I make chocolate chip or chocolate chunk cookies on and off for my daughter who likes them. They make great after school snacks and even excellent stuff for her to carry to school for her mid-morning break. I always pack quite a few for these because she likes sharing them with her friends. I have tried different recipes for them, and some have been better than others. Yet, I haven’t blogged a single chocolate chip cookie here so far. I don’t know why, and it certainly isn’t because I’ve never made really good chocolate chip cookies. I have!
Then I discovered these chocolate chip cookies and didn’t have any great expectations from them because they are made with whole wheat flour. If you’ve baked stuff with whole wheat flour, especially cakes and breads, you know that you don’t always get the texture that all-purpose flour produces. Sure you can be open minded and say that whole wheat bakes are pretty good but you will find that a lot of people will not agree with you, and will even give the “healthier” bakes a wide berth!
But these Wholewheat Chocolate Chip Cookies turned out so good that I knew I was definitely sharing them with you. No one even asked what was in the cookies, because I suspect they didn’t even realise it wasn’t good old white flour in them!
So why would someone resort to baking chocolate chip cookies with whole wheat flour? I won’t tell you that it’s because whole wheat flour is a healthier option. I’ll be honest and upfront and confess that it was because I ran out of all-purpose flour!
Whole wheat flour can be a healthier option than plain white flour in various other recipes but it would be stretching things beyond belief to claim that here given that these cookies contain quite a bit of butter and sugar (both of which I cut down a bit in my version). Add the chocolate chips to the mix and “healthy” flies out of your window! But the whole wheat flour gives these cookies a very nice flavour that’s not there in the regular kind.
I’m not much of a cookie eater and rarely eat the sweet ones. Savoury ones are more my thing. Most of the sweet cookies that I bake are for my daughter and her friends, our family, friends and neighbours. I would reach out for the occasional chocolate chip cookie and that too because they have chocolate in them. So when I tell you that these cookies are good, maybe you should take me seriously. Apparently there was a time not too long ago, when these cookies were all the rage on food blogs but I never saw them then. It was only when I needed to bake some cookies and had run out of regular flour that I went looking for a whole wheat chocolate cookie recipe.
The whole wheat flour gives it a nice taste and colour and if you like thick chewy chocolate chip cookies that hint at crispness around the edge, then these are for you. I would suggest using chopped chocolate chunks if you like largish chocolate bits in your bite of cookie. No one would even realise these are whole wheat cookies and you can watch the surprise on peoples’ faces when you reveal the “truth” after they’ve eaten them.
I’ll just mention a couple of things before I get to the recipe. The original recipe suggests using cold butter chunks but I let my butter become a little at room temperature (soft enough that when I pushed my finger into the still cold butter, it gave a bit). I just wanted to be a bit gentle and caring on the beaters of my hand held mixer. I did however chill the shaped cookie dough for a couple of hours before baking them, so that made up for it.
Chilling cookie dough gives them a better flavour and also produces thicker and chewy cookies. You can even freeze the shaped dough and bring out as many as you want to bake so you always can bake these cookies on demand!
I halved the original recipe and dec ided to substitute a little of the whole wheat flour with some cornstarch (1/8cup) for a better texture. An easy way to do this is by putting 1/8 cup cornstarch in your 1 1/2 cup measure and then making up the 1 1/2 cups by adding whole wheat flour. If you want make these egg-free, leave out the egg and add 1 1/2 tbsp water if the dough feels dry. Ideally, these cookies are best made with milled whole wheat flour, but I have made them successfully with atta/ whole wheat chapathi flour (Aashirvaad brand) as well.
Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Adapted from Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce)
My Kind Of Chocolate Chip/ Chunk Cookies(Whole Wheat)!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups minus 1/8 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/8 cup corn starch
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 100 gm salted butter slightly soft at room temperature
- 1/3 cup brown sugar golden
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chocolate semi-sweet chips (or mix of white and dark chips/ chunks)
Instructions
- Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl, and whisk to blend.
- In a larger bowl put the soft butter and sugars and beat with a hand held electric mixer for about 2 to 3 minutes, on low speed. Scrape down the sides, and add the egg. Beat well and then add the vanilla and beat it in.
- Add the whisked flour to this and beat on low speed until it is just incorporated. Do not beat longer than necessary for this. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and add the chocolate chips or chunks. Beat on the lowest speed possible until the chips/ chunks are slightly mixed in.
- Now use your hands to to turn and lightly knead/ massage the dough making sure all the flour has been incorporated. Pinch off bits of dough about the size of a large walnut, roll them into balls and flatten slightly. Place them parchment lined or lightly greased baking sheets, about 2 1/2u201d apart. Refrigerate them for about 2 hours.
- Take the cookie sheets out of the fridge and leave them on your counter for about 5 minutes (not longer or they will spread out when baking).
- Bake them at 180C (350F) for about 15 to 20 minutes or until theyu2019re starting to turn golden brown at the edges. The cookies might seem a bit soft to touch but they should be set. They will harden a little once they cool.
- Cool the cookies on racks and store them in an airtight container.
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