Three Tasty 100% Whole Wheat Chocolate Desserts

We've tried to eliminate white all purpose flour from our diet recently and instead to use whole wheat flour as much as possible. Additionally, we're trying to use less granulated sugar and instead to use honey. With this in mind, we modified three of our favorite treats to be a little healthier. We modified the recipes a little at a time until we found versions we liked best! Of course, you can always modify them even more by experimenting with substituting applesauce for oils or solid coconut oil for butter.

At one time in our lives, we considered whole wheat to taste a bit like cardboard. The food items containing this ingredient were the ones we ate to feel as though we were making a "better" choice. While they can be, they also should be coupled with better sugars and fats. We found whole wheat can taste delicious and we hope you will too!

• Dessert 1: Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Dessert 2: Whole Wheat Brownies
• Dessert 3: Whole Wheat Chocolate Cake

These cookies are super soft and chewy! The combination of honey, peanut butter and whole wheat works quite well. We like to make them on pizza stones, but you could bake them on regular cookie sheets as well. Wrap the cooled cookies up in plastic wrap to quickly add as a lunch bag treat.

Prep time: 15 min

Cook time: 15 min

Ready in: 30 min

Yields: 24 cookies

Ingredients:

• 8 Tablespoons your choice of oil (we like 4 T coconut oil + 4 T softened butter)
• 1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons honey
• 1/2 cup creamy NATURAL peanut butter (the only ingredient should be peanuts)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla
• 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons white whole wheat flour (also called whole wheat pastry flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat oil (coconut oil + butter) with sugars (brown and honey). Mix in peanut butter, egg and vanilla.
3. In a small bowl, mix together flour, soda, and salt.
4. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix either with a spatula or mixer until combined. The dough will be more thin than traditional cookie dough, that's okay!
5. Mix in the chocolate chips.
6. Scoop the dough 24 heaping tablespoons onto ungreased baking stones (or cookie sheets). To scoop more evenly it is helpful to divide the dough in the bowl into quarters. Push one quarter apart from the rest and divide it in half, then form each of these halves into three cookies. Each quarter will make six cookies, so each half of a quarter makes three.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 11-13 minutes if using a baking sheet, rotating the trays half-way through. If using baking stones (which we highly recommend!), bake for 8 minutes, switch, then 8 more.
8. Let cool on the sheets and enjoy! We like to wrap ours into packets of two using plastic wrap, so we don't keep reaching in the cookie jar.

• Unlike all-purpose flour it is not bleached and then enriched to replace the nutrients that were destroyed.
• Contains additional iron and fiber.
• Since it has additional fiber, your body digests it a little more slowly and thus it fills you up a little more than white all-purpose flour does.

These brownies are sooooo yummy. Thick and chewy and oh so good warm. Sometimes we fancy them up with chopped walnuts and a sprinkling of chocolate chips right when they come out of the oven. A special treat.

Prep time: 15 min

Cook time: 40 min

Ready in: 1 hour

Yields: 9 thick brownies

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup plus 1 heaping Tablespoon whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 10 Tablespoons your choice oil (We like 5 Tablespoons coconut oil + 5 Tablespoons butter)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla
• 3 eggs

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8 x 8 pan with nonstick spray.
2. Mix dry ingredients together (flour, salt, baking powder).
3. In large microwaveable bowl, place chocolate chips, oil, and butter. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir.
4. Into chocolate mix sugars, honey, and vanilla. Then whisk in eggs one at a time.
5. Slowly pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Mix together. Pour batter into prepared pan.
6. Bake 35-45 minutes (for our oven it takes 40 minutes). Test with a toothpick.
7. Let cool in pan for about an hour or enjoy right away!

This cake is incredibly moist. The coffee flavor doesn't actually come through, rather it enhances the chocolate, if you will. Unlike traditional cake, this doesn't rise quite as much. So, when serving, simply flip the cake upside down onto a plate or cake stand, then dust with a little powdered sugar and no one will know.

These three desserts have become our go-to treats! When we were first married, Rob used to have a Little Debbie treat in his lunch almost every day per his request. Now, he has one of these. While each of these desserts still has fat and lots of sugar, we feel better knowing all the ingredients in each came from our pantry. We have enjoyed experimenting with amounts of different sugars and fats and will continue to do so. These recipes are works in progress! If you try or tweak one, please stop by to let us know your results.