About three years ago my family took the plunge and left white flour behind. We have switched from using white flour to using only whole wheat  flour. It’s been a slow process, I began with exchanging portions of white flour for wheat in recipes that called for all purpose flour. This slow change allowed our palates time to get used to the change in flavor and texture. Now we use almost 100% whole wheat in all our recipes. Most people who prefer the taste and texture of white flour, will be surprised that these cookies  are made from 100% whole wheat flour. In fact my neighbor told me, “I think these are the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever eaten!” I adjusted this recipe from an old church cookbook  from my childhood. These have definitely become a family favorite, but we try not to make them too often, you can’t just eat one!

WHOLE WHEAT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar, we use organic sugar, there are many options other than white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup thick rolled oats
• 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 cup pecans, chopped (optional)
• 1 cup large flaked coconut (optional)
• 1 cup chocolate chips, or substitute for raisins. You can be creative with these last three ingredients.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, grease two cookie sheets.
2. Cream together sugars and softened (not melted) butter, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs and peanut butter.
3. Switch to dough hook if using a mixer. Add rolled oats and mix on low speed. Slowly add the rest of the ingredients, in the order they are listed, thoroughly mixing each ingredient.
4. Spoon dough onto greased cookie sheets and bake for 9-12 minutes or until golden brown. Let cookies set for a couple minutes before you remove them from the cookie sheet onto a cooling rack. Enjoy with a nice, cold glass of milk!

Tip: Sometimes I like to make just a dozen and freeze the rest for later. I put the cookie dough on the sheet as if I was going to bake them and then put them right into the freezer for a couple of hours. When they are frozen, I put the frozen cookie dough balls into freezer Ziplock bags, label and store for later use. When I want to bake them I just put the balls right onto the greased cookie sheet and bake the same way. You may need to add a couple minutes to the cooking time, but not much.

My four-year-old son, Aidan, loves to help me make cookies. And of course, he is a great taste-tester!