Basic Whole Grain Cookies
These cookies are a great way to convince yourself (and your family) that baking with whole grains can be a tasty experience. Wheat and oats combine to make a cookie that's indistinguishable from one made with white flour, except in color.
You have a couple of options for the oats used in this recipe. For a cookie with a craggy, oatmeal cookie-like appearance, use quick oats. For a smoother cookie, one that looks more chocolate chippy, grind the oats in a food processor, or substitute oat flour.
Read our blog about these cookies, with additional photos, at Bakers' Banter.
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar, light or dark, packed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour or Traditional Whole Wheat Flour
- 3/4 cup quick rolled oats, ground in a food processor or blender if desired
- 2 tablespoons orange juice, optional*
- 2 cups chips, nuts, and/or dried fruit, optional
- *Use the optional orange juice if you're adding chips, nuts, fruit, etc. Don't add the orange juice if you're not using any add-ins.
Directions
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3) Add the flour and oats, beating to combine. |
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6) Cover the cookie dough, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled; at least several hours, or overnight. |
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7) When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets. |
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9) If the cookie dough has been refrigerated, bake the cookies for 13 to 14 to 14 minutes, until they're a very light golden brown, and a bit darker around the edges. For unrefrigerated dough, bake for about 11 minutes. |
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Recipe summary
- Hands-on time:
- 15 mins. to 20 mins.
- Baking time:
- 13 mins. to 16 mins.
- Total time:
- 28 mins. to 2 hrs 36 mins.
- Yield:
- 92 to 100 small (2 1/4") cookies, with 2 cups of add-ins
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- Recipe comments (9) »
Tips from our bakers
- Can you bake these cookies without refrigerating the dough first? Yes. If you're making cookies without add-ins, they'll spread to be very flat. cookies with add-ins will spread quite flat, but still be acceptable.
- What about using traditional (old-fashioned) rather than quick oats? Go for it; we haven't tried it, but assume the spread will be different. If all you have in the cupboard is old-fashioned rolled oats, give them a quick whirl in a food processor, so they're more like quick oats; or process till they're finely ground, for a smoother-looking cookie.
- The nutritional information below is calculated using 1 cup of dried cranberries and 1 cup of chocolate chips, as shown in the recipe here.
| Nutrition Facts | |
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Serving Size 10g
Servings Per Batch 70 |
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| Amount Per Serving | |
| Calories 44 | Calories from Fat 19 |
| Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat | 2g |
| Saturated Fat | 1g |
| Trans Fat | 0g |
| Cholesterol | 3g |
| Sodium | 25mg |
| Total Carbohydrate | 6g |
| Dietary Fiber | .5g |
| Sugars | 5g |
| Protein | 0g |
| * The nutrition information provided for each recipe is determined by the ESHA Genesis R&D software program. Substituting any ingredients may change the posted nutrition information. | |
Reviews
03/14/2010
My husband who loves chocolate chip cookies, said these were the best. I added the orange juice but only used 1 cup of chocolate chips as two cups seemed like too much. This is an easy recipe as everything is in one bowl. The first time I made these, I ground the oatmeal. The second time, I was lazy and did not do it, but let the batter sit for 24 hours which softened the oats which I thought made better cookies.
03/05/2010
I really liked this recipe. It was easy to make even with the slight changes. I did not have orange juice and i cut down the chocolate chips to 1 cup. I noticed that you should take them out sooner then later because even when they don't look ready they are! One batch was off by a minute and resulted in a very crispy cookie.(still yummy!) I would like to find a way to cut down on the butter, i was considering substituting applesauce. I can't wait to try these again!
Let us know how these turn out if you do substitute applesauce. Joan @KAF
12/20/2009
These cookies are SOOOO good! Instead of vanilla extract, I used orange extract in addition to the orange juice. I also added 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon and 2 c. of butterscotch morsels. Yummy! Highly recommend :)
11/10/2009
I split the batter in half and added chocolate chips to one half, and cinnamon chips and pecans to the other half. Both sets of cookies were very good, but both my husband and I preferred the cinnamon pecan version. I hadn't made cookies in more than 20 years before I tried this recipe, but I don't think it'll be that long before I do it again. I love that they're whole grain, which makes them a little less guilt-inducing. I also like the idea of freezing the batter and then baking one serving of cookies at a time, to help reduce the temptation to overindulge.
09/17/2009
Fabulous! I'll make these again and again and change the add ins. I used "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" instead of butter and they baked perfectly crunchy, golden brown and really delicious. For my first batch I used cranberries and pecans. By the way I didn't refrigerate the dough and I didn't add the orange juice. Enjoy!
06/30/2009
I loved this recipe. I have been making chocolate chip cookies for 50 years and am happy to find this one which is healthier. I made the cookies exactly as written in the recipe. I did use the orange juice and I did put the oatmeal in my food processor. I did not have any holes in them, and I used a one-tablespoon ice cream scoop to add them to the cookie sheet. I cooked them 13 minutes, and the edges were nice and brown. They were crispy and delicious. I will make these again and will probably do the very same thing again since I liked them so much. Keep those good and healthy recipes a comin'.
06/08/2009
Excellent taste, I love the nutty rich flavor of whole wheat. These are not heavy cookies, they really hit the spot.
I refrigerated the dough overnight. Cookies came out uniform and nicely puffed up. The edges browned well and were cooked to perfection in 13 minutes.
I used regular oats and did not chop them up. I prefer them that way for the texture and grain. I added one cup of dried cranberries and one tablespoon of orange juice.
I will make these again and again. Next time I'll add one cup of dried fruit: I'm thinking apricot and cranberry. Also an additional 3/4 cup of oats and 1/4 cup of chopped nuts, almond or pecan.
Thanks for sharing your success and recipe variations. You've inspired me to get to the kitchen right after work to try your variations! Irene at KAF
05/27/2009
great tasting recipe..AND lovely that they're made withsomething other than just white flour...but I would LOVE if we could get some nutritionals on these recipes! I have the KAF whole grain baking book and love that it includes the nutrition facts...any plans for including them on the website?
05/26/2009
Saw this featured on the blog and went directly to Whole Foods to pick up some KAF White WW flour, plus some bulk giant raisins and quick oats! The result was certainly delicious (and also pronounced "yummy" by my boyfriend, who counts oatmeal raisin as his favorite cookie) -- though I have to say the cookie spread even more than I expected. I ended up with small holes in the cookie, such that you could actually see through it in parts. Next time I make this (and I already have cranberries and dark chocolate ready for the next iteration!) I might skip the OJ. Either that or not beat it as much? Regardless, these were tasty!
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