Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pomegranate

Name: Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pomegranate
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 16
Ingredients: 1/2 cup solid coconut oil (not melted); 1/2 cup granulated sugar; 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed; 1 large egg (sub 1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water for vegan version); 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour* (or all purpose flour, spooned and leveled, NOT packed); 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1/2 tsp fine sea salt; 1/2 cup pomegranate arils**; 1/2 cup chocolate chips; Course salt, for topping

December 6, 2018

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These Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pomegranate are a deliciously wholesome spin on the classic! Made with whole grain flour and coconut oil, these easy cookies are perfectly soft, slightly chewy, and require no chilling.

I was a brownie girl for 27 years. No question. But I can say with confidence that I took a turn to the cookie side in my 28th year.

For the past few months, rich and gooey chocolate chip cookies with salt on top are all I want after dinner. No banana bread, no muffins, no ice cream. Chocolate chip cookies only, dude.

I’ve made a zillion cookie recipes, and I’ve loved most of them. The amazing thing about these soft and buttery heaven-sent Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies is that you don’t have to chill them.

I actually tried chilling them and baking them for 14 minutes and they turned out just fine, but not any better than the version I popped right in the oven. Isn’t that magical?

I used my favorite whole wheat pastry flour in this recipe. I get the big bag and keep it in the fridge so it lasts longer. I use it in pancakes and banana bread and all the baking things.

It keeps these Coconut Oil Chocolate Cookies light and fluffy but still 100% whole grain which IMO, is super legit.

You can totally use all purpose or regular whole wheat flour instead, if you’d like. I haven’t tried these with gluten-free flours (almond flour and coconut flour will not work) but I assume a gluten-free all purpose flour would be just fine. I haven’t tried it, so leave a comment if you do!

A note on flour (and this goes for all recipes): don’t dunk the measuring cup in the bag. You don’t want the flour packed in! Set your little measuring cup on the counter and gently spoon in the flour before leveling it off with a knife.

This results in anywhere from 30-50% less flour. That’s a big difference! Cookies that stay in a stiff ball and don’t spread out are a dead giveaway that there was too much flour. Over-beating the egg can also cause stiffness. Look, we’re learning things!

Your dough should form like little mini dough balls that come together into a big ball when you smush it together. See photos above for reference of what your dough should look like. Now let’s address baking time.

These Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies should look puffy and a little underdone. I took mine out after 10 minutes for the first batch and 12 minutes the second batch and actually preferred 12 minutes. Just don’t over-bake!

This isn’t a crunchy cookie recipe. That would be rude.

Now let’s talk coconut oil. It should be nice and hard, not softened or melted. If it’s in your pantry in the winter like mine was, it should be the right consistency. If it’s soft from sitting by a stove or something, put it in the fridge to firm up.

Now, since I have a feeling someone may ask, I have not tried these cookies with coconut sugar. Coconut sugar tastes less sweet than brown sugar so do me a solid and embrace the sheer COOKIENESS of this recipe and use brown sugar.

And don’t use less of either of the sugars! Sugar isn’t just for sweetness here; it’s also important for structure. AKA your cookies won’t set up if you funk with the sugars, mmmmk?

I added pomegranate to these insanely amazing Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies for a festive pop of color (oh hi, it’s December) but I was pleasantly surprised with how much I adored the tart flavor and texture. Such a delight!

You could of course leave them out if you’re feeling like a chocolate only kind of cookie. I get you. I’ve been there.

Now tell me. What else are you baking this season? Can we do a virtual cookie exchange?! Someone bring me the chewy iced gingerbread women ones, please!!