Whole Wheat Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Sometimes I get the urge to try to make something a little more healthy. These cookie bars are whole wheat (you need to use some white flour or they will not be tasty to normal people - I have made this mistake) and in place of butter they are made with healthy and delicious coconut oil. The batter was very dry and crumbly which lead me to over-mixing these and making them a little tougher (once completely cooled) than I would have liked (out of the oven they were perfect). Even with that, I still really enjoyed them - I didn't even notice the slight toughness after the first bite. They were beautifully dense with a chewy texture and I loved the hint of coconut flavor. The density and chewiness is assisted by the lack of baking soda/baking powder (they don't rise and get fluffy). Also, due to the use of coconut oil, I think they would be much softer if the temperatures were warmer. I'll test out this theory in a few months. The coconut oil also made the edges very crisp. While I think the whole wheat gives these a hearty taste without being over-powering, if you hate whole wheat stuff, you might want to skip this one. I plan to make other variations of this in the future.

Note: I baked this in a loaf pan as I did not want to end up with too many. If you have more of a crowd, I suggest doubling and baking in a 9x9 pan.

Whole Wheat Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
How I Did It:

1/2 whole wheat flour
1/2 + 1/8 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 + 1/8 cup brown sugar
1/4 granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350. Place a piece of parchment paper in your pan, overlapping the edges slightly (so you can pull the bars out easily when they are cooked) and then lightly coat any of the exposed pan and the parchment paper with light oil olive (not virgin - you can also use canola oil). Set aside.

2. In the smaller of two bowl, whisk together the flours and the salt. Set aside.

3. Whisk together (with an electric beater) the oil and the sugars until well combined and then whisk in the cinnamon, vanilla, and egg.

4. Stir in the dry ingredients until just combined.

5. Stir in the chocolate chips and make sure they are well distributed.

6. Place batter into pan and press down to evenly spread it out.

7. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown and the center looks center. Remove from oven and let sit for a couple minutes before pulling out of the pan with the parchment paper.

8. Let cool to almost room temperature before cutting into bars. Store in an airtight container.