Whole Grain Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

Yields approximately 20 cookies

Adapted from “Gluten-Free Girl Every Day”

By Alex Caulfield

Sophomore year, my roommate’s parents sent her a care package with the most delicious cookies. When we peeled opened the foil-wrapped stack, we were surprised at their appearance. Unmistakably wholegrain and studded with pecans and dark chocolate, we questioned whether they’d be as good as your standard white flour dessert. They were excellent.

The following recipe is my adaptation. Though my changes were partly inspired by convenience, the resulting treats were just as good as the original. Instead of making the cookies gluten-free, I used some sprouted wheat flour to eliminate the need for a binding agent. I halved the butter and replaced the rest with olive oil. Finally, I added pecans and white chocolate chips to the batter. The combination of buckwheat, millet and sprouted wheat paired well with the mild fruitiness of the olive oil, rich dark chocolate and earthy pecans. Finally, the white chocolate provided a necessary sweetness to the almost savory flavor profile of the dessert.

Ingredients: 

¾ cup sprouted wheat flour

½ cup millet flour

½ cup buckwheat flour

¾ t kosher salt

¾ t baking powder

½ t baking soda

4 tablespoons butter, softened

4 tablespoons olive oil

½ cup packed dark brown sugar

½ cup white sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 t vanilla extract

¾ cup bittersweet chocolate chips

½ cup white chocolate chips

½ cup roughly chopped pecans

1. Measure dry ingredients into a medium-sized bowl. Whisk to combine.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed until creamy. Turn off mixer, and add olive oil. Beat on low speed until combined.
3. Add sugars to butter/olive oil and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. About 2-3 minutes. The mixture should lighten in color and increase slightly in volume. Scrape down sides of the bowl with a spatula.
4. Add vanilla and egg to creamed ingredients and beat on low speed until incorporated. Scrape down sides of the bowl with a spatula.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mix all at once and beat on low speed until just combined. Add in the bittersweet chocolate, white chocolate, and pecan pieces. Mix until just combined on low speed.
6. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour.
7. 20 minutes before baking preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
8. When oven comes to temperature, scoop heaping tablespoon-sized balls of cookie dough onto baking sheet, making sure to space dough two inches apart.
9. Bake cookies for 11 minutes, rotating baking sheet half way through.
10. When done, remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet, as the cookies are fragile when hot. Store in a sealed container for up to a week, or freeze for longer keeping.