Kim Boyce's Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Well, I finally made them. Molly said she was sold. Lecia said she'd never make any other kind again. Jess says these cookies can do no wrong and wondered if there was anyone out there who hasn't made these yet.  Yes, Jess. Me. So I tried the recipe and actually baked some chocolate chip cookies made entirely with whole wheat flour! I've made lots of cookies and bars with half whole wheat flour but never all whole wheat flour. No, I'm not on a health kick particularly, but these girls were so taken with Kim Boyce's recipe that I had to taste. Besides, that book of hers is fabulous.

It was rather a dry dough which made me worry a bit; and then I wondered if it was because I only made half a recipe. Maybe I screwed up. But I went ahead anyway. When they were done I was in for a surprise. They're crunchy outside and tender inside but the texture is not quite like most cc cookies. Not dry though, which was what I worried about. They hold together nicely and the bittersweet chocolate is a good match for the earthy whole wheat flour. That little sprinkling of sea salt on top doesn't hurt either. 

When I look back at my photos, I'm still surprised. The dough looks so dry, doesn't it? But the cookies aren't. They're also not as rich and sweet as my favorite cc cookie recipe, but I agree with Jess when she refers to this recipe as an OCP. Translation? One Cookie Phenomenon. (I LOVE that expression!) You don't sit down with a plate of these and a glass of milk and pig out until you're ill. One is fine. Better than fine, delicious. But no craving for an entire plateful. How odd is that?
And I thought they were even better the next day.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
From Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce

Ingredients:
Dry mix
 3 cups whole-wheat flour  
 1½ tsp. baking powder  
 1 tsp. baking soda  
 1½ tsp. kosher salt  

Wet mix
8 oz. (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces  
 1 cup dark brown sugar  
 1 cup sugar  
 2 eggs  
 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract  
 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped into ¼- and ½-inch pieces  

Method:
Place two racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.

Add the butter and the sugars to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low speed, mix just until the butter and sugars are blended, about 2 minutes. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until each is combined. Mix in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture to the bowl and blend on low speed until the flour is barely combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Add the chocolate all at once to the batter. Mix on low speed until the chocolate is evenly combined. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, then scrape the batter out onto a work surface, and use your hands to fully incorporate all the ingredients.

Scoop mounds of dough about 3 tablespoons in size onto the baking sheet, leaving 3 inches between them, or about 6 to a sheet. ( I didn't want my cookies that big so I used a 1 1/2 inch ice cream scoop...generously filled.)

Bake the cookies for 16 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the cookies are evenly dark brown. Transfer the cookies, still on the parchment, to the counter to cool, and repeat with the remaining dough.
These cookies are best eaten warm from the oven or later that same day. They’ll keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Kim's notes:
This dough is made to go straight from the bowl into the oven. However, for freshly baked cookies anytime, you can refrigerate some of the dough for later. Be sure to scoop out the balls of dough before chilling, as the cold dough is too difficult to scoop. Also remember that cookies baked from chilled dough will be thicker than those made from room-temperature dough. This dough — scooped, chilled, and wrapped in plastic — will last in the refrigerator for one week, assuming it doesn’t get eaten first!