Recipes

This is it: the quintessential soft, chewy chocolate chip cookie. A deep, rich brown from whole wheat flour and brown sugar, it’s positively packed with chips. There’s no question: this will be one of the most popular whole grain baked treats you’ll ever make!

Yield: 4 dozen cookies
Baking temperature: 375°F
Baking time: 12 minutes

¾ cup (1 1/2 sticks, 6 ounces) unsalted butter
1 cup (7 1/2 ounces) packed light or dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup (3 5/8 ounces) light corn syrup or brown sugar corn syrup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 large eggs
2 ¼ cups (9 ounces) whole wheat flour, traditional or white whole wheat
3 cups (18 ounces) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper.

Cream the butter, sugar, vanilla, salt, baking soda, espresso powder (if using) and baking powder in a large bowl. Beat in the corn syrup and vinegar, then the eggs, scraping the bowl to make sure all the ingredients are incorporated. Stir in the flour and chips. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets.

Bake the cookies, reversing the pans midway through (top to bottom, bottom to top), until they are starting to brown all over but still appear soft in the center, 12 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to rest on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool.

Nutrition information per serving (1 cookie, 29g): 6g whole grains, 128 cal, 6g fat, 2g protein, 5g complex carbohydrates, 12g sugar, 1g dietary fiber, 16mg cholesterol, 48mg sodium, 75mg potassium, 27RE vitamin A, 1mg iron, 13mg calcium, 42mg phosphorus, 10mg caffeine.

Variation:
Hazelnut-Chocolate Chip Cookies: Substitute 1 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts for 1 cup of the chocolate chips, and substitute 2 tablespoons hazelnut liqueur (e.g., Frangelico) for 2 tablespoons of the corn syrup. To toast hazelnuts, bake them in a preheated 350°F oven until they’re golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes.