I spent more than a year searching for the perfect whole wheat chocolate chip cookie. It was a slow, savoring pursuit—sampling top recipes, tweaking ingredients and learning what works and what doesn’t. Along the way I tested well-known recipes, adapted ideas from favorite bakers and eventually arrived at a version that’s golden on top, crisp at the edges and soft and gooey in the center.
My experiments began with a whole wheat adaptation of The New York Times chocolate chip cookie. One important lesson from that batch: letting dough rest for 12 to 72 hours makes a real difference. The dry ingredients absorb moisture and flavors over time, producing a more developed, tender cookie. While those cookies were excellent, they leaned toward crispness and lacked the dense, brown-sugary interior I was chasing.
I also tried the whole grain cookies from Good to the Grain. They were good, but again not the texture I preferred. A few experiments later—during a cookie swap I joined—I pulled a recipe from Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Cooking off the shelf and adapted it to suit my tastes and pantry. I replaced mesquite flour with whole spelt (or extra whole wheat pastry flour), scaled sweeteners, added a touch of cinnamon for warmth, and included oats for extra tenderness and lift. I rested the dough overnight and finished some warm cookies with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt for contrast.
The result: about three dozen large cookies with a golden exterior, crisp edges and a moist, tender interior studded with dark chocolate. I learned a few practical things in the process: two tablespoons of dough per cookie yields generous portions, baking for roughly 10 minutes keeps the centers soft, and a light sprinkle of Maldon sea salt enhances the chocolate and maple notes. The oats add a pleasant fluffiness without making them chewy oatmeal cookies.
I sent batches to fellow bloggers in a cookie swap and was delighted to hear how much people enjoyed them—even skeptical kids were converted after tasting. Packaging was less glamorous than I’d hoped (recycled boxes instead of pretty bakery boxes), but the cookies themselves held up well.
Maple Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies
These whole wheat cookies are crisp on the outside and soft and fluffy inside, thanks to a blend of whole wheat pastry and spelt flour, a touch of maple syrup and oats. A pinch of flaky salt at the end elevates the chocolate and maple flavors.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup whole spelt flour (or an additional cup of whole wheat pastry flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon fine salt
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups raw (turbinado) sugar
- ⅓ cup real maple syrup
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (60% or higher)
- Maldon salt (optional), for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy, then add the sugar and beat until combined.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, then whisk in the vanilla extract and maple syrup.
- Add the dry ingredients in three additions, mixing between each until the dough is moist and evenly colored.
- Stir in the chocolate chips and oats by hand until distributed.
- Drop about two tablespoons of dough per cookie onto the prepared sheet, leaving roughly two inches between cookies.
- Bake for about 10 minutes, until the tops are just golden. Aim to slightly underbake rather than overbake to keep centers soft.
- Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for about a minute, then transfer to a cooling rack. If desired, finish with a pinch of flaky sea salt and serve with milk.
Notes
Adapted from Heidi Swanson’s mesquite chocolate chip cookie recipe in Super Natural Cooking. Yields about 3 dozen large cookies (3 ½ to 4 inches in diameter).
- Category: Dessert
