Right now these are my favorite cookies because the recipe is mine. These cookies were inspired by a pretzel cookie in the Joanne Fluke mystery books. I changed everything to more healthy ingredients; no one could tell. (My mom called them perfect and she is the finickiest person I know besides me.) With women I call them the PMS Relief cookies; women usually crave chocolate, salty, and sweet – this covers all three. 
These are also the cookies I sent for the 2011 Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap – see the link button on the sidebar.
The cookies are also pretty healthy, though I haven’t gone so far as to make my own chocolate chips (if you are so inclined, help yourself). If you need to substitute erythritol or xylitol for sugar or WheyLow, that can be done; I’m not sure if either of those affects the baking time or temperature. (If you try it with either of those let me know.)
About WheyLow, (and I get no compensation for this endorsement, & I have been endorsing it for years) it is a low calorie, low carb sugar alternative made of three natural sugars. They somehow ‘cancel’ each other out, so that instead of having 16 calories and 4 carbs as in regular table sugar, WheyLow only has 4 calories and 1 carb. (since one of the sugars is fructose, you still don’t want to get crazy using it, but at least there are no chemicals in this.) It can be used in anything that you would use sugar, but the main claim to fame is that you can use it 1-for-1 in baking. You just have to cut the temperature 25 degrees to avoid overbrowning.
Ingredients
- 2 c. White whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur)
- ¼ c. White bean flour (I grind my own but you can get Bob’s Red Mill)
- 1 tsp. Baking soda
- 1 tsp. non-aluminum Baking Powder (I use Rumsford)
- 1 tsp. fine ground sea salt
- 1½ c. WheyLow Gold or regular (you can also use light brown sugar or organic sugar)
- 2 stk. Softened butter (do Not melt)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 lg. eggs (preferably hi-Omega3 or organic)
- 2 tbsp. orange juice
- 1 tsp. lemon juice (bottled is fine)
- 1 tbsp. water
- 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips or mini M&Ms
- 1 cup (heaping) chopped walnuts (or whatever chopped nut you like except peanuts)*
- 1 cup (heaping) crushed salted pretzels (thin stick are easiest to break)
- *If someone is allergic to nuts you can substitute: more chocolate chips or pretzels, sunflower seeds, unsweetened coconut flakes or shreds, mini marshmallows, white chocolate chips, or butterscotch chips – whatever “snacks” you like.
Instructions
- Whisk together first 5 ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
- Beat together with a fork in a glass or small bowl. Mix in half at a time to the butter mixture. Add dry mixture, one cup at a time, blending well after each addition
- Add in chips, nuts, and pretzels and blend well. Refrigerate dough at least two hours, up to overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment (or spray lightly with oil spray).
- Scoop out dough by rounded tablespoons (or use a tablespoon size disher). Bake till golden, 9-12 minutes (on my oven 11 minutes is perfect). Cookies should a bit chewy. Cool on sheet for a minute or two, then cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container (if they last that long).
- **To make this a ‘breakfast cookie, omit the chocolate chips and pretzels and use nuts, sunflower seeds, and chopped pumpkin seeds or chia seeds to make up three cups. Use a large disher/ice cream scoop for jumbo cookies.
Take Care!
DavetteB
PS: Feel free to share your favorite cookie recipes in the comments and don’t forget to check out the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap – link button is in the sidebar ->
PPS: I like King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour for everything; if you can’t find it locally, check out my store.
PPPS: This recipe has been added to the Sweet Indulgences Sunday linkup; they have got some deliciousness going on over there!