Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you're looking for a wholesome way to satisfy your sweet tooth you will LOVE these Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies! They are free of refined sugar, refined flour, and gluten but they are surprisingly sweet, buttery, and delicious!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 10

Chill time 15

Total Time 40

Servings

Calories 162kcal

Author Allison - Celebrating Sweets

Ingredients

¼ cup softened unsalted butter I use grass-fed
¼ cup creamy almond butter
⅓ cup coconut sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup pure maple syrup
½ cup blanched almond flour
⅓ cup old fashioned rolled oats
2 tablespoons cornstarch
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt omit if using salted butter
¼ cup roughly chopped dark chocolate chips plus more for topping
¼ cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F with racks near the center. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
Using a hand mixer, beat butter, almond butter, and coconut sugar until combined. Add egg, vanilla, and maple syrup, beating until combined and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. Add almond flour, oats, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt, beating until combined. Stir in chocolate and walnuts.
Place the bowl of dough in the freezer for 15 minutes*. After 15 minutes, use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to portion out the dough. Place mounds of dough a couple inches apart on prepared baking sheets (don't flatten the mounds).
Bake for 10-12 minutes. The cookies should be golden brown and the centers of the cookies will still look a tiny bit underbaked. The cookies will be very soft. Immediately proceed with shaping the cookies (see note). Sprinkle the tops of the warm cookies with chopped chocolate, if desired. Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet set on a cooling rack.
These cookies are best the day they are made or frozen and eaten straight from the freezer.

Notes

*The dough should be cold but not frozen. It should be more firm than when you put it in the freezer but it will still be thinner than a typical cookie dough. If necessary, increase the freeze time by several minutes.

HOW TO GET PERFECTLY ROUND COOKIES

Option 1: Immediately after the cookies come out of the oven place a round glass, bowl, or cookie cutter (larger than the cookie) upside down over the top of the cookie. Gently but quickly swirl the glass/bowl/cookie cutter in a circular motion. The edges of the cookie will bump against the inside of the glass creating a perfectly round shape. Note: This only works when the cookies are hot, straight from the oven, and still on the warm baking sheet.

Option 2: Immediately after the cookies come out the oven use the back of a spoon to gently push the edges inward to create clean edges and a perfect round shape.

RECIPE TIPS

These cookies are on the thinner side, so I like to finely chop the walnuts and chop the chocolate chips so they disperse well throughout the dough.

The cookie dough needs to chill in the freezer for 15 minutes. Don't skip this step or they will bake up very thin.

Regular dark chocolate does have refined sugar in it. If you'd like to avoid it completely you can use Paleo chocolate chips. I use Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips or a chopped dark chocolate bar.

These cookies will be very soft when you remove them from the oven. Use my tips (below) for shaping the cookies then let them cool completely on the baking sheets. They will firm up as they cool.

These cookies are best the day they are made OR (my favorite) frozen and eaten straight from the freezer! I love the texture of these cookies when they're frozen.

Nutrition