Eating for Two: Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Last week when I reported that I had been comforted to learn that a woman can nibble and sip during labor, many experienced people spoke up to say that they thought this was a horrible idea. Another (falsely?) comforting thing I learned recently was that during the early phase of labor, while waiting for contractions to get strong and frequent enough to send you to the hospital, you should occupy yourself with calm and pleasant distractions. Suggested activities were walking, napping, having a snack, knitting, and baking; as Andrew said, “This is like a list of your all-time favorite things to do.”
Now I’m wondering if it’s unrealistic to plan on doing some serene baking as my contractions build, whether because I’ll be too hyper or in too much pain. I hope it works out, though, because baking makes me super happy, and I’ve already decided what I want to take to the hospital to share with nurses and visitors: the whole wheat chocolate chip cookies I made for myself a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I can’t make them again right away for myself; I ate so many I tipped the scales at the doctor’s office, inspiring a mini-lecture about nutrition, and I’m afraid I can’t trust myself to ration them out sensibly. The whole wheat flour definitely doesn’t make them healthy, but it does give them a special taste and chewy texture that I really like. I don’t like a lot of chocolate in my cookies, but if you do, use two cups of chips instead of one.
About the author: Robin Bellinger recently escaped a career in book publishing, which was cutting into her cooking time. Now she's a freelance editor and can bake bread on Tuesday afternoon if she feels like it. She lives in Midtown Manhattan with her husband and blogs about cooking and crafting at home*economics.
Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
- makes about 30 -
Ingredients
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Procedure
Preheat oven to 375°F. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Mix in vanilla and eggs. Whisk together flours, baking soda, and salt. Gradually stir flour mixture into butter mixture and then fold in chocolate chips. Drop onto a greased or lined cookie sheet and bake 8-10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes on baking sheets before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
8 Comments:
Sounds good, but I would definitely need 2 cups of chocolate chips!
tracychin at 1:59PM on 06/17/08
I agree that the baking option sounds a little unrealistic. Pulling a hot pan out of the oven while baking serenely...contraction strikes...hot pan gets dropped on the floor (or worse) as you react to the pain. Wouldn't want to necessitate the creation of a dual maternity/burn unit at your local hospital! But maybe I'm being an alarmist...I tend to think ahead to the worst case scenario.
You're so nice to think of sharing cookies with the nurses and visiting friends and family! And the cookies sound good. Whole wheat flour adds a subtle nutty flavor to chocolate chip cookies.
holdthemayo at 2:02PM on 06/17/08
I'm totally with you Robin, I'll even go as far as to only use 3/4c of chips. I'm all about the butter-sugary doughy goodness.
meganaw at 2:35PM on 06/17/08
amish women bake, cook, make soup during the beginning stages of labor to keep busy. i don't think anyone suggests trying it when you are so far along that you're having contractions of blinding pain. being first-time moms, our early contractions/labor could go on for 48-36 hours before real labor starts. i definitely plan on making some cookies, soup, etc. for the midwives, doula, friends and family that'll be at my house for hours during the birth. and to keep my mind off what's to come!
dmarina at 3:52PM on 06/17/08
may i suggest not eating in early labor. I had my son in February and they had told i could eat in early labor. So i had a bowl of cheerios. When we got to the hospital before we could even check in I started throwing up. Also as a first time mom I was in labor from when i realized i was in labor to when he was born for 11 hours and only 4 hours from when my water broke. So be prepared for long labor; but, know it doesn't always go that way.
jennywren at 7:44PM on 06/17/08
jennywren, i am definitely with you on that one...i was in labor for 23 hours and all i could think of were my cravings....please try to resist...but i had to have my corned beef and cabbage and cheesy curly fries, yep, all of that and all the while my mother is telling me (she had 8 kids and i still didn't listen to her) you really shouldn't eat all that...OK, so we get to the hospital and i leave my husband and run into some poor unknown's room and regurgitate my stupid heart out...at least a half hours worth...my husband finally finds me and asks if i were going to throw up the baby...it was that intense...
triza at 10:54AM on 06/19/08
I think it's wise to be cautious, but every woman's labor is different! My friend cleaned her house after her contractions started so she could have a clean place to come home to. Other women probably can't do so much. Nothing wrong with keeping baking as an option, but maybe not a definite plan!
Same with eating. The above mentioned friend had a steak on her way to the hospital and didn't puke at all. Another friend threw up all day until she finally delivered. Food is definitely good to help you keep up your energy if you can stomach it. Just because one woman's labor went a certain way doesn't mean all labors will go that way.
jenl at 3:32PM on 06/19/08
Don't eat too much...if you end up having an epidural (or worse, general anesthesia for an emergency c-section) having food in your stomach is a problem. I've never heard of anyone being allowed to "nibble and sip" during labor either...except for the "clear liquids" thing, which I was thrilled to find with baby #3 included 7-UP. Yessss...blood sugar... =)
And I second the dropping-the-hot-sheet-pan caution. You will have enough to think about. =)
akk328 at 2:02PM on 06/23/08