You will soon find out that I have a new found love for baking. During my master’s program, we were required to take a number of healthy cooking classes. One of the classes focused on healthy baking recipes and how to change a few ingredients to make healthier desserts. I fell in love with baking and learning all the different ways to take my favorite desserts and make them healthier. I definitely have a sweet tooth, so these healthier baking methods are awesome for someone like me!
Don’t get me wrong, eating sweets all the time is not the best choice. That being said, cutting out sweets and taking away my love for baking was not an option for me. So I decided to focus on learning and experimenting with healthy baking! This led me to baking whole wheat-walnut-chocolate cookies.
The key ingredient that I chose to try was whole-wheat flour, instead of using typical white flour. White flour is processed and contains very little nutritional benefits. There are a number of organic and gluten-free flours that can be used as an alternative to white flour. For this recipe I chose to use whole-wheat flour. Whole-wheat flour does not undergo the processing that white flour goes through, which is one of the main reasons why it is a better flour option for baking. Along with this, whole-wheat flour contains a significant amount of fiber (way more than white flour.) This little change to a simple recipe, makes a huge difference!
These cookies were a major hit for my family and friends...so I encourage you to give them a try!
Ingredients:
3 cups of organic wheat flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
2 sticks of grass fed-unsalted butter (needs to be at room temperature)
2 cups of packed light or dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (I use organic)
2 large eggs
1 ¼ chopped semisweet chocolate or dark chocolate (whatever you prefer)
1 cup of coarsely chopped walnuts (unsalted)
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Now whisk the contents together.
3. Using a hand or stand electric mixer, beat the brown sugar and butter together. Continue until the mixture is fluffy; it should take approximately 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the eggs and vanilla extract until fully combined.
5. Turn the mixer on low, and gradually add the flower mixture (add a little water to the mixture if the contents become too sticky).
6. Add the walnuts and chocolate to the mixture and beat to combine.
7. Apply olive oil to baking sheets or use parchment sheets.
8. Add 2 tablespoons of cookie dough to the baking sheets. Make sure that each separate cookie dough is two inches apart on the sheets.
9. Bake cookies for 15-17 minutes and turn trays halfway through.
10. Let cookies cool by placing them on cooling racks.
