Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

This was an experiment...a delicious one. I received the Cook's Illustrated Cookbook for my birthday a few days ago, and I am SO excited to try a few of the recipes out. They are well-laid out, and well-explained, and well-proved. Last night, I asked my daughter what she would like to bake today, and her answer was chocolate chip cookies! The recipe looked pretty familiar, so I decided to play with it a little. I subbed in whole wheat flour for the white flour, and used olive oil for half of the butter. The result was a chewy, hearty, nutty cookie that is absolutely wonderful. I wouldn't call these healthy...but definitely a healthier version of a lunchbox favorite! 

LoLo's Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
(adapted from Cook's Illustrated Cookbook, Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies)

1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 oz) whole-wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 stick (4 oz/ 8 Tbsp.) butter
6 Tbsp. olive oil
3/4 cup packed (5 1/4 oz) brown sugar
1/2 cup (3 1/2 oz) granulated sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg plus 1 large yolk
1 1/4 cups (7 1/2 oz) chocolate chips

1. Set up your oven rack to the middle of the oven, and preheat to 275. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Whisk together flour and baking soda in a medium bowl, and set aside.

2. In a medium sized skillet, melt your stick of butter over medium-low heat. It will foam. Keep swirling and wait for the foam to subside, using your nose to watch for danger. You want the butter browned, but not burnt. When the foam goes down, your butter should be a nice chestnut color. Take it off the heat and mix in your olive oil. Dump your butter mixture into a large heatproof bowl.

3. To your large bowl, add brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt and vanilla. Whisk until totally incorporated. Add your egg and egg yolk, and whisk until the mixture is smooth and lump free. Set the mixture aside for 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat this process two more times until the mixture is thick, smooth and shiny. Use a rubber spatula to fold in your flour mixture just until combined, then add your chocolate chips. Make sure there are no streaks of flour. Roll your dough out into 2" (3 Tbsp.) balls and place 2" apart on your prepared cookie sheets.



4. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time 10-14 minutes, until the edges are just set but the centers are still puffy and soft. Underdone will give you a soft, chewy cookie. Cooking until set all the way through will give you a light, crisp cookie. Let the cookies rest on the pan for a minute after removing them from the oven, and then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Review: Our Best Bites (Fresh-Squeezed Lemonade)

(Woohoo! Amateur photography skills + low light = blurry cover shots! Oy. But you get the idea.)

(Amazing lemonade recipe, clever layout with serving size, a note telling you this is a make-ahead kind of recipe and ideas for variations.)

(Ingredients for amazing lemonade recipe. The secret ingredient is missing from this picture though…)

 

Recently, I was at a church function where a bunch of ladies got together to learn how to put together hanging baskets. We wanted to make refreshments that would highlight herbs you could grow at home. I made these lavender brownies, and someone else made some scrumptious lemon bars. (Hey! You CAN grow lemons indoors!) The hostess told me she had found a great recipe for lemonade and asked me to mix it up while she was finishing the final prep work for the evening’s lesson. I was pretty tickled when she pulled out the new Our Best Bites cookbook, written by Kate Jones and Sara Wells. Both girls used to attend this congregation, and we all have fond memories of them and are INSANELY proud of them. (Their cookbook, by the way, ought to hit ALL the Costco warehouses nationwide sometime this week. Talk about awesome! The book is also on sale right now on Amazon.com, even lower than last week when I bought mine!)

 

I was excited to try the recipe, because I accidentally left my copy of the book at my sister’s house on Mother’s Day, and haven’t been able to really get into it yet. Boo. And this recipe? Did not disappoint.

 

The original recipe calls for making a simple syrup, and flavoring it with lemon and lime juices, then adding some mint. You let that steep, and then strain the mint out. The resulting syrup is then mixed with ice water to make lemonade. I didn’t have that much time, so we used super-fine bakers sugar mixed into cold water, plus lemon juice and lime juice. I washed the mint and threw it into the pitcher. When it was time to serve the lemonade, we put some ice into a pitcher and strained the lemonade into that.

 

It. Was. Amazing. I think I had four glasses. At first, people couldn’t pinpoint the mint in the mix. It was subtle, but gave it an extra little kick that was totally addicting.

 

If you see this cookbook at Costco this week, I highly recommend it! You can also find the cute girls blogging over at Our Best Bites.

 

PS – I was not paid, recompensed or otherwise acknowledged for writing this review. As I said, I know the girls who wrote this cookbook and want to try out their recipes and let you guys know about it. That is all. Thanks!