I'm back, with whole wheat chocolate chunk cookies

My gut has been telling me to come back to you, cauliflower power, for quite some time now. And right now is probably not the best time to be worrying about cooking delicious things / taking photos of said deliciousity / writing stories about said deliciousity and photo / sharing these wonderful things with you, granted my master's thesis is due in 28 days. And I have quite a ways to go with it. But because I have officially entered extreme panic mode and I don't always listen to the left side of my brain, I've decided to put my thesis off even further by returning to the blogosphere. I'm coming back to you with the most amazing cookie. Ever. Really. It's adapted from 101 Cookbooks. I'm in love with this cookie because as the title suggests, it's a whole wheat cookie. But so many recipes that claim to be "whole wheat" are actually a combination of whole wheat + white flour. This recipe calls for rolled oats, whole wheat flour, and wheat bran, so it is truly whole wheat.

chunky and wholesome

velvet chocolate peeking through

perfect crumb effect

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats (not instant)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup wheat bran or germ
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup brown sugar (light, dark, natural cane, or a combination)
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chunks/shavings/chips

Steps:

1. Preheat then oven to 350F, with the racks placed in the middle. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat. Set prepped sheets aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the oats, flour, wheat bran, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. 
3. Using an electric mixer, cream the   butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar for 3+ minutes, scraping down the sides a few times along the way. Add the egg and vanilla and continue to beat, scraping the sides of the bowl another time or two. Add the dry mixture, and stir until everything barely comes together. Then stir in the chocolate, mixing until it is evenly distributed throughout the dough.
4. Scoop the dough by the tablespoon into your hands and roll and flatten the dough to make thick little disks. Arrange each cookies on the prepped baking sheets, with at least 2 inches between each cookie. Bake until deeply golden on the bottom, about 15-20 minutes. Rotate the pans once about 2/3 the way through baking - back to front, top to bottom. Once ready, cool the cookies on a rack.

Makes about 16 cookies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min

Vegan almond butter cookes with crystallized ginger

I'm a little late on posting this recipe. I made these cookies a couple weeks ago when I was invited to a vegan dinner (the one where I made the olive and roasted red pepper tapenade) and I decided to make something for dessert as well. In trying to think of an easy, vegan dessert, I was haphazardly typing in combinations of all the sweet vegan things I could think of into the Google search bar, hoping that a worthy recipe would be found. And as usual, the internet came through. This recipe is from www.food.com, a website I had never gotten recipes from before. These cookies are amazing you won't even know they're vegan. I added my own touch to this recipe by sprinkling some chopped crystallized ginger on top of the cookies right before putting them in the oven. It was a really good idea, not to toot my own horn to loudly or anything. And I apologize in advance for the sub par photo...the lighting was really dim in the room, but this recipe is too good not too post just because of a mediocre picture.

1. Preheat the oven to 350. 
2. In a large bowl, combine:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

3. In a separate bowl, mix together:

• 1/3 cup almond butter
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons canola oil

4. Combine the wet mixture into the dry until everything is well incorporated.

5. On a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, drop the batter by the tablespoonful onto the sheet leaving ample room between the cookies because they will spread quite a bit (about 2 inches of space should be good).

6. If you like, chop up some crystallized ginger and sprinkle a little bit on each cookie. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown. When they're done, cool them on a rack.

Coconut Brazil nut cookies

I've had a bag of Brazil nuts sitting in my pantry for a while. Although they're one of my favorite nuts, they are notorious for being really caloric and high in fat. On the flip side, they are an awesome source of selenium, which is a vital trace mineral that is essential in various bodily processes and is found in almost all the cells in our body. One Brazil nut contains about 160% of the daily recommended dose of selenium, so it's important not to eat too many of them. But after making these cookies, it's hard to restrain yourself. The combination of coconut and Brazil nuts make these cookies rich, but they are delicious.

 

Ingredients:

• 1 stick of butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup chopped Brazil nuts
• 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

What to do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add the egg and beat well.
4. Beat in the vanilla.
5. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
6. Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar/butter mixture. Mix well.
7. Stir in the Brazil nuts and the coconut.
8. Drop by the tablespoonful onto ungreased cookie sheets, a couple inches apart.
9. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly browned.
10. If you can resist eating them right out of the oven, let them cool on a wire rack and then store in an airtight container.

This recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies.