A few weeks ago I tried making some healthy chocolate chip cookies. I wasn’t very happy with the results and made another attempt on Sunday. These turned out quite well, and with a few tweaks will be quite excellent. They have already been approved by my kids.
I took the original Nestle Tollhouse cookie recipe and just changed a few ingredients.
- 1 cup freshly ground sprouted wheat flour from soft white wheat
- 1 1/2 cups arrowroot powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, softened
- 1 1/2 cups sucanat
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 package of Enjoy Life chocolate chips
- 1 cup chopped nuts (I omit these since my wife and kids don’t like them)
Combine flour, arrowroot powder, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, coconut oil, sucanat, and vanilla in a large mixer bowl. It may take 5-10 minutes to get somewhat smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded teaspoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake in a preheated 375-degree [Fahrenheit] oven for 6-7 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 3 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
These cookies were quite flat. My wife says that if you want them to be higher you need to add more flour. I used arrowroot in place of part of the flour because I thought it would lighten the cookies. My next attempt will use more sprouted wheat flour and less arrowroot. I’ll update this article directly when I improve the recipe, so check back if you’re interested.
Oh, and one other thing. Why are cookies called cookies? Shouldn’t they be bakies?
UPDATE (2/10/2007): I tweaked the recipe a bit the second time and got a much softer and taller cookie. Shari said they tasted a bit “wheatier,” but I guess that would be because there’s more wheat in them. I also noticed that cookies kept disappearing throughout the day, so I guess she liked them well enough regardless of their wheatiness. I’m quite happy with this recipe at this point.
Replace the amounts listed above with the following:
- 2 1/2 cups of freshly ground sprouted wheat flour from soft white wheat
- 1/2 cup of arrowroot powder
Use a tablespoon instead of teaspoon to measure the cookies. I just pulled off chunks by hand and plopped them down. Bake them for 9-11 minutes instead of 6-7.
Sounds yummy! Was the sprouted wheat flour ground in the new mill?
Good Eats did a show on chocolate chip cookies. I think it’s called “Three Chips for Sister Marsha”–the info might be useful as you tweak the recipe. Our local library has the DVDs–don’t know if yours will.
Or you can go here and compare the three recipes. I haven’t baked with arrowroot powder, but I know that all-butter cookies tend to be flatter. More coconut oil/less butter may help–I’m certainly not suggesting you use shortening! I guess lard is the real answer…
No, I haven’t received the new mill yet.
My wife and I like chewy cookies. I noticed the chewy recipe there used butter, so I think I’ll stick with that. The puffy recipe had baking powder, which I may add if I don’t get the results I want from more flour and less arrowroot.
Thanks for the work on the cookie recipe and the grain mill! I’ve been looking for a softer tollhouse cookie recipe for a while (then stopped when we started WAPF). I found a Sunset magazine article that says it is the ratio of butter/flour and the temp that determines softer, mounded cookies. their recipe calls for 1-1/4 cup flour to 1/2 cup butter, 1/2tsp baking soda and baked at 400, while the flat, crisp cookies were 1cup flour to 1/2 cup butter, 3/4 tsp soda and baked at 300. Looking forward to hearing more about how they turn out.
btw, was that the best price you found on the grain mill?
Claire,
Thanks for the cookie info.
As far as I know, the only place the KoMo Fidibus 21 grain mill is available in the US is from NaturalEurope.com. They are selling it for $250. The shipping/handling was about $20.
I made your recipe using the updated measurements, and they were awesome! All of my children and my husband gave the thumbs up to make them again. I didn’t have any arrowroot, so I replaced it with cornstarch.( I didn’t want to go buy arrowroot when we may not have liked the cookies)
Grade A stuff. I’m unqeusotinbaly in your debt.
Hi Brian.
Do you know of any way to make cookies with flour that has been soaked for 12 to 24 hours?
Katie,
Sorry, I have not tried soaked flour cookies. I do have a peanut butter cookie recipe that I will post about in a week or two. It requires no flour.