Baking at home better than buying wee snacks

LITTLE ROCK — It's raining 100-calorie snack packs.

In 2004 Kraft launched the skinny-mini craze with teensy-tiny Oreo and Chips Ahoy cookies. Since then nearly every snack company has downsized a line of goodies. And sometimes the final dimensions can seem rather absurd.

For instance, earlier this summer Pepperidge Farm shrunk their chocolate chunk cookies to the size of a nickel. The pouch contains 11 tiny morsels, which pieced together equal about one average-size cookie.

So why pay more for less when you can have homemade instead?

Chocolate Molasses Cookies

2 /3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 /2 cup unsalted butter

1 1 /2 cups all-purpose flour

1 /4 teaspoon baking soda

1 /4 teaspoon salt

2 /3 cup brown sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons dark molasses

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt chocolate and butter in microwave-safe glass mixing bowl on high power in 30-second increments, until almost melted.

Stir to blend well, then let cool.

(The total microwave time is about 1 minute.)

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.

Stir brown sugar, egg, molasses and vanilla into cooled chocolate mixture.

Add flour mixture, stirring until combined.

Place scant tablespoons of dough on ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 10 to 11 minutes until tops begin to crack and cookies are still soft to the touch.

Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to wire rack and dust lightly withconfectioners' sugar.

Makes 36 cookies.

Nutrition information: Each cookie contains 76 calories (47 percent from fat), 4 g fat (2 g saturated), 12 mg cholesterol, 9 g carbohydrate, 1 g protein and 27 mg sodium.