Spiced Dark Chocolate Chip & Flaxseed Cookies

Ahhh, that was a nice little break. You may have noticed that I didn’t post anything last week…it was definitely on purpose. I decided to give myself a small reprieve during the Thanksgiving festivities. After all, I haven’t pressed pause on this blog since its inception (I even posted a recipe the night we came home from the hospital with the baby!). I needed a quick breather.

But now I’m back! And I’m kicking things back off with COOKIES. Of course. It IS the season, after all. Lots of holiday cookie recipes will be circulating the web during the next few weeks, and I had to contribute to the madness.

These cookies have quickly shot to the top of my favorites list. They are a hybrid of two cookies: oatmeal and chocolate chip. Except I added a few bonus ingredients and swapped in my favorite chocolate of all time: the DARK stuff. When it comes to chocolate, I’m in the “the darker the better” camp. Milk chocolate was once my preferred choice as a kid, but as I got older, the deep richness of dark chocolate took over my world. White chocolate is only OK in small doses and when mixed with other things (like in these lattes or these cookies or this skillet cookie from heaven). I wouldn’t be caught dead eating a hunk of white chocolate by itself. Blech. Hence, the dark chocolate in these babies.

These are basically a jacked up chocolate chip cookie. Yes, there are oats, but not enough to constitute them as OATMEAL cookies. The oats just add some chewy texture and nuttiness. Then there’s the ground flaxseed. Nuttiness galore. Plus, it totally makes these cookies a health food. Right? But my favorite part about these cookies is the spices. The spices combined with that dark chocolate is sooo good. I kinda want to spice my chocolate chip cookies for the rest of time. The combo is just to die for. The spices also makes these PERFECT for the holiday season. They aren’t your run-of-the-mill chocolate chip cookies, for sure. They taste like the holidays. Cozy!

I’m not the only one who thinks so. We had some friends over for a baby meet-and-greet / snacking fest a couple weeks ago. I put out these cookies toward the end of the night, and when our friend took one bite, he exclaimed “Oh my God, I think I see the sweet baby Jesus.” Hah.

So yeah. It’s safe to say these are pretty darn tasty.

 

 

Spiced Dark Chocolate Chip & Flaxseed Cookies          (makes 3 dozen cookies)

 

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

¼ cup ground flaxseed

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon fine salt

2 sticks butter, softened

¾ cup granulated sugar

¾ cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups dark chocolate chips

 

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl whisk together flours, flax, oats, baking soda, spices, and salt.

Cream together the butter and sugars in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix to incorporate.

Add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture in increments, mixing each time until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop heaping tablespoons of the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes, or until golden around the edges. Allow to cool on the pan for a minute before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container once cooled.