Whole wheat meets Tollhouse cookies

Is that making you drool?

What if I told you - truthfully - that it contains whole wheat?

Backstory: I was recently concocting a batch of white-chocolate chunk cookies for my class at school, and realized that I only had a cup and a quarter of all-purpose flour left.  I needed another cup.  It was, in true Martha fashion, too late to run to the store to get more.  (Have I mentioned that I'm a procrastinator extraordinaire?)

Horrors.  What to do?

I opened my pantry closet in the hopes of discovering a bag of all-purpose flour that I'd purchased and stashed away in case of emergency.  No dice.  There was a bag of bread flour...and...wait a minute.

There was that bag of white whole-wheat flour, which I'd purchased with the best of intentions, but hadn't been brave enough to use.  Deciding that it was that or no cookies, I measured out a cup and crossed my fingers.

When they had cooled, I gingerly tried a cookie. I have nothing against whole wheat, but would it work in cookies? I was pleasantly surprised.  I honestly couldn't tell that I'd used almost half whole wheat flour.  However, this was a new cookie recipe for me.  As a true test, I needed to try it out in one of my old standbys: Tollhouse cookies.

I've made a few changes over the years to the original Tollhouse cookie recipe printed on the bag of Nestlé morsels, namely:

• I replace half of the butter (one stick) with margarine; this makes the cookies a little softer, a little less crispy.  
  
• I eliminate the nuts, just because I don't think that they have any place in a chocolate chip cookie.
• I don't use Nestlé morsels.  Yes, I know, sacrilege.  However, let me tell you, Nestlé Tollhouse cookies made with Ghirardelli 60% Cocoa Bittersweet Chocolate Chips are divine, a completely different animal.

I made a batch of them, replacing almost half (4/9, for my fellow math geeks) of the flour with the white whole wheat flour. I waited impatiently for the first batch to cool a bit, and finally bit into a still-warm cookie.

Heaven. They're absolutely delicious. Cookie Monster would devour them without a second thought.

I'm going to increase the whole wheat flour a bit more next time and see what happens.

Martha's Chocolate Chippies
based on Original Nestlé Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (11.5 ounce package) Ghirardelli 60% Cocoa bittersweet chocolate chips (brown package)

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl; set aside. In large mixer bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. (I like to bake on parchment paper on cookie sheets.)

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.