Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookies

I really love chocolate chip cookies.  Before my doctor suggested I take all the white stuff out of my diet, I made them about once a week.

These aren't perfect - they do contain white and brown sugar, but for a once-in-a-while treat they definitely beat my old standby Nestle Tollhouse recipe.   I found the recipe a few months ago at Kitchen Stewardship (love that blog!) and made a few modifications.

Here's my version...

3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup unrefined coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
optional:  chopped walnuts

1.  In large bowl, cream sugars, butter, oil, vanilla and egg with electric mixer.

2.  Mix flour,  baking soda and salt in a separate bowl, then add to wet ingredients and mix until well blended.

3.  Stir in chocolate chips (and nuts if you like them) by hand.

4.  Scoop out cookie dough balls onto a parchment paper or plastic wrap lines cookie sheet (I use  this scoop from Pampered Chef).  Don't worry about placement - you're going to put this in the freezer.  I leave them in the freezer about half an hour, then remove and place your now frozen dough balls in a freezer safe container or freezer bags. 

5.  When you're ready to make cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and remove the dough balls from the freezer.  Place as many as you'd like on your baking sheet or stone.  I've been putting them in the oven still a little frozen and I've been really happy with the way they're turning out.

6.  Bake 14-16 minutes or until light golden brown.  It's a little harder to tell exactly what light brown looks like with the whole wheat flour, so I give them a little press - they should be set, but not firm or too smooshy .

7.  Cool 2 minutes on the stone or baking sheet; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

A few notes:

• I prefer to freeze my cookie dough individually for a few reasons - first of all, it keeps us from eating through an entire batch so quickly.  It also helps with portion control... instead of having them all there and available, I bake 2 for each of us.  Finally, I just like the idea of fresh from the oven cookies once a week as a treat.
• I was a little nervous about the coconut oil.  It smells fairly strong in the dough (which let's be honest - it tastes a bit too strong in the dough also, which I count as a plus because it keeps me from eating the frozen dough balls).  There is a very light coconut flavor to the baked cookie, but I really like it and so does my husband.  And I think my kids were so excited to have chocolate chip cookies in the house again that they don't care.
  Coconut oil is something new for me.  I've been reading about it for a few years now, but have only recently begun using it.  I'm pretty hooked, and I'm working on a blog post to share soon with more information about it.
• I like small cookies, so you might need to adjust baking times if you prefer bigger ones.
• Next time I made these, I'm going to try substituting a little sucanat for some of the sugars.  I'm also tempted to try stevia, but need to do a little more research first.

Comments

[Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship]

Glad you liked them! I don't think stevia will work for baking b/c it doesn't have any mass. I just learned that the powder and liquid forms are highly processed and no good. *sigh* Too much information! These cookies are yummy, though...now I'm hungry!
:) Katie

[Samantha Widlund]

I had a feeling that was the case with stevia in baking, Katie. I generally only use a tiny bit of stevia in my coffee, so I'm willing to live with this one a bit longer. I have a lot more pressing changes I'm working on right now!