Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

The first batch of cookies I baked in Tokyo turned out dry and flavorless. Since the first attempt, I have continually adjusted a few different recipes (and the baking time) to create my own version of chocolate chip cookies. These cookies are not too sweet, they don’t use too much butter, and they have whole wheat flour in them. What more could you want in a cookie?!

Whole-Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

5 tablespoons butter, melted

1 to 1 ¼ cups brown sugar

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

1 egg

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 cup whole-wheat (pastry) flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 to 1 ½ cups chocolate chips

1 handful of chopped walnuts or pecans

• Melt and cool the butter.
• Stir the brown sugar and vanilla to the melted butter.
• Add the egg to the butter/sugar mixture. Stir to combine.
• Sift the flours, baking soda, and salt. Add to butter/sugar mixture.
• Add chocolate chips and nuts. Stir to combine.
• Cover the bowl and let the dough rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Notes:

• The dough will be very stiff when mixing all the ingredients together.
• Our oven is very small (I’ll post a photo sometime) and is a convection-type oven, so I’ve made a guess on the baking temperature and time above. I have been baking mine around 180 degrees Celsius for only 5-6 minutes (total).
• Due to the small oven, I bake 2 sheets at a time to speed up the baking process.
• When forming the cookies, scoop out mound of dough and place it on the cookie sheet.
• Since the dough is very stiff, the cookies will not flatten. When you remove the cookies to rotate the baking sheets, take the back of 2 spoons and gently flatten the cookies. This will help them to spread just a little bit, but also makes them chewy and moist.

 

• You might need to adjust the recipe based on your taste and ingredients. You can easily use all-purpose flour for the entire recipe, add more sugar, omit the nuts, etc.
• The whole-wheat flour I found in Tokyo is a very fine consistency when compared to the wheat flour I’ve used in the U.S. I believe it might actually be whole-wheat pastry flour.
• Chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate do not really exist in the area (unless you want to buy a very small bag, for a very high price). Instead of chocolate chips, I have been chopping up small milk chocolate and dark chocolate bars.
• The brown sugar is different than the typical brown sugar I am used to using in the U.S. as well. The first time I made cookies, I used a brown sugar that appeared to be white sugar with brown food coloring. I am now using a very natural-type brown sugar, which has a stronger molasses smell and is less sweet than the brown sugar in the U.S.

If you make this recipe, let me know how they turn out! I don’t know if this is a recipe everyone will enjoy, but I’d be interested in hearing your feedback if you try these cookies.