Here's a new cookie recipe for those of you who like "healthy-ish" treats. They're "Bakery-Style Wheat Germ Cookie Squares", the kind of bar cookie you might find at a coffee shop. They're grainy and rustic looking with golden brown edges, assorted chocolate chips, and a hearty wheat bran texture that feels just a little bit virtuous even though there's plenty of butter.

Texture and Flavor

This recipe blends wholesome ingredients like wheat germ, wheat bran, and oats with plenty of brown sugar and butter, striking that perfect healthy-ish balance. The wheat germ gives the bars a toasty, nutty depth, while the bran adds structure and fiber. Together, they make the texture soft in the middle, crisp at the edges, and just the right amount of crumbly.

How to Make

Making these is pretty simple. You mix the dry ingredients, add the softened butter, then stir to make a grainy, crumbly, dough. You then flatten the dough and press as tightly as you can into a 9x13 inch pan. Chill the dough (this softens the grain somewhat), then cut into squares (or rectangles) and bake. Here's an unbaked "square". To get neater squares, I pulled the cookies from the oven after about 12 minutes and pushed the sides in with the tip of a spatula.

Half Batch

This recipe calls for a lot of butter, and the butter is what makes these so good. Since butter is expensive, I made quite a few test batches using an 8-inch square pan. To make the 8-inch pan version, just use half of all the ingredients. To halve the egg, crack it into a custard cup, beat lightly with a fork and use a little over 2 tablespoons or about 25 grams. You don't have to be precise about the egg amount, but don't put all of it in there or you'll lose some of the crispness.

I have a few friends who don't eat eggs, so I tried replacing the egg with a flax egg and adding a bit of psyllium in with the dry ingredients. The egg-free version tasted good and held together well thanks to the little bit of psyllium. Since egg-free worked, I went ahead and tested with vegan margarine (Earth Balance) and liked the vegan version too.

Thoughts About Wheat Bran

Wheat bran isn't as as easy to find these days. It used to be on just about every cereal aisle, but now I can only find it at health food stores and online. One thing I noticed was that different brands have different weight per volume. Bob's Red Mill was (like some of their other products, actually) heavier per cup. I only needed ½ cup of of Bob's Red Mill to get 40 grams, but it took ¾ cup of Shiloh Farms because the latter is fluffier. It's just something I noticed.

Variations

Change up your bars! I tried to keep mine pretty basic at first, then started adding things like chopped pecans, butterscotch chips and milk chocolate. Mixing different types of chocolate makes these especially good. You could also try adding a little orange or lemon zest.

Recipe

Wheat Bran Cookies baked as large coffee shop style squares

Bakery Style Wheat Germ Cookie Squares

Anna

Wholesome, nostalgic treats made with wheat bran and wheat germ for extra flavor and texture.

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Cooling and Chilling 8

Total Time 8 30

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings large squares

Ingredients

½ cup wheat germ (40 grams)
½ cup wheat bran (40 grams)
2 cups rolled oats (160 grams)
⅔ cup all-purpose flour (80 grams)
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
¾ cup brown sugar, very tightly packed (160 grams)
13 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (182 grams)
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups assorted chocolate chips

Instructions

Line a 9x13 inch pan with foil or parchment paper. For a half batch, use an 8-inch pan.
Toast the wheat germ by baking at 350 for about 7 minutes or heating in a dry skillet until fragrant.
In a large mixing bowl, preferably a stand mixing bowl but it doesn't have to be, combine the toasted wheat germ with the wheat bran, oats, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and brown sugar. Mix for about 1 minute or until everything is evenly blended.
Add the softened butter to the bran mixture and mix with the paddle until soft and crumbly. Add the egg and vanilla and continue mixing with the paddle until mixture holds together when you pinch it. Mix in the chocolate chips.
Empty the mixture into the foil lined pan. Lay a sheet of parchment or another sheet of foil across the top and press down tightly. You can do it with your hands or use a smaller pan to press down. and cover. Cover and chill overnight or for at least 6 hours.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Remove the dough from pan and set it on a cutting board. Cut into large squares. If they break apart, just push them together the best you can. You will shape them more during the bake. Arrange 6 squares on each of two large rimmed baking sheets and bake one sheet at a time.
Bake the first sheet for 12 minutes. Remove from oven. The bars will have puffed up a little, so use the bottom back edge of a spatula to push inward, shaping into neat squares.
Return to the oven and bake for another 2-3 minutes. The bars will still be a little soft when you pull them from the oven, so let cool for about 20 minutes directly on the pan. Carefully transfer to a rack to cool completely.
At this point you can serve them, but they will hold together better if you chill them and let the chocolate set. Bring back to room temperature to serve.

Notes

I've only tested the half batch version as vegan or egg-free. To make vegan or egg-free, use half of all the ingredients and omit the egg. Add ½ teaspoon whole psyllium husks to the dry mixture and replace egg with a mixture of 1 tablespoon of ground flax and 3 tablespoons of water. For the butter, use Earth Balance or another good tasting vegan margarine. Use an 8-inch square pan as a mold.

Keyword Chocolate Chip, Squares, Toasted Wheat Germ

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