Multi-Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies

Before you turn away at the sight of "multi-grain" and "cookies" in the same sentence...please don't.  From one dessert lover to another...PLEASE make these.  You will be surprised at how good they are...I'm so serious.  But...if you are against all things "healthified" feel free to substitute our the whole wheat, wheat germ and Spelt for white flour...but really there is no need because you will never know.

Here's what you need:

1 Cup of Spelt

1/4 Cup of Wheat Germ

3/4 Cup of Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 tsp. of salt

1/2 tsp. of baking soda

3/4 cup of butter, softened

1 Cup of packed brown sugar

1/2 Cup of granulated sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 T. of vanilla

1 12 oz. bag of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper or grease if you don't have parchment.

Beat the butter and sugars until smooth and creamy.  Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla.  Combine the dry ingredients and add to the wet mixture.  Beat until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips by hand.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets.  You can do tablespoons if you want but maybe don't do quite as many as you would for teaspoons (eg. if you would do 12 teaspoon size cookies, do 9 tablespoon size).  Bake for 12 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet for two minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy.  It's always nice to get a dose of healthy whole grains.





 

Whole Wheat Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

So the other night I was really craving some chocolate (what's new) but I wanted to make something a little on the healthier side. Now please understand when I say "healthy,"I don't mean tasteless. I mean something that is just as good as it's "less healthier" counter part. The hubs and kiddos ate about half of these before they were even cooled. I'd say that's a pretty good sign that they were really good.

You will see that the recipe uses Succanat. If you've never heard of it, it is sugar in it's purest form(Succanat stands for sugar-cane-natural). It is completely unrefined, unprocessed which makes it a "whole" food. It was developed by a man in Switzerland as a way to combat cavities and tooth decay in children. Its flavor very much resembles brown sugar with a molasses overtone. I find it works very well in chocolate, but not so much in say, sugar cookies. You can find it in the health food section of most grocery stores. Give it a try if you like, otherwise just use regular sugar instead. It's up to you. Okay, here we go....

You will need:

1/2 cup of confectioners sugar

1 2/3 cups of whole wheat pastry flour or soft white wheat (same thing really)

1/2 cup of cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. of salt

1 Stick of butter, at room temperature (let's hear it for butter!!!)

1 cup of Succanat (If you're using sugar make it 1 1/4 cups)

2 eggs

1/2 tsp. of vanilla.

Preheat oven to 350 and grease to baking sheets with butter.

Put the conf. sugar in a bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl combine butter and sugar/succanat until creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla, beat until well blended. Next add the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt ( you can mix these separately before adding if you like, but I use my Kitchen-Aid and just throw them all in without mixing before hand). Beat on low speed just until blended.

Grab about a tablespoon of dough and form it into a ball. Roll the ball in the confectioners sugar until completely covered. Place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 10 minutes, until cracked and puffed. Don't over bake, you want them to be a little soft. They will harden as they cool. Let cool on pan for about 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool. Ours barely made it to the wire rack, we ate them right out of the oven...and they were good. Really made me feel like I was living on the edge eating them right out of the oven instead of letting them cool...when will the madness end??? What more could you ask for? A chocolate cookie that is healthy AND taste good...it is very possible that this may bring about world peace;) Blessings!