Best Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies pull off a balancing act: the cozy chew of a classic chocolate chip cookie, but built lighter from the ground up. Canola oil stands in for butter, egg whites replace whole eggs, and half the flour is whole wheat pastry flour, which adds fiber and a faint nuttiness while staying tender.

A little corn syrup is the trick to texture: it keeps the cookies soft and chewy rather than dry, which lower-fat baked goods can tend toward. The whole wheat pastry flour matters too, since it’s milled fine and low in protein, so the cookies don’t turn dense or tough the way regular whole wheat flour would.

Chilling the dough for an hour is worth the wait. It firms the dough so the cookies hold their shape and spread evenly, and it lets the flavors meld.

Pull them while they still look almost set; they finish firming on the hot pan, which keeps the centers soft. Grain-sweetened chocolate chips run through every bite.

Kitchen Tips

• Don’t skip the hour chill; warm dough spreads thin and bakes greasy.
• Bake just until the edges set and the centers look slightly underdone, then let them firm on the pan.
• Spoon and level the flour rather than scooping, or the cookies turn dry and cakey.
• Use whole wheat pastry flour, not regular whole wheat, for a tender crumb.

Variations

• Stir in chopped walnuts, pecans or a handful of oats.
• Swap half the chips for chopped dark chocolate.
• Add a pinch of cinnamon or espresso powder to deepen the chocolate.