Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

It is very possible that my most favorite food in the whole world is homemade chocolate chip cookies. There is something so comforting about drinking a glass of cold milk accompanied by a perfect disc-shaped, chocolate-speckled treat. My go-to recipe is my mother's prize-winning recipe (hint: you can find it on the back of a bag of toll house chocolate chips) but, if you can recall, we currently don't have white flour in our house.

So, the search for a great whole wheat chocolate chip cookie has been at the top of my cooking priority list. I tried one that was OK, but not great. And then I found this one. This one.

My. Oh. My.

I'm pretty convinced that this is better than chocolate chip cookies made with white flour. Right before my mother tried this cookie, she said, "This looks like a Mrs. Field's cookie!" And then she made her "Mmmmm" noises that always make me feel good about my cooking. And I know it's my own mother, but she really is a connoisseur of all things chocolate. And let's face, I am my harshest critic. And this cookie is delicious! I'll try to stop rambling my excitement, but it's a little hard to contain when you've just found an amazing and beautiful chocolate-chip cookie recipe. Oh, and then top it off that it is 100% whole wheat. Eek! Could it be better? I think not. Ok, I'll be done now. Just go make this.

From Orangette

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 sticks butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 cup lightly packed brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces or chocolate chips (I don't have bittersweet, so I used semi-sweet chocolate chips)

DIRECTIONS:

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment (or tin-foil).

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.

Put the butter and sugars in a large bowl. With electric beaters (or a stand mixer with paddle attachment) on low to medium speed, mix just until the butter and sugars are blended. (This may take a while depending on how cold the butter is.) Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. 

Add the flour mixture to the bowl and blend on low speed until the flour is just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. 

Add the chocolate and incorporate with a wooden spoon. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then use your hands to turn and gently massage the dough, making sure all the flour is absorbed.

Scoop mounds of dough, about 3 tablespoons in size (yes, larger than your typical c.c. cookie), onto the baking sheets, leaving about 2-3 inches in between each cookie. You should be able to fit about 8 cookies on each sheet. 

Bake the cookies for 16-20 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the cookies are evenly browned. 

Let cool, pour some milk, and go to your happy place.