Whole wheat chocolate chip cookies

With two kids, there are some days when it's impossible to leave home. In my case, one child usually decides to take a long nap and by the time he wakes up, the other one is tired. It's nice to get some one-on-one time with each of them, but when I'm in pajamas all day and somehow can't find a second to sit down, it's easy to go a little stir crazy.

To feel productive, and keep Nico busy, I usually pull out a cookbook and we find something to make.

Before becoming a Mom, the thought of cooking with kids didn't make much sense to me. I imagined the whole process being slow, messy and not a lot of fun. I had no idea how malleable motherhood would make me.

Cooking with Nico is one of my favorite things. As I suspected, it can get very messy and the final product isn't always the prettiest, but I love watching my child learn to cook. Whenever I ask him if he feels like baking, he usually rattles off a bunch of things he'd like to make. Chocolate chip cookies always top the list.

I read about these Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies from Kim Boyce's cookbook Good to the Grain on Orangette, so when we found ourselves stuck at home the other day while Leo took a very long morning nap, I knew it was time to finally make them.

Thanks to three cups of whole wheat flour, their flavor is more complex than a traditional chocolate chip cookie, but with a lot of butter and sugar, they are by no means healthy. I usually inhale regular chocolate chip cookies. I ate a few of these in one sitting, but their wonderfully chewy texture made me eat slowly and really appreciate them.

My only complaints were that they tasted slightly salty (maybe because I used regular salt instead of kosher?) and had too much sugar. I'd like to make them again, but will use less of both, and a really dark chocolate and see if that helps balance things at all.

Nico loved them (although I have yet to see a cookie he didn't like). When it was time for his nap, (right around the time Leo woke up, of course), he gave me the biggest smile and said: "We made some really awesome cookies!"

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 sticks cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into bits

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. (If you have no parchment, you can butter the sheets.)

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

Put the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low speed, mix just until the butter and sugars are blended, about 2 minutes. 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 mix on low speed until evenly combined. (If you have no stand mixer, you can do all of this with handheld electric beaters and/or a large, sturdy spoon.) Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, and 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 onto the baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches between each cookie. (I made mounds about 1 tablespoon in size which explains why my cookies are on the thin side. I have a hard time controlling myself when it comes to cookies and wanted to keep them small.)

Bake the cookies for 16 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the cookies are evenly browned. Transfer the cookies, still on parchment, to a rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough.

Yield: about 20 cookies




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