Tasty chocolate chip cookies jazzed up with vanilla beans and orange zest
Aren't cookie swaps the best? What's even more fun? When there are tons of bloggers participating!
For my cookie, I decided to go old school and make Chocolate Chips Cookies. Who doesn't love a good Chocolate Chip Cookie?
These are made similarly to the Snickerdoodles I made a few years ago using a recipe from Nourish, one of my favorite healthy cookbooks.
They are 100% whole wheat and don't use as much butter as most chocolate cookies call for; instead, you use cream cheese.
These do not skimp on sugar, so don't mistake this version for a healthy cookie. They're a little more wholesome than most chocolate chip cookies without tasting like a diet cookie (woof).
Because I wanted to make sure my recipients weren't left with a bland, whole wheat cookie, I added in some vanilla bean and orange zest to take these up a notch.
I don't think the vanilla bean is necessary because I know that vanilla beans aren't a staple in most people's pantry, but the orange zest is mandatory.
Orange zest takes chocolate chips cookies from good to whoa! It's a trick that my grandmother May May used to use when she made chocolate chip cookies and I've been doing it ever since she told me (like 15 years ago). It makes a world of difference and gives just that right amount of extra something - without any orange flavor.
Plus, orange helps cut the heaviness from whole wheat flour. But take the extra caution and use whole white wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour. That's important. Regular whole wheat flour is just too dense for cookies in my opinion.
Cookies should not resemble hockey pucks.
Which is why I use whole white wheat flour. It's a lighter version of whole wheat flour because it uses a white wheat berry instead of a red wheat berry. That's why it's "white." It isn't refined like most white grains are. It's just a different color. All of the health benefits of whole wheat but a milder taste and lighter texture & color.
With less butter in these cookies, they don't spread as easily as an all-butter cookie, so it's best to press them into flatter cookie shapes for baking.
I also recommend refrigerating the dough before baking to help them keep their chewy texture. The all-yolk dough should help them stay chewy but a quick refrigeration will pretty much guarantee a nice chewy cookie.
Oh and don't over-bake the cookies - 8-9 minutes is the perfect amount of time for the {tablespoon of dough sized} cookies.
These are best if eaten within the first 3-5 days after baking, but they do still taste good after a few weeks. Unfortunately, I know this because one of my recipient's never received hers... I had a ton of issues with shipping, and I almost cried when I received her second box of undelivered cookies. Needless to say, I tried one and they were still yummy {silver lining}.
This recipe is for a cookie swap amount {about 4 dozen} but you can easily halve the recipe to make less cookies. Or make the whole recipe and freeze the dough in cookie sized portions.
Cookie dough is a great gift and nice to have in the freezer ready to go when you need an easy dessert.
Chocolate Chip Cookies with Vanilla Bean and Orange Zest
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter
- 2/3 cup cream cheese reduced-fat
- 2 cups brown sugar light or dark
- 4 large egg yolks
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 vanilla beans scraped
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 2 2/3 cup whole white wheat flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips about 8 ounces
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar. Add in the egg yolks, vanilla extract, vanilla bean {if using}, and orange zest. Remove from electric mixer.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir into the butter-sugar mixture by hand. Fold in the chocolate chips and refrigerate at least 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350*F. Very lightly grease baking sheets for oil or butter. Drop tablespoon full sized amounts of dough about 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheet.
- Flatten cookies and bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes; rotate pans, and bake another 3-4 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
Meme
As for the cookies I received, I got some pretty amazing ones from Yours Julie - lemon cardamom wedding cookies, Southern Fatty - Cornflake Cookie, and Feast and West - Dark Chocolate Pistachio Butter Cookies. They were all very different and all very very good!!!
Phillip || SouthernFATTY.com says
These looks great! Love adding citrus zest to spike things up a bit. Def going to give it a go!
Meme says
Thanks Phillip!! It's amazing what a little citrus will do to take things to the next level. Enjoy 🙂