These are the absolute BEST Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies that are soft, perfectly chewy, buttery and loaded with dark chocolate chips. I have perfected my healthy-ier recipe over the years and kids call it “classic” for healthy snacks!
Cookies with chocolate like oat flour cookies, almond flour chocolate chip cookies and protein cookies always disappear fast around here.
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I am extremely picky with healthy cookies! When I think of healthy chocolate chip cookies, I envision a layer of soft buttery dough covering chocolate chips like a blanket, and when you bite in, the cookies are chewy. Perfection!
Like gluten free snickerdoodles have to have a soft inside and chewy outside. And healthy oatmeal cookie gotta have a chew as well. Healthy pumpkin cookies with prominent pumpkin flavor. Cookies gotta be worth their calories!
What Makes These Chocolate Chip Cookies Healthy?
- Tried and true tested recipe: This is a very old recipe of mine that I have changed and perfected over the years. No more maple syrup and applesauce because a real cookie must be made with butter and sugar. The toughest critics, kids, approved!
- Wholesome ingredients: We use organic cane or coconut sugar which is unrefined sugar that retains a lot of its nutrients minus the pesticides. Whole wheat or (sprouted) spelt flour with bran and germ attached. And organic or grass fed butter. All real food quality ingredients.
- Less of “bad stuff” without sacrificing the taste: Unlike many traditional recipes online, our recipe uses twice less sugar and butter, resulting in yet soft and chewy cookie. Like a cookie should be!
- Balance and moderation: Healthy eating is all about maintaining clean taste buds with healthy lifestyle and without diets. So, when you indulge you can really taste the food, get satisfied with a just a few treats and not overeat.
Try this healthy chocolate chip cookie recipe and you will be amazed!!!
Ingredients for Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Butter: I used organic salted butter and omitted salt. Unsalted butter works perfectly too. You may use coconut oil but it results in more crispy rather than chewy cookies, with less grooves and more cake like looking cookies.
- Sugar: I used organic cane sugar. Coconut sugar works too. You can also use all or parts of organic brown sugar as it goes well in CC cookies. I do not recommend to use liquid sweetener as recipe will not work. For sugar free cookie, try erythritol – it tastes good and I have even used it in healthy sugar cookies!
- Whole wheat flour or spelt flour: This time I used whole grain spelt flour. Please don’t use white flour, recipe will need adjustment.
Gluten free cookies? Check out almond flour chocolate chip cookies for gluten free version. Don’t use any other flour like oat flour or coconut flour – recipe will not work.
- Baking needs: Pure vanilla extract, baking soda and salt if using unsalted butter. No need for baking powder as we do not want cookies to have fluffy texture.
- Chocolate chips: I use dark chocolate chips because sweetness in a cookie dough is enough already. You can use semi-sweet and more of, if you like.
What is softened butter? Softened butter means a dent appears when you touch it with a finger. To soften butter, just leave it at room temperature for 3-4 hours. To speed up softening, cut up in cubes and let warm up.
How to Make Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Make cookie dough: In a large bowl, beat softened butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Then add egg and vanilla, and then dry ingredients – baking soda, salt and flour. Fold in 1/4 cup chocolate chips and your cookie dough is formed.
Want to eat cookie dough right away? Try my recipe for gluten free, egg free edible cookie dough!
- Chill dough and prep: Place cookie dough in the freezer to chill for 20 minutes. This is a must to prevent cookies from spreading. Now is a good time to preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 cookie sheets with unbleached parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Roll and bake: Scoop dough with a regular scoop, roll into balls and place on prepared baking sheets 3 inches apart. Cookies spread, plan for 6 per sheet. Bake cookies for 10 minutes and remove while cookies appear underbaked, puffy and light in color. Dough will settle during cooling.
- Add more chips and cool: Strategically place remaining 2 tbsp of chocolate chips into cookies while they are still hot. Also you can skip this step and just add all chips into the dough. Let cookies cool on a baking sheet for 15 minutes before transferring onto a cooling rack to cool more.
- Perfection: As cookies cool, you will see delicious grooves covering chocolate chips like a blanket appearing.
Kids will love when you turn these healthy cookies into dinky doozies! Just sandwich two cookies with healthy buttercream or chocolate frosting.
Tips for Best Cookies
- Use cold baking sheets: Make sure your baking sheets are cold. If you baked other cookies in them right before, cool them off. I stick mine in the fridge for 5 minutes.
- Do not overmix the cookie dough: Overmixing will make the cookies more prone to falling apart.
- Don’t skip chilling the dough: Because this cookie dough contains butter and sugar, it has to be firmed up before baking. If you don’t chill the dough, your cookies will spread like crazy!
- Do not over bake cookies: With most cookies you want to remove them before they start browning and finish settling during cooling off period. It’s a golden cookie baking rule!
Storing and Shipping Cookies
Storing: Store in a cool dry place in a ventilated container for up to 5 days.
Freezing: Bake, cool cookies completely, place in a resealable plastic bag or airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw on a counter for a few hours.
Shipping: A batch of chocolate chip treats are perfect healthy Christmas cookies for shipping to family and friends. Bake and cool. Place 2 cookies back to back and wrap with plastic wrap. Then place in a plastic container with a lid, stuffed with tissue so no empty space, inside shipping box and voila.
More Healthy Cookies Recipes
- Healthy gingerbread cookies
- Sugar free oatmeal cookies
- Cranberry oatmeal cookies
- Healthy skillet cookie
- Chocolate protein cookies
And may I also suggest not a cookie but this healthy pumpkin chocolate chip bread that is irresistible year round for healthy snacks!
Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature packed
- 1/2 cup cane or coconut sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cups whole wheat or spelt flour
- 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips divided
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add butter and sugar; beat with a mixer until creamy.
- Add egg and vanilla extract, beat until combined. Add baking soda, salt and flour; beat until cookie dough is formed. Add 1/4 cup chocolate chips and stir with spatula.
- Place cookie dough in the freezer to chill for 20 minutes. In the meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 cookie sheets with unbleached parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Scoop dough with a regular scoop, roll into balls and place on prepared baking sheets 3 inches apart. Cookies spread.
- Bake for 10 minutes and remove while cookies appear underbaked, puffy and light in color. Strategically place remaining 2 tbsp of chocolate chips into cookies while they are still hot.
- Let cookies cool on a baking sheet for 15 minutes before transferring onto a cooling rack to cool more. As cookies cool, you will see delicious grooves covering chocolate chips like a blanket appearing.
Video
Notes
- Store: Store in a cool dry place in a ventilated container for up to 5 days.
- Freeze: Bake, cool cookies completely, place in a resealable plastic bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw on a counter for a few hours.
- Softened butter: Softened butter means a dent appears when you touch it with a finger. To soften butter, just leave it at room temperature for 2-3 hours. To speed up softening, cut up in cubes.
- Salted butter: If you use salted butter, omit salt.
- Cold baking sheets: Make sure your baking sheets are cold. If you baked other cookies right before, cool sheets off first. I stick mine in the fridge for 5 minutes.
- Don’t skip dough chilling: Otherwise your cookies will spread like crazy!
- Gluten free: Check out almond flour chocolate chip cookies for gluten free version. Don’t use any other flour except the one instructed in this recipe.
- Coconut oil: You may use coconut oil but it results in more crispy rather than chewy cookies, with less grooves and more cake like looking.
- Liquid sweetener: If you use maple syrup or honey instead of sugar, cookies will come out very cakey. I do not recommend. Sugar and butter melt during baking and create a real cookie experience.
- Brown sugar: Some love a hint of molasses brown sugar provides. You can sub half the amount of white sugar.
My cookies didn’t flatten. I learned that happens when you add too much flour. I followed the recipe. Did anyone else have this experience? Should I add less flour?
Hi Lilia. How did you measure the flour? You should spoon it into a measuring cup and flatten the top with a knife. If you dipped cup into the bag with flour then yes, you could have too much flour. Did you chill the dough? I do think you used too much flour for some reason, you are correct. What flour was it? And did you use softened butter and sugar?
Thank you for your quick reply! I dipped the cup into the bag, so perhaps I added too much. I used whole wheat flour. I’ll try again using your method! Alternatively, I could weigh the flour.
Sounds good! Just FYI all recipes use “my method” for measuring flour. Just so you know to avoid future fails. It’s a default in baking.
Can I substitute with all purpose flour?
Recipe will need adjustment and I haven’t tested it. You may try with this ratio – Use 1 cup of white flour for every 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour that recipe calls for.
I have found that when I substitute coconut sugar in place of cane sugar I need to add a bit of water to keep the dessert from being too dry. Have you noticed this?
That is possible. Honestly I do not use it often because I need cookies to have “normal” color for photography. I wouldn’t add water but bake for less time.:)
I made these and they turned out good. I didn’t chill and while they did spread, they were still mostly not touching each other.
So glad you enjoyed them!
These cookies were the best I’ve made. So chewy and delicious with the perfect amount of sweetness. I’ve tried many recipes, but these are my kids favorite. We are making another batch today.
So glad you enjoyed them and the kiddos, too!
I love this!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah for healthy cookies!
My 12 and 14 year old girls were tasked with making these on their own. Your video was so helpful, they followed your exact instructions (unlike when their Mum tries to explain things in the kitchen). They were so amazingly good that the rest of the family have said they now HAVE to cook them at least once a week!)
So happy to hear this and so glad everyone enjoyed it!
So I changed these a bit and they were a big hit. I used a mix of all purpose flour and white whole wheat because I didn’t have whole wheat or spelt, 1/3 cup dark brown sugar, chocolate chunks and raisins and I didn’t chill them. I thought that they would spread but they didn’t. I rolled them into a ball and they spread minimally and came out perfect. Thank you for the recipe. I am always reducing sugar in recipes and it tough to find low sugar, honey or maple syrup cookies.
So glad you made them your own and it turned out so well!