A one-bowl easy recipe for the best whole wheat chocolate chip cookies ever! Packed with flavor and oh so good, these are hands down the softest whole grain chocolate chip cookies you’ve ever had.
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I can feel you rolling your eyes. I can sense it from here. This world does not need another chocolate chip cookie recipe for goodness sake. You can’t look anywhere online without seeing someone touting that their chocolate chip cookie recipe is the best.
Well friends, today I join those annoying ranks. These really are the best whole wheat chocolate chip cookies around. And because they’re whole wheat, you can tell people you’re pretty much making health food!
Can You Use Whole Wheat Flour For Cookies?
Yes, and because these cookies are whole wheat, you can feel good better about giving someone a sweet snack. Unlike their white flour brethren, whole wheat cookies have some girth to them and allow you to feel full on fewer cookies.
When baking with whole wheat flours, you’ll want to add one tablespoon of vital wheat gluten per cup of flour. The vital wheat gluten gives the cookies the bounce and fluff you’d find in normal flours. You can read more about grinding your own wheat, whole wheat flours, and my love of whole wheat baking in this post.
If you want an all-purpose flour version, check out these Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Does Whole Wheat Flour Make Cookies Taste Different?
Yes, but in the best way possible. Whole wheat flour provides a nutty and toasty flavor to these cookies. When I have run out of whole wheat flour and have to use all-purpose, I find the cookies are missing a depth of flavor and something special.
What’s in These Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies?
- White whole wheat flour
- Vital Wheat Gluten*
- Baking soda
- Sea salt
- Butter
- Brown sugar (try homemade brown sugar)
- Organic white sugar
- Eggs, room temperature
- Vanilla extract (try homemade vanilla)
- Chocolate chips – choose your favorite
If you live outside the United States, your flour might have a higher gluten content and not need Vital Wheat Gluten.
How Do I Keep Cookies From Falling Flat?
Cookies usually fall flat due to the temperature of the fat. In this case, we’re using delicious, delicious butter. If your butter was too warm when the other ingredients were mixed in, when baked, the butter melts too quickly to allow the other ingredients to keep the cookie shape.
You can prevent cookie spread by making sure your butter isn’t too melty at the start. This recipe is written so that you don’t have to chill the dough if you don’t want to, but it never hurts if you’re not pressed for time.
Can I Freeze These Cookies?
You sure can! I make a batch of these cookies every week. I pre-make the balls and store them uncooked in the fridge.
You can also freeze the balls (hee hee) on a parchment-lined plate for a few hours. Transfer them to a freezer bag and they’ll store for months. They won’t last in anyone’s freezer that long, but hypothetically it will work.
You can bake them frozen, or transfer them to the fridge prior to baking. To avoid heating up my house for just a few cookies, I bake them in my convection/toaster oven.
Baked cookies can be stored in an air-tight container on the counter for up to five days.
Here’s How to Make Them:
*A detailed and printable recipe card is available at the bottom of the post.
In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave the butter for 20 seconds. You want some of it melted, but the vast majority of the butter should be soft but solid.
Add the brown and white sugar and mix. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix.
Add the dry ingredients, and mix until everything is about 50% combined. Add the chocolate chips and mix. Optional: Refrigerate dough for an hour at this point.
Make balls about 2-inches wide and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake, enjoy, and try not to gorge!
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- Both the butter and egg should be room temperature for optimal results.
- Vital wheat gluten is really a magic ingredient for these cookies. If you don’t have any on hand, you can sub in 1 tsp of baking powder, but the results may vary.
- Use a mix of chocolate chips for the best taste. I like half semi-sweet and half milk chocolate. But, let’s be clear, almost any kind of chocolate chips are amazing, so do whatever your cookie-loving heart desires. If you need allergy-friendly chocolate chips, we love the Enjoy Life brand.
- To take these cookies to the next level, try making them with homemade brown sugar and homemade vanilla extract.
- Cookies need to be stored in an air-tight container to avoid getting stale. If the cookies get left out, check out my tips on how to soften cookies.
More Recipes Like This
- Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies
- Orange and Chocolate Madeleines
- Nordy Bars
- Soft Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies
- Grandma Dorothy’s Soft Pumpkin Cookies
- Fudgy Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownies
The Softest Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter (1 stick) room temperature
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp vital wheat gluten
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave the butter for 20 seconds. You want some of it melted, but the vast majority of the butter should be soft but solid.
- Add the brown and white sugar and mix.
- Add the egg and vanilla. Mix.
- Add the dry ingredients, and mix until everything is about 50% combined. Add the chocolate chips and mix. Optional: Refrigerate dough for an hour at this point.
- Make balls about 2-inches wide and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. They’ll look pretty underbaked. Allow the cookies to rest on the pan for 10-15 minutes.
Notes
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This is now my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. I use sprouted whole wheat which gives them a heartier texture that I’ve grown to like. The first time I made these I started without reading the whole list of ingredients. By the time I saw “whole wheat pastry flour”, I was too far in to quit. So that mistake turned into my favorite cookies. In case anyone wants to know, yes you can sub out the pastry flour for sprouted. The cookies turn out denser but have an interesting texture. It all depends on how much you want to sacrifice for the sake of a chocolate chip cookie!
Oh, I have never used sprouted wheat for these before. That sounds great Mary!