Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie, Honey.

Did you know that you can have a perfectly delicious chocolate chip cookie without refined sugar in it? Me neither. Not until yesterday. Many times I've switched white and brown sugars in a chocolate chip cookie recipe for honey and my craving is not at all satisfied. But, when I have a day that I need a treat the chocolate chip cookie is my very best friend. Which is why I rarely make them; because then I eat them. Six of them...maybe. I lose count after that.  So, I've taken to figuring out how to satisfy my sweet tooth without using refined sugar. Which I know doesn't make these calorie, fat, or sugar free. But, with honey's many natural health properties I figuring I'm still working with an advantage when I eat one of these:

Say hello to a lace cookie infused chocolate chip oatmeal cookie. I know, not the most beautiful picture. Just make them and you'll see. I used the tips from this website and a chewy chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipe I have from The New Best Recipe book. It's a great cookbook that includes descriptions about the nuances of developing each recipe. Which is only interesting when I have nothing else to do but read my cookbook! Since I like recipes with less description, I'll share how I did it: 

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour. (I used spelt flour)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted, softened butter
1 1/3 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (maybe 2.... sorry my vanilla extract technique consists of dumping it in the bowl while taking in a deep breath and stopping when it smells/looks right to me. If your cookies taste too strongly of honey, more vanilla extract helps.)
1 egg yolk
3 1/4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks

Beat the butter, honey, and vanilla extract until creamy. Then stir in the egg yolk. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Combine wet and dry ingredients then add the chocolate. Bake at 325 for 14-18 minutes. The middles will still look light and slightly doughy when they come out. My oven bakes hotter than it should so you may find you need to cook them longer than that. You'll want to err on the side of lighter brown edges than darker brown. They get crispier when they cool but they're still chewy. Delish! 

If you want them absolutely no refined sugar add some nutmeg (1/4 tsp), cinnamon (1 tsp), or ginger (3/4 tsp) and walnuts instead of the chocolate chips! 

yum! This recipe made 3.5 dozen cookies for me.