if you do!

2. Did you know that I wrote a book? It’s called Such is Life. It’s comprised of 30 amazing life lessons told through real-life stories of some of the incredible people I’ve met along my path who’ve taught me some of the most profound things I know deep within my bones.

3. There are good lip products and then there’s my ride-or-die lip product. Years ago I subscribed to a service that sent you products every quarter made by brands who use better ingredients, source from better supply chains, and who care about people and the planet. That’s how I came across this lip mask and lip scrub duo and I use both religiously. You may actually throw out all your other lip products once you swap to this…it’s that good—and even though it says nighttime lip mask, I use it any time of day and I keep a few jars in multiple places, and I use the lip scrub in the shower.

*Note: Not all, but some of these links are affiliate links. That’s no matter to you, as it costs you nothing. However, if you make a purchase, we -may- receive a teeny weeny commission.

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