Cocoa Fudge Cookies

Happy New Year's everyone! One of my New Year's resolutions was to try at least one new recipe every week this year. And, of course, in a clichéd move, I also want to eat healthier this year so I'm starting out this year with a recipe from the Cooking Light cookbook. I haven't made any sweet treats in a while, so I thought this was a nice compromise between having sweets and not indulging too much. This also gave me an opportunity to use the new cookie sheets my father-in-law got me for Christmas. I'd been thinking about buying new cookie sheets for a while, so they were a nice surprise, particularly because nobody suggested that to him. I've also made an unofficial resolution to use parchment paper with these cookie sheets so they last longer than their predecessors. I got a number of other new kitchen implements and cookware that I'm also dying to test out, so look for recipes using those hopefully sometime soon.

For some reason Cooking Light needs to explain how to measure out the flour in the directions, which I was tempted to cut out. The only change I made to the recipe was using full-fat plain yogurt instead of low-fat because that's what I eat on a regular basis.

Cocoa Fudge Cookies
from the Cooking Light Cookbook

makes 2 dozen cookies

1 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 t. baking soda
1/8 t. salt
5 T. butter
7 T. unsweetened cocoa
2/3 c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. plain low-far yogurt
1 t. vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, soda, and salt; set aside. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat; stir in cocoa and sugars. Stir in yogurt and vanilla. Add flour mixture, stirring until moist. Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheet coated with cooking spray (or parchment paper).

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until almost set. Cool on pans 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks.