There was a stretch of time when my kids did so much baking, it felt like living in a cookie factory with amateur bakers at the helm. It made me happy that they wanted to experiment in the kitchen, but I was forever looking for ways to make baking projects a little more wholesome. These healthier chocolate chip cookies are a prime example.
Why Make Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookies?
Since baking cookies is a popular pursuit, I thought I’d share my tips on tailoring baked goods for the better. With just a handful of swaps and substitutions in these cookies, for example, you’ve got a sweet that’s lower in saturated fat with more fiber, nutrients, and a touch less sugar than garden variety Tollhouse cookies. This is not health food, mind you. That’s not what cookies are for. But these are a real treat that’s less likely to give you a sugar high followed by an energy slump. With that in mind, here are some of my standard baking makeovers:
Tips for Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookies
1. Use whole-grain flour
Instead of relying on white flour, which loses fiber and nutrients in the processing, experiment with whole-wheat flour. You can reliably swap out at least half the all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour in most cookies. If you have whole-wheat pastry flour, that makes an even more seamless swap, since the flour is lighter in texture and flavor.
2. Add nut flour to make it healthier
Adding almond or another nut flour can enhance a cookie both nutritionally and in terms of flavor and texture. I use Bob’s Red Mill super fine almond flour for this recipe.
3. Reach for dark chocolate chips
The darker the chocolate, the higher the antioxidants and the lower the sugar. Some brands now make chips with upwards of 60 percent cacao. Alternatively, chop up a block of good quality dark chocolate to use in place of the chips.
4. Use butter wisely
Butter is part of what makes cookies so rich and satisfying, but you can often get away with less than a recipe calls for. You can also use extra-virgin olive oil or another healthier fat to replace some of the butter. Another trick? Brown the butter before adding it to the batter, which lends a pleasing, nutty flavor to the mix.
5. Work nuts into the cookie batter
Adding walnuts, peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, and so forth brings crunch and texture to cookies, but also adds fiber and healthy fats that can give cookies more staying power.
6. Scale down the sugar
Some form of sweetener, whether it’s white sugar, brown sugar, honey, molasses, or maple syrup is key for cookies. But you might be surprised that you can trim the amount without much of an impact on flavor or texture.
7. Downsize your cookies
Super sized cookies are a real show-stopper, but it’s wise to scale your cookies down. It’s tough to stop at just one, so smaller is often better.
Tip:
If you’ve go kids who like to eat the dough, consider using pasteurized eggs, such as Safest Choice.
If you like these healthier chocolate chip cookies, check out:
Chocolate-Dipped Tahini Cookies
Double Ginger Molasses Rye Cookies
Peanut Butter Chickpea Blondies
Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies by Pamela Salzman
Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookies
The Toll House classic gets a healthier chocolate chip cookie makeover here by calling for whole grain and nut flour in place of white flour. It cuts the amount of total fat and replaces some of the butter with olive oil. It also uses antioxidant-rich dark chocolate in place of semi-sweet chocolate. The result is a delicious, chewy chocolate chip cookie that doesn't taste like it was shortchanged in the decadence department. Feel free to add 1/2 cup chopped nuts if you like.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons salted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 egg (use pasteurized eggs such as Safest Choice if you want to eat the dough)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup almond flour, spooned an leveled in the measuring cup (substitute coconut flour if you're allergic to almonds)
- 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour, spooned and leveled in the measuring cup (alternatively use white whole-wheat flour)
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
- Flaky salt, such as Malton (optional)
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease or line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Cream the butter, olive oil, and brown sugar with an electric mixture until creamy and blended, 1 minute. Add the egg and vanilla and continue to beat until smooth, another minute.
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Add the almond flour, whole-wheat pastry flour, baking soda, and salt to the bowl.
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Beat the ingredients together until creamy, 1 minute. Add the chocolate chips and beat to combine.
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Arrange tablespoon-size balls of dough on 1 baking sheet and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Distribute half the dough balls on the 2nd baking sheet. Be sure to leave space between the dough balls. Add a tiny crumble of flaky salt on top of each cookie, if desired.
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Bake until the cookies flatten and are just begining to show a hint of brown, 12-13 minutes.
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Remove from the oven. Let cool long enough that the cookies are firm and chewy, about 20 minutes. Store in an air-tight container.
Thank you to Safest Choice Eggs for sponsoring this post
