Sugar Cookies with whole wheat...that taste ALL WHITE!!!

As I said yesterday...I use white flour hmmmm....almost NEVER. However, I have long believed that sugar cookies just had to be made of white flour. I have abandoned the idea that rolls have to be made of white flour, but the sugar cookies...I just couldn't find a recipe I LOVED with whole wheat. HOWEVER, I have finally come up with a sugar cookie that is half white/half wheat that I LOVE! My husband said he would never have known there was whole wheat in them if I hadn't told him. They are light, moist, springy...everything you want in a sugar cookie...but half of the flour is whole wheat! Another plus...they have ricotta cheese, which gives them protein, to help balance all those carbs and the subsequent spikes in glucose. They are DELICIOUS!!!

Moist, Springy "Almost" Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies

1 1/4 C + 2 T finely ground and sifted (or freshly ground) whole wheat flour

1 1/4 C + 2 T white flour

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 C butter, softened

1 3/4 C sugar

2 eggs

1 T vanilla

1 container (15 oz.) ricotta cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together the whole wheat flour, white flour, salt and baking powder. In a separate bowl, mix together butter and sugar for 1 minute on medium speed and then 1 minute on high speed. Beat in eggs (30 seconds on medium speed and 1 1/2 minutes on high speed). Add in vanilla and ricotta cheese and beat on high for one more minute. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined. Drop about 2 T for each cookie on parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet so it continues to slow bake for about 15 minutes.

When completely cool, frost with buttercream frosting. I make buttercream frosting by using softened butter, probably about 2 sticks for this recipe. I put the softened butter in a bowl and whip it at high speed. Then, I add powdered sugar until it is the right taste and consistency. Just keep adding and whipping. If you get it a little too thick, add about a tablespoon at a time of milk until it is the right consistency.

For shaped cookies: You can't exactly do cut-out cookies with this recipe, because they are SOOO moist, but you can do "shaped" cookies. Just place a generic "shape" cookie cutter, (heart, stocking, flag, Easter egg, star, etc.,)…something without lots of ridges on the parchment paper. Spoon batter into the middle of the cookie cutter until it fills the cutter. Level off the top, so it is flush with the cutter. Use a butter knife to loosen the edges of the batter from the cookie cutter and remove the cookie cutter.

(I'm still working on finding a cut-out cookie recipe that I really like with whole wheat in it...I may try adding more flour to this recipe...but I'll get back to you on that one)