Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

• If the nuts that you are using are not toasted, I recommend toasting them to kick up the flavor. You can dry roast (without any additional oil) them in the oven at 350 F (180 C) conventional, 330 F (165 C) convection, for 8-10 minutes. Let them cool down completely and then cut into large chunks if they are large size nuts

Prepare the cookie dough:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) for conventional, 330 F (165 C) for convection. Position the oven racks 3rd from the top and 3rd from the bottom. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• I use unsalted butter, if you use salted butter, you can reduce the amount of salt by half or to your taste preference. Make sure the butter is soft but not melting.

  Make sure the eggs are at room temperature
• Combine the whole wheat flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside
• Whisk the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla together in a small bowl and set aside. In a mixing bowl, add the softened butter and use a sturdy spatula to beat/cream the butter until they are creamy. You can use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment to do this too, but not required. Add the brown sugar and beat/cream again until they are combined.
  
• Gradually add the egg mixture to the butter while mixing. Scrape the sides of the bowl too to make sure everything is evenly combined
• Sift in the dry ingredients and use a spatula to fold to combine. Before the dry ingredients are fully combined, add the nuts and chocolate chunks and continue to fold until combined. Because different whole wheat flour can absorb liquid differently, if your cookie dough turn out to be too dry and won't come together, drizzle a teaspoon of milk at a time just enough for the dough to come together. You don't want to add too much as it can throw off the ratio of ingredients
  

Shaping:

• Use a small ice cream scoop or a spoon to scoop about 42 grams of cookie dough ball (about 3 tablespoons). Place it on a baking sheet, about 2 inches apart
  
• Dip the dough ball in sugar (optional). Flatten the dough ball slightly with your palm. These cookies won't spread much
  
• If you don't plan to bake all the cookies, you can put the baking sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes to flash freeze. Then transfer to a freezer bag or container to be baked later

Baking:

• Place the baking sheets on the position racks. Let them bake for 10-12 minutes, rotate the pan front to back, top to bottom halfway through baking so they bake evenly.
• The cookies are done baking when the edges are just lightly browned and the centers are still soft. Do not overbake them. Overbaking will dry them out and turn them into crunchy in texture.They still look a bit undone especially in the center, but they will finish cooking while you cool them on the pan
• If the cookie doughs have been frozen, you can bake them without thawing. Add a minute or two to the baking time

Cooling:

• Let the cookies cool down completely on the pan set on top of a cooling rack. They appear very soft when they are just out of the oven. They will firm up as they cool down
  

Storage:

• Once the cookies have cooled down completely, transfer them to air-tight containers. They can be kept at room temperature for about 5 days
• For a longer storage, transfer the baked cookies to freezer-friendly containers or freezer bags. They can be kept frozen for about a month for the best result. Simply thaw at room temperature before eating