Chocolate Cow Pie Patties for the Stampede

Yeehaw! The Calgary Stampede officially begins tomorrow, and as always, the celebrations will kick off with the Calgary Stampede Parade. momstown Calgary will be watching the parade from the balcony of my home, which happens to be right on the parade route. We could not be more excited! To kick off the festivities, a young friend of mine and I got busy in the kitchen creating these yummy cookies to enjoy while we all watch the parade. Since you don't need an electric mixer to make them, they are a great recipe for kids to help with. Here's a picture of the baking in progress:

And here is a picture of the finished product:

In the spirit of the Wild West, we'll be referring to them as Chocolate Cow Pie Patties, but you can call them Double Chocolate Fudge Cookies too. What ever name you choose, we're pretty sure that you'll agree with the label of "delicious". The bonus? They are gluten free, nut free, and they can also be made dairy free and fat free by leaving out the chocolate chips, so they are perfect for a variety of different dietary needs.

Chocolate Cow Pie Patties (Double Chocolate Fudge Cookies

2 1/4 cups icing sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cocoa powder
3 large egg whites
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and lightly grease the parchment.

2. In a large bowl, use a wooden spoon or sturdy rubber spatula to stir together all ingredients from icing sugar to vanilla extract until smooth, ensuring you scrape the sides of the bowl. The batter should be glossy, and quite thick. Stir in chocolate chips if using.

3. Drop ½ tablespoons of the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving a few inches of space between the cookies, since they spread considerably.

4. Bake cookies for 8 minutes. They should spread, and have shiny tops with faint cracks.

5. Remove cookies from the oven, and allow them to cool on the pans. Store in an airtight container, and enjoy.

If you need information on where you can take in the parade tomorrow, check out this website. Of course, if Stampede Breakfasts are more your thing, you can find a list of them here.

Happy Stampede everyone!