Oatmeal Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

No wait, come back. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking I’m trying to make chocolate chip cookies healthy. You’re thinking I would adulterate the venerable chocolate chip cookie with whole grains to make it more nutritious so that we can all feel less guilty about having another one . . . or three. I’ve seen it all too many times: pretending a frozen mashed banana is ice cream, making brownies out of beans, and the nobody-will-notice-if-I-sneak-this-applesauce-in-here-instead-of-butter trick.

Rest assured, there is no such tomfoolery going on here. These are real cookies. You may notice the absence of the word “skinny” in the title. That’s on purpose. While I’m sure these do provide some nutritional benefit over the Nestle Toll House variety, the primary reason we’re swapping out the white flour is because it’s just better this way. The oats and whole wheat flour give these cookies an incredible nutty flavor that counterpoints the bittersweet chocolate perfectly. For extra nuttiness, some actual nuts (pecans or walnuts) are a nice addition, but certainly not necessary.

The other thing I really like about these cookies is that they remind me of the chocolate chip walnut cookies from Old Grist Mill, a bakery I would frequent while in college. While not precisely the same, and not necessarily better or worse than their rendition, it’s pretty darn close.

Also, be warned, this makes a lot of cookies. Like four dozen or so depending on how big you make them. That gives you plenty to share if you’re feeling neighborly. Or you could do what we more frequently do, freeze them for later.

*November 2020 Update: This recipe has been on the blog for seven years and we’ve been making it for 10. We’ve updated the recipe with a few tips and tricks as well as added some more flattering pictures. This cookie has powered us through an ultramarathon (true story), backpacking trips, and is what we are making today (election day) so we can chew on something other than our fingernails.*

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Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Whole wheat and oats give this twist on a classic a delightful nutty flavor.

Course Dessert

Keyword chocolate chip, whole wheat

Servings 4 dozen cookies

Author Noel

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 C Brown sugar
• 1 1/4 C Granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 C butter softened
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 -3 C whole wheat flour
• 2 1/2 C rolled oats
• 2 1/2 C Chocolate Chips Or a mixture of chips. The ones pictured have chocolate chunks and salted caramel chips.
• 1 1/2 C Chopped pecans optional

Instructions

• Cream butter & sugars until light and fluffy.
• Beat in eggs & vanilla.
• Stir in dry ingredients with the minimal amount of flour. Then add chocolate chips and nuts (if using). If the dough seems really sticky, add a little more flour up to the full 3 C.*
• Stick the cookie dough in the fridge and preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Once the oven is preheated, pull the cookie dough out of the fridge.** Scoop rounded tablespoons (or use a cookie scoop) onto an ungreased baking sheet.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, pull them while they still look slightly underdone but are just starting to brown on the edges.
• Allow to sit on baking sheet for a minute or two before transferring to a cooling rack.

Notes

*The last few years we’ve been grinding our own flour and find we need to use a little more of it, likely due to how fluffy it is.

**This little rest in the fridge should help the dough firm up a bit and is more important if your kitchen is warm or you’re baking in the summer. Keeping the dough from being to soft will help the cookies from spreading too much in the oven. If your butter was really soft, you may want to leave the dough in the fridge for up to an hour.

Freezing the cookies – This recipe makes a lot of cookies. If you are unprepared to deal with all four dozen of them, there are two easy ways to freeze them. The first is to form the dough into balls, put on a cookie sheet, freeze for an hour, and then transfer to a freezer safe bag. No need to thaw before baking, just add an extra minute or two to the bake time. The second is to bake the cookies and then freeze extra. My favorite method is the uncooked method.