“Good-For-You” Cookies
On a quest to find a satisfying healthier cookie packed with nutrients and taste, I created the following recipe. My husband, a hardcore basic chocolate chip cookie lover, now frequently prefers these cookies to any other I have ever made. They are a hardy cookie jar cookie and do awfully well in lunchboxes, if anyone is curious.
Makes 6 doz. small cookies.
Ingredients:
2 c. brown sugar
1 c. unsalted butter, softened (I prefer to use 1/2 c. regular unsalted and 1/2 c. Smart Balance Unsalted; helps with texture)
2 eggs
1-2 t. vanilla (I rarely measure vanilla… it keeps things interesting)
2 1/4 c. flour (I use all whole wheat now and decrease to a “loose” 2 cups, but all-purpose can be used, or a mixture of both totalling the needed amount)
4-5 T. untoasted wheat germ
3-4 T. golden flax seeds (optional, but delicious!)
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
a shake or two of cinnamon
2 c. quick oats
at least 1 c. chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Using a hand mixer or pastry blender, cream sugar and butter, add eggs and vanilla. Get as many brown sugar lumps out as possible (the liquids cause the sugar to clump, which makes for weird dry bites in your finished product if not dealt with).
2. Add flour, wheat germ, flax seeds, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon all at once and mush around with mixer blades or pastry blender until mostly wet. Beat with mixer at medium speed for 1-2 minutes until all blended (this will help to break up some of the flax seeds if you are including them).
3. Clean off your mixer blades and dig out your spatula. Add oats and chocolate chips by folding and cutting into the dough. Try not to overwork it, but get the oats and chips mixed in best you can.
4. Preheat that oven to 350 F and scoop dough onto baking sheets by the tablespoon (I use a #60 dough scoop; priceless addition to my kitchen…); cookies won’t spread much while baking, so mash dough balls down into flatter disks with two fingers or back of scoop.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes-ish (ovens are weird, I do mine at 8 minutes, turn the pan and do another minute-twenty and they come out perfect). Let cool 2-3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Enjoy!
