Low(er) Fat, Whole Wheat, Chocolate Chip Nibbles

OK, so here's the deal with this one. The first time I used this base recipe, I tried to halve the recipe to a third. Turned out I thirded all the ingredients except for the flour. So, the next time, I was really committed to doing it right, so that I could report the recipe to all of you readers. Well, this time, I added HALF the butter I was supposed to add. BUT the cookies turned out pretty damn good, so I was like, "well, whatever, they're low fat, whole wheat, and delicious". I'm not going to lie, though, if you like your cookies to spread out and get nice and flat and chewy, these aren't for you. HOWEVER, if you don't mind a thicker, less buttery cookie, these are perfect. THAT BEING SAID, you could add an extra 1/4 c. of butter (1/2 stick) and they would probably spread and be nice and greasy like the ones you remember (I'm not judging you, add the butter if you need to...JUST KIDDING, I am judging you - make them healthy!)

Just be warned, the dough is REALLY crumbly. You really have to heat it with your hands and press it firmly into a ball. These don't spread too much, just kind of puff up. They're little nibbles.

So, here goes nothing!

what're these two trouble-makers up to?

(p.s. these are made from the dough I set aside in the fridge...they still came out awesome. They were even more crumbly than the first batch, but the heat from my hands helped me shape them into balls.)

Organic-ish LFWWCC Nibbles

(Low(er) Fat, Whole Wheat, Chocolate Chip Cookies)

makes 4 dozen - feel free to half if needed!

2 c. Whole Wheat Flour (organic - $.46)

1 c. All Purpose Flour (organic - $.25)

2 t. baking soda ($.02 - triple check you're using SODA not POWDER)

1/4 t. salt (<$.01)

1/2 c. butter (1 stick - $.70)

2/3 c. brown sugar ($.38)

2/3 c. white sugar ($.10)

2 eggs (organic - $.60)

1/2 t. vanilla extract ($.08)

1 c. chocolate chips ($.80)

Total for about 4 dozen small cookies: $3.40...That's $.07/cookie and $.85/dozen. You'd pay a lot more than that at the store, and these are so quick and easy to make!

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cream softened butter and sugars until light and fluffy. If you don't have time to let your butter soften, just slice it really thinly into your mixing bowl.
3. Add eggs one at a time. Wait until one's incorporated to add the next.
4. Add vanilla. Mix.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk both flours, baking soda, and salt.
6. Add to wet ingredients and stir until the dough comes together. It will be crumbly. That's because we cut the fat so much. When you press the balls together, they'll be fine.
7. Stir in chocolate chips.
8. Shape cookies into balls, and press together the way you would a meatball. It may take some finesse, that's just the price we pay for delicious lower fat cookies!
9. Arrange on sheet leaving 2 inches between them.
10. Bake for 10 minutes. They should still be quite soft in the middle, but baked around the edges. They'll harden up a bit once they're out of the oven!
11. Enjoy :).

scrimpyTips:

- I baked half, and put the other half in the fridge. I plan to bake them the way you would regular store bought cookie dough. This way, we can have a few fresh cookies whenever the mood strikes. I find that when you bake a huge batch of cookies, unless you have people to give them away to (and screw THAT, I'm not giving away my cookies! OK, I gave my friend Crystal ONE, but that's because she's special), they get very hard before you can eat them all. Using this method, we'll have fresh ones every time!

- You can use more chocolate chips. I just found that since the dough is crumbly to begin with, adding too many chocolate chips can make forming the dough balls a bit tricky.

- These would be great with some walnuts added in! You could even sneak in 1/3-1/2 c. of ground flax seeds. I've done that before and it's a great way to add omegas to your cookie.

So there you have it, my friends. A recipe for whole wheat chocolate chip cookies using half the butter of the average recipe. I really hope you love them as much as we do ;). If you'd like them more buttery, just add an extra half stick of butter (1/4 c. - $.35).

What's tricks do you guys have to healthify your baked goods? I'd love to hear your comments!