I have made so many chocolate chip cookies in my life.  Really any baker worth their salt (pun intended!) will lay claim to this and I have my own particular favorites, but still I feel compelled to make just one more, in case it's better than the ones I already love. These came about because we have a lot of leftover granola (think Costco-sized bag) and I thought I could probably find a better way to use it up than just shoveling handfuls into my mouth! Happily, I was right. These cookies are large, crunchy, chewy and chocolatey with a touch of coconut from the granola.

They're really easy to make and I like the fact that they don't make a huge amount. Because I bake a lot, new things are always coming into the kitchen and a huge batch of cookies is just too much for us and has to be given away (not that our family and friends mind, but still...). So if you want a large yield, you should probably double the recipe. Anyway, these are your standard cream the butter with the sugar, add eggs and then the flour mixture and then you stir in a cup or granola and a cup of chocolate chips (I used chocolate chunks because I had them on hand, but it totally doesn't matter). 

One batch makes about 18 large cookies, so you want about 9 scoops of batter on a tray, evenly spaced because these do spread a lot when cooking. Before you put them into the oven, you flatten them down with the palm of your hand like this:

When they're done, you just let them cool on the sheets for a few minutes:

And after about 20 minutes from start to finish you are rewarded with:

The size of these inspired me to turn some of these into a homemade chipwich. I'm sure these will be devoured tonight! 

In the final analysis, we all liked these cookies (maybe not as much as our favorite one, which I will get around to posting soon) but I didn't hear anyone complaining either and these will definitely find a spot in the Keep folder!

Granola Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 18 cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes (not counting bringing egg and butter to room temperature

Bake Time: 12-13 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 cup granola, any kind
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate (any kind, chips, chunks, minis or a bar cut up)

The Recipe

1.  Preheat oven to 375ºF.  

2.  Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

3.  Using electric mixer, beat together butter, both sugars, and vanilla at high speed for about 3 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Then beat in egg well. Reduce speed to low and add in flour. Using a spatula, fold in granola and chips.

4. Put nine equal scoops of batter onto 2 ungreased cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. Lightly press down onto each scoop so it forms about a 2 1/2 disc.

5.  Bake for about 12-13 minutes until pale golden brown, reversing the sheets top to bottom and front to back once during baking.  Let cool on sheet for one minute and then transfer to wire racks to finish cooling.

6.  Cookies keep one week stored in an airtight container.

NOTE:  These are based on an old Gourmet magazine recipe from 2005.

Enjoy!