The recipe itself does not have too many complicated ingredients. The cocoa powder and chocolate chips provide the chocolate flavor and dark color, while the sugar and vanilla extract provide the sweetness. The baking soda works as a leavening agent, and the eggs provide acid for the baking soda to react with and keep the batter cohesive while working with the flour to provide structure. The butter provides fats to limit gluten formation, and the sugar also helped prevent gluten forming by drawing any liquid towards it (O’Neill 04_20, Accessed 2023-05-02).
Without the eggs, the recipe loses the acid that the baking soda needs to react with in order for leavening to occur, along with the main ingredient holding the batter together. While the small amount of gluten created does some of this, the eggs are the main binder in the recipe. Both of these positions are filled by the applesauce which takes its place. The applesauce is naturally acidic, and therefore reacts with the baking soda to cause leavening. Like eggs, applesauce is also able to act as a binder. Applesauce serves as both a binder and an emulsifier (Insider, accessed 2023-05-03), which means it holds together other ingredients and helps thicken the batter, resulting in a more cohesive whole. However the applesauce is not quite as effective at keeping the batter together. The adjusted batter did spread further while baking in the oven than the original recipe, and resulted in a slightly more crumbly product. The initial batter was also less dense, and slightly stickier than the already sticky original. Because of the sweetness of the cocoa powder, the two kinds of chocolate chips, and the vanilla, nothing needs to be done to replace the ¼ cup less sugar. The adjusted cookies still keep their flavor and hold up well against the original recipe.
Blossom Recipe and references found HERE
Time and Activity Chart found HERE
Original Recipe from The Pioneer Woman
