Better-For-You Chocolate Chip Cookies

Setting a precedent can be dangerous. You have to continually live up to it. For example:

I met Eli. We committed. Then he went hunting. October. November. Every weekend. He got hungry. I sent cookies. He ate them.

Welcome to my Fall Cookie Problem.

Thanks to no one but myself, I am expected to supply cookies for my Man In A Tree Stand every weekend from the first of October through the first of December.

Ok, so I’m not really complaining. I love baking for Eli. I like knowing that when he’s up in a tree (hopefully strapped in so that he doesn’t fall out when he falls asleep sitting there – believe me, it happens) and he gets hungry because he doesn’t eat breakfast (can you tell this drives me nuts?), he can pull out a bag of my cookies and be happy.

Yes, he’s spoiled. But that’s not a point worth belaboring. The damage is done (and yes, I take full responsibility).

I am, however, concerned about feeding him total junk food. I mean, I don’t want him sustaining himself on white sugar and white flour all morning, then following it up with lunch at Wendy’s. So I’ve worked on my part of the equation. Usually, that means I bake cookies that contain oatmeal, organic peanut butter, raisins, and so on. Stuff that’s good for you. But there are only so many things you can do to try to make a cookie “healthy.”

And sometimes, Eli just wants a plain ol’ chocolate chip cookie.

Who can blame him? There aren’t many things that can top a melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chip cookie.

Understanding this, I’ve worked on my chocolate chip cookie recipe to make it healthier and yet retain that chocolate chip cookie goodness that no one in his or her right mind wants to forego. My better-for-you version has more fiber thanks to whole wheat flour, and dark chocolate instead of semi-sweet for more antioxidants. I traded white sugar for organic evaporated cane juice. Walnuts, of course, add protein and omega-3 fatty acids.

Side story: I bought a bag of 80% cacao chocolate chips a few weeks back, intending to use them in these. I mistakenly let Eli see me unpack them and put them away. Then I went to Oklahoma for a weekend. The day after I got home, Eli, who had pretty much taken over my apartment while I was out of state, said to me rather shamefacedly:

“I might as well tell you. I ate them all.”

“You ate what all?” I asked.

And then, in the millisecond that followed, I knew. And sighed.

“You ate the chocolate chips I bought, didn’t you?” I asked.

“Mmmm hmmm, I owe you a bag. They were good.”

Well, at least he liked the better-for-you dark chocolate, right?

Note to self: hide all chocolate chips in the future, or you will have none available when you want to bake.

Anyway, these little beauties are no health food, but they’re better than your average chocolate chip cookie in the nutrition department. And they taste just as good as the originals. They’re a teeny bit crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, that familiar hint of alkalinity from the baking soda contrasting perfectly with the sweetness of the dark chocolate in that perfect chocolate chip cookie way. So sshhhh…if you don’t tell him, he’ll never know.

Oh, and by the way, if you have a good recipe for homemade granola bars, will you send it my way?

Better-For-You Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup unsalted sweet cream butter
3/4 cup evaporated cane juice
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add to the wet, a cupful or so at a time, beating well after each addition until fully incorporated.

Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts. (Side note: if you want the omega-3 benefits without the chunks of walnut, use a food processor to finely grind your walnuts. Stir them in with the rest of the dry ingredients. They’ll virtually disappear into the batter.)

Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. Use a spatula to remove to a cooling rack.

Cool completely before storing in an airtight container or zippered plastic bag, but make sure you eat at least one while they’re still warm from the oven (have some milk, too).

Makes about 3 dozen.