Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

My boys are picky eaters, but they love chocolate chip cookies. They'll also eat things in chocolate chip cookies that they wouldn't normally touch, so I try to sneak in fiber, omega-fatty acids, and other healthful stuff.

Now I won't go so far as to say that my recipe is healthful. It's just less unhealthful than lots of other recipes.

A couple of notes on this recipe:

• I like to use white whole wheat flour when I bake. Not whole wheat flour made from red wheat.
• Below, I just listed 2 cups of flour. You could use 2 cups of all-purpose (though they wouldn't be whole wheat cookies then) or 2 cups whole wheat or any mix of all-purpose and whole wheat that will give you two cups. I usually do a 50/50 mix.
• If you don't have almond meal, no big. Just add another 1/4 cup flour.
• Make it Vegan: 1) Replace the butter with a non-hydrogenated spread like Earth Balance or Smart Balance. One day I'd like to try replacing the butter with coconut oil. When I do, I'll let you know how it works. 2) In the past, I've had good results replacing eggs with a substitute called Ener-G. 3) Use vegan chocolate chips.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup almond flour (sometimes called almond meal)
• 1-2 Tbsp ground flax seeds (optional)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 12 oz chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In one bowl, combine flours, flax seeds, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Cream butter with sugars. Mix in vanilla. Incorporate eggs, one at a time.

Incorporate the dry mixture into the creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using).

Drop by spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake until golden brown. (My oven is weird. It bakes some things fast and others slowly. It takes my oven about 14 minutes. I would start checking though between 9 to 11 minutes.)

Notes: Instead of using 1 cup of nuts, you could make this recipe your own by adding some of the following:

• Raisins
• Dried cranberries
• Dried snipped cherries
• Shredded coconut
• Pumpkin seeds
• Or maybe just a mix of several goodies