And Now, a Recipe.

When our friend Arielle said she found a cookie recipe that required a team effort approach – for the bowl licking, of course – we couldn’t agree fast enough. And while the whole point is to share the recipe with you, I have to confess that we didn’t even have the main ingredient on hand. More on that later. And actually, we kinda fudged the whole recipe if I’m being honest. Again, more later.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. kosher salt
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into 1/4- and 1/2-inch pieces

Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl, adding any large bits of grain or other ingredients that remain in the sifter.

Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer; beat on low speed for about 2 minutes, until just blended. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition, then add the vanilla extract.

Add the flour mixture and beat until barely combined. Stop to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the chocolate, and beat on low speed just until evenly distributed.

Scoop 3-tablespoon mounds of the dough onto each baking sheet, spacing them 3 inches apart (about 6 mounds per sheet). 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 paper, to a rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough. Yield: about 20 big cookies or 36 smaller cookies.

Okay, are you ready for the kicker? We didn’t use whole wheat flour. We didn’t have it, and the sideways rain stopped us from trying to find it. Regular ol’ whitey it was, but whole wheat is on the agenda for next time. And instead of chopped chocolate bars, we broke Scott’s favorite Toblerone bars into chunks. (We used 2 bars, but we’re thinking we could’ve doubled that.) Oh, and we didn’t use eggs. Rather, we went with a heaping 1/2 cup of applesauce (1/4 cup = 1 egg). But because we didn’t have the all natural Mott’s (free of added sugars), we used less granulated sugar. As in, maybe 3/4 cup. And we didn’t have parchment paper, so we lightly greased the cookie sheets…and what else? Oh, hell.

So, there’s that.

But even though we only followed – what – like half of the rules, it just goes to show that recipes are made to be broken. And sometimes, it works. Perfectly.

Original recipe from Good to the Grain, by Kim Boyce. Found via Orangette.