One day my mom came home with a kitchen appliance that changed our nutritional future. Our homeschool community was delving head-first into the whole foods revolution, and one of the first steps each family took was trading their bags of all-purpose flour for 25 lb. buckets of wheat berries and a machine that sounded like a jet was taking off in their kitchen.
I remember the smell of freshly ground flour like some people remember the smell of peppermint at Christmas time. After the roar of our wheat mill had died down, I could open the canister and get a whole face full of warm floury goodness.
More than 10 years after my mom first introduced us to our grain mill, I still relish sifting my hand through the soft warm powder and breathing in the earthy scent. Only now I’m taking the flour from my own mill. It reminds me of baking with her in the kitchen, listening as she shared what she was learning about health and whole foods.
Two of the first and easiest steps my family made in the whole foods journey was replacing our white flour with fresh whole wheat (not to say we didn’t still cheer when my mom occasionally made white dinner rolls), and replacing vegetable oil and Crisco with olive oil and butter.
And there was no going back. Once you’ve grown used to cookies made with real butter, Crisco might as well meet the trash man.
Of course, I think we held onto it rather than throw it out – waste not, want not, right? So the jar of Crisco sat in the cupboard for several years, and we never missed it.
Some other health tricks for baking: When I suffered from milk allergies, I successfully replaced butter with coconut oil. And we decreased the amount of sugar in our cookie recipes. The fresh whole wheat adds a lot of flavor, and the cookies handled the decrease in sugar fabulously (so did everyone who ate them…).
Someone once remarked to me that if they wanted to eat a cookie, they might as well just eat the unhealthy real cookies. That’s great for you, sweetheart, but I come from a home of cookie monsters. We can really eat us some cookies. So if we’re going to eat them anyway, we’re going to make them as healthy as we can and still enjoy them.
And believe me, we enjoy them.
Whole Wheat Snickerdoodles
Makes about 6 dozen cookies
INGREDIENTS
- 1 C. Butter, softened
- 1 1/4 C. Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 3 C. 3 – 3 1/2 C. Freshly ground whole wheat flour (“soft wheat” works better for cookies, but “hard wheat” is fine)
- 1/2 – 1 T. Freshly ground flax seed (optional)
- 2 t. Cream of tartar
- 1 t. Baking soda
- 1/4 t. Salt (finely ground Celtic sea salt is best)
- 2 T. Sugar
- 2 t. Ground cinnamon
DIRECTIONS
- In medium-sized bowl, thoroughly mix together butter, sugar, and eggs
- In small bowl, blend together 3 cups flour, flax seed, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt
- Add flour mixture to butter mixture and thoroughly stir together (add more flour if necessary)
- Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into balls
- Mix the 2 T. of sugar and 2 t. of cinnamon in a small bowl. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar and place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet
- Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit 8-10 minutes or until set*
- Immediately remove from baking sheet and place on wire rack
*To make soft cookies, the top of each cookie should still look slightly wet when you remove them from the oven. If you wait until they look dry, they’ll become more crunchy as they cool down.
Your turn to share with us other whole-foodies 
. Do you have any classic family recipes that you’ve been able to make a little healthier? Please tell us about them!
(Check out more delicious recipes at Tasty Tuesday on Balancing Beauty and Bedlam)
Looking forward to hearing your ideas,
Steph
6 comments
1 ping
Kelleigh @ Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs
07/31/2010 at 5:30 PM (UTC -6)
I can’t wait to try this! We love Snickerdoodles around here! My friend has a flour mill and sells her whole wheat flour for about the same price as white flour. It’s a no-brainer for me! I’m just DYING right now, though, because I ran out of whole wheat and she lives out in the country and I’m too busy to run out there. ARGH. Perhaps this week!! (Crossing fingers!)
Samuel
08/02/2010 at 9:43 AM (UTC -6)
Definitely use butter instead of Crisco—makes a HUGE difference. Have you tried substituting in honey, maple syrup, or molasses for the sugar?
You mentioned making these dairy free. Is there a way to make them wheat free? Are you aware of any decent wheat flour substitutes for this sort of thing?
I’m looking forward to trying these sometime…
Steph
08/02/2010 at 11:13 AM (UTC -6)
Samuel – Yes, I have replaced sugar with other natural sweeteners in cakes and such. Haven’t tried it in cookies, although I hear those attempts haven’t been very successful
. Have you ever used rapadura – a more expensive but healthier sugar subsitute?
As for making them wheat-free, my family used spelt as our wheat substitute when we were stuggling with allergies. Gives your baked goods a different texture, but it was the most successful grain we tried! You can find spelt berries in the bulk section at Whole Foods (near the wheat berries), or order them online.
Lee Ann
08/02/2010 at 12:28 PM (UTC -6)
Regarding the wheat-free Snickerdoodle dilemma – I have found Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose flour to work excellently in my recipe! I also sometimes bake a Chocolate Chip variation of the Snickerdoodle that Chad loves.
The gluten-free flour can be found in most any healthfood store, or the organic section of your local grocery chain. I have found it MUCH cheaper to buy in bulk through my co-op. (25# bag from UNFI)
Steph
08/02/2010 at 6:51 PM (UTC -6)
Lee Ann – Great idea, I should’ve thought to ask you. Thanks for the resource!
Nikki
08/31/2010 at 9:22 AM (UTC -6)
Great recipe. I’m always looking for healthier snacks. Thanks for sharing. Have a great day!
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