My Heart-Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes just over 3 dozen

I do have an all-time favorite heart-healthy chocolate chip cookie recipe, and when I make it, I never tell anyone the truth of its healthiness because, of course, the very association would spoil what the unbiased person would otherwise perceive as incomparable deliciousness. The eaters always devour them, admit that they’re different—marvelously different—but they don’t know why. The only problem with said recipe, which ordinarily I recommend to one and all, is that it’s a little time- and labor-intensive. You have to melt stuff and wait for said stuff to cool, etc. If you’re interested in checking it out, you can find it here. Tonight, even though—I know, I know, I just posted an ice cream recipe!—I felt moved (probably because of the big bag of chocolate chips hanging around in the pantry after the ice cream recipe, taunting me) to try a heart-healthy cookie that one could whip up pretty quickly. Truthfully, I'm delighted with the results, as were the ladies in my office that I shared them with today. This is more of a soft cookie than a crispy-chewy cookie, but if you ask me, that definitely has a place in the pantheon of cookie textures.

My goal here, in addition to speeding up a healthy cookie recipe, was to use heart-healthier fat and sugar sources, as well as work in whole grains.

1 C walnuts/walnut pieces

1/2 C olive oil

1/2 C honey

1/4 C brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 C whole wheat pastry flour

1 C coarse oat flour (put the oats in the blender, but blend short of a fine powder)

1/4 C barley flour

1/4 C rice flour

1/4 C wheat germ

1 tsp salt (remember that baked goods at lower altitudes typically need less salt)

1 tsp baking soda

good quality dark chocolate chips (I used mini-chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Puree walnuts and oil in the food processor until smooth. Add sugar, honey, eggs and vanilla, and process 2 minutes. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add flours, wheat germ, salt and baking soda and stir until combined. Dough will be stiff. I left out a measurement for the chocolate chips on purpose because I feel this is a very personal thing. Add as many or as few as your heart desires. I may have put in about a cup, but I can’t be sure. I’m a proponent of the ‘invert bag and pour’ technique. Use a little dough scooper to line up rounded balls (about 1 1/2 to 2 Tbs of dough each) on your greased cookie sheet. Flatten the balls with the bottom of a glass. Bake for 6-8 minutes. Yes, that’s really all it takes. I did batches both at 6 and at 8, and I think I prefer them at 6. Try both and see which you like best.