The best chocolate chip cookies ever (seriously)

I have been on the quest for the best chocolate chip cookie since my childhood.    During junior high, I thought my best friend and her mother made the best batches.    They used a package of instant vanilla pudding in theirs.   (Here is a similar recipe.)    Then I met The Hubs, and I have since tried to best the best with every batch, revising and adapting recipes until I find the perfect mix of chewiness, crispiness, and chocolatey goodness.

I thought I had found success with an adaptation of Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies from Jen at  Juanita’s Cocina that I posted for a Cook the Books post.

That was then, this is now.     Today in our household it is all about healthy eating and cooking.   I can’t wait for spring, our garden and farmers markets.    (But, don’t let me fool  you, especially after all these chocolate posts—-I am sure we will backslide a bit at times.)

Healthy goodness.

So, I was now on the look out for a healthy and delicious chocolate chip cookie.   I found one at Eating Well with Bev’s Chocolate Chip Cookies.   I adapted them a bit more by omitting the butter and canola oil in the original recipe and adding coconut oil.   And, learning from Chef Sarah in  our chocolate cooking class, I decreased the chocolate chips and added cacoa nibs for a nutty flavor.

These are delicious!

The Best Ever Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Slightly adapted from Bev’s Chocolate Chip Cookies from Eating Well

3/4 c. rolled oats
1 c. whole-wheat flour*
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. fine sea salt
1/2 c. coconut oil (in solid form)
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. light brown sugar
1 large farm fresh egg
1 t. pure vanilla extract
3/4 c. milk chocolate chips
1/8 c. cacao nibs

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Pulse oats in a blender until finely ground.

Place oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat coconut oil and sugars until fluffy.   Add egg and vanilla; beat until smooth and creamy. With the mixer running, carefully add the dry ingredients, beating on low speed until just combined.

Stir in chocolate chips and cacao nibs.

Using a medium cookie scoop, drop the dough at least 1 inch apart, onto prepared baking sheets (lined with parchment paper or silicon pads). Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until firm around the edges and golden on top, about 12-15 minutes.

Don’t smooch these down. Bake them in the scooped form.

Cool the cookies for 2 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

*I always use a very fine whole wheat flour like Wheat Montana’s Bronze Chief, Stone Stack Mill’s whole wheat flour, or a whole wheat pastry flour.

I found that I can now buy coconut oil in pre-measured baking bars.   I used Kelapo brand and I am in love.

I made these for The Hubs, his mother, and his brother and they loved them!    Even before I told them they were healthier.  🙂   The Hubs deemed them “crispy yet chewy.”  (I used only chocolate chips—1 cup—in this batch.)   I made these again with the cacao nibs for the nephews during Spring Break.    They loved them.

In fact, we had a cookie tasting contest between this recipe and the Levain cookie recipe.     These won.

Please try these.   I can’t stress how delicious they are.

Yes, I know that coconut oil is the new fad and hyped super-food.     I have read that it helps with everything from growing healthier hair, helping your body “run smoother,” keeping your HDL in check, and even helping those pesky and annoying bumps on the backs of arms and legs (by using it as a lotion, not eating it!)  🙂

And, if you can believe everything you read on the internet about cacao nibs:

They are a one of the best dietary sources of magnesium as well as a good source of calcium, iron, copper, zinc and potassium.  Studies show that cacao nibs have higher antioxidant levels than blueberries, red wine and green tea. The antioxidants in cacao nibs are also more stable than in other foods and are easy for the body to assimilate.
—From Fitday

I think I just like the subtle nutty taste both the coconut oil and the cacao nibs gives to these cookies.

(Seriously, you must make these!)

And, as I ponder the cacao nib, I want to try them in granola, sprinkle them on a strawberry spinach salad, bake them in banana bread, include them with pecans in a pecan pie, mix them up in a smoothie, use them in muffins….Basically, I want to put them in everything!

P.S.  I took both the Levain cookies and these to school last week.  One bag I labeled “unhealthy” and the other “healthier.”  The unhealthy ones won in the teachers lounge.

P.P.S.  Don’t let me keep you from making Jen’s  Levain version.   They are delicious, too.