Whole Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies

A few days ago I told you about the Oatmeal Flax Cookie recipe I found on the King Arthur Flour website, and hinted at another great recipe to come.  Well, I am so excited to share this one.  Many of my other cookie recipes are delicious but hearty and more healthy tasting...the type of cookie I happily serve as a snack, but might be self-conscious calling them dessert to a not-so-health-conscious audience.

This cookie, however, tastes like a delicious, home made chocolate chip cookie, no qualification or apology necessary.  But the secret is they are 100% whole grain, and have about half the sugar of some traditional chocolate chip cookie recipes I found, with no sacrifice in taste.  In fact, I think these are better because they are not so cloyingly sweet.  And the texture is great, slightly crisp around the edges, with plenty of soft chew, which is helped by the addition of the oats.  I cut the amount of chocolate chips in half from the original recipe and I think they are plenty chocolatey, but you could up the chips if you want.  Another great feature of these cookies is that they hold up really well:  they maintain their chewiness after a few days sitting on the counter and are amazing if frozen right away and warmed through in the microwave.

So I challenge you to try this recipe and still insist that whole grains don't belong in dessert baking.  Personally, I will enjoy the fact that I can have my treats and know that I am at least getting some health benefits even from dessert!

Refrigerated Dough*

Room Temperature Dough

Whole Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from King Arthur Flour

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

3/4 cup white whole wheat flour

3/4 cup quick rolled oats, ground in a food processor or blender if you prefer a smoother texture

1 cup dark chocolate chips

Beat together first 7 ingredients using a hand or stand mixer (if you are doubling the recipe, I'd recommend the stand mixer if you have one).  Add the egg, beating until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.  Add the flour and oats, mixing until combined, and finally mix in the chocolate chips.  

Refrigerate the dough for as long as you have the patience for, up to overnight.  The colder the dough, the less they will spread (*see note below).  Drop dough in 1 tablespoon balls on 2 lightly greased or parchment paper lined cookie sheets, allowing for spread (note if you only have 1 pan and are cycling multiple batches, the cookies will spread a lot more if the dough is placed on an already hot baking sheet).  Bake in 375 degree oven for 10-11 minutes for room temperature dough or up to 14 minutes if it's been thoroughly chilled, until cookies are just browning at the edges.

Let cookies cool completely on baking sheet, or if you want the sheet for another batch, give them at least a few minutes to set before transferring to a cooling rack.

Store completely cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a few days (if they last that long!), or freeze and reheat in the microwave.

Makes 27 cookies

* I'd only recommend bothering with the refrigeration if you really prefer a thicker cookie.  I tried these both ways (as you can see in the pictures) and the room temperature dough yielded a very nicely shaped cookie as well, not too thin at all.  In fact, we preferred the thinner cookies since the appeared bigger so it felt like a better deal :).  Plus, refrigerated dough is very difficult to scoop (think about trying to scoop solid butter), so another option would be to scoop the dough FIRST and then refrigerate if you have the room.  Or better yet, scoop your dough and freeze on a cookie sheet, then transfer frozen balls to a zip-top bag to have fresh baked cookies whenever you want, no scary chemicals from grocery dough needed!

Coconut Variation: Replace half of the butter with coconut oil, reduce the oats to 1/2 cup and add in 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut.  YUM!!