Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

Easy, vegetarian, refined sugar free, whole grain dessert

Who doesn't love a good chocolate chip cookie? I know my family loves them, so I wanted to create a recipe that not only tasted amazing but was also better for your health. While these cookies may look like any other cookies, they're actually 100% whole grain and refined sugar free.

At first, I thought I was going to have to go through half a dozen trials before I found the perfect recipe. To my surprise, I only had to make two batches! The first batch still tasted great, but they were more cake-like than I wanted them to be and needed more chocolate (you can never have enough chocolate). So for the second batch I added less flour, slightly more maple syrup, and more chocolate to get them to turn out just right. They have just enough gooey chocolate to satisfy my chocolate craving for the day and enough oats to not make me feel guilty about having one at breakfast.

I knew I came up with a good recipe when my younger sister even approved of the taste. She is an extremely picky eater and is a chocolate chip cookie fan who would rather have a traditional one over a "healthy" version. Although I think its safe to say that now she'd be happy to eat these instead.

Some recipe tips:

Be sure to cream the softened butter and coconut sugar together before adding in the other wet ingredients to make sure everything mixes consistently. After that, the dry ingredients can just be thrown straight into the bowl.

These cookies cook slowly and will spread out during baking so just be patient.

If making smaller cookies, the baking time will decrease so be sure to start checking them after 10 minutes in the oven.

Now for the recipe:

Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 12 large cookies or 24 small cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup Coconut sugar

1 Egg, room temperature

1/3 cup 100% pure maple syrup

2 tsp. Vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup Whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp. Baking soda

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/2 cup Quick oats

1/2 cup Dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream together softened butter and coconut sugar until smooth.

3. Add in egg, maple syrup and vanilla. Mix until well combined.

4. Add in whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until a slightly wet dough comes together.

5. Fold in quick oats and dark chocolate chips with a spatula. Spoon cookies onto cookie sheet, making sure they are evenly spaced.

6. Place cookie sheet in oven and bake for 16-20 min, until cookies are cooked through and lightly browned around the edges.

7. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Enjoy! Keep stored in an air tight container for up to a week or freezer for up to one month (if they last that long).