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Learn how to make these healthy chocolate chip cookies from scratch! They’re supremely soft & chewy, and you just need one bowl to make them! Only 100 calories with no eggs, refined flour or refined sugar!
The year after I graduated from college, I stood in my kitchen with the recipe for these fudgy triple chocolate cookiesin front of me, preparing to bake them as Christmas gifts. I pulled out my mixing bowls and the ingredients, and I started playing festive holiday music in the background on my laptop.
I sang along with the carols as I measured and whisked together the flour and cocoa powder, but when I went to melt the butter, a brilliant gift idea for someone in my family popped into my head. Without a pen or pencil handy, I repeated the thought over and over in my head so I wouldn’t forget it…
But that meant I completely lost track of what recipe step I was on, so I added the flour mixture to the melted butter before stirring in the sugar. Five seconds later, I realized that baking truly is just like math… The order of operations really matters!
Sugar dissolves in melted butter, which creates more “liquid” in your mixing bowl. When you add the flour after the sugar, there’s enough “liquid” in the bowl to incorporate all of the flour (and cocoa powder, in that particular recipe!). However, if you add the flour first… You end up with an incredibly dry and crumbly mess. And adding the sugar after doesn’t help one bit. Oops.
Although I had to start all over with that particular batch of cookies, I’ve never forgotten the order of {baking} operations I learned that day… And that comes in really handy when making one-bowl baking recipes, like these Healthy One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Cookies!
If you remember to follow the order of ingredient additions (like I always do now!), then you’ll end up with supremely soft and chewy cookies that taste just as sweet and buttery as traditional cookie recipes. Yet these healthy chocolate chip cookies contain no eggs, refined flour or refined sugar—and only 100 calories!
One bowl, minimal clean up, perfectly chewy low calorie cookies… Definitely the best kind of recipe! Life doesn’t get much better than this! 😉
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Let’s go over how to make the best healthy chocolate chip cookies!
The first ingredient you’ll add to your bowl is melted butter (or melted coconut oil!). I prefer melted butter for two reasons: (a) I don’t need to remember to set out the butter to properly soften and (b) melted butter creates more soft and chewy cookies. Since that’s the way I prefer my healthy chocolate chip cookies, extremely soft and chewy, I definitely love the melted butter trick!
Tip: Stick-style vegan butter will also work!
Next you’ll add a bit of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, vanilla extract, and salt. Any milk will work! Nonfat milk, reduce fat milk, whole milk, cashew milk (another one of my favorites!), coconut milk, oat milk, rice milk… You name it. Since some of my family members are lactose-intolerant and always keep unsweetened almond milk on hand, I used that dairy free milk so they could eat these healthy chocolate chip cookies, too.
Tip: The milk actually replaces the eggs used in many traditional recipes, so these healthy chocolate chip cookies are egg free, dairy free, and vegan!
The vanilla extract is actually a semi-secret ingredient! This is because you’ll add slightly more vanilla extract to your cookie dough compared to traditional recipes. Vanilla extract enhances butter’s rich flavor, so adding a little extra makes your healthy chocolate chip cookies taste just as rich and buttery as traditional recipes!
After you’ve whisked those together, you’ll stir in coconut sugar (like this!). Coconut sugar is exactly what it sounds like: an unrefined sweetener that comes from coconuts! However, it does not actually taste like coconuts. It has a rich caramel-like flavor, similar to brown sugar, but it pours like granulated sugar. It works really well in baking recipes like these healthy chocolate chip cookies (plus cinnamon rolls and brownies too!).
Since you’ve now mixed in the coconut sugar (remember from my cookie disaster story how important that is?), it’s time to add in the white whole wheat flour (this kind!) and baking soda. By waiting until now, you’ll definitely end up with the correct cookie dough texture—and therefore supremely soft and chewy healthy chocolate chip cookies!
White whole wheat flour isn’t actually a combination of white (aka all-purpose) flour and regular whole wheat flour! It’s made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat (hence the name!), whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. They have the same healthy benefits, but this gives white whole wheat flour a lighter taste and texture… And that lets the soft and chewy texture of your healthy one-bowl chocolate chip cookies truly shine!
Tip: I’ve included my favorite gluten free options in the Notes section of the recipe, if you’d like to make these healthy chocolate chip cookies gluten free!
Time for the chocolate chips! You’ll mix in both dark chocolate chips (these taste delicious!) and mini chocolate chips (these are my favorite!). I love combining the two! The regular-sized dark chocolate chips add a big burst of melty chocolate, while the mini ones ensure that every bite contains a bit of chocolate. Yum!
One last thing! Chilling is mandatory for this healthy chocolate chip cookie recipe. The cookie dough should be very loose and sticky when you first mix it together. If you tried to bake it right away, you’d end up with one gigantic cookie blob on your baking sheet! Chilling stiffens the cookie dough, so it’s easier to work with and your cookies spread the proper amount.
And as soon as your timer dings…
Try not to burn your tongue when you eat one fresh from the oven! 😉 And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! 🙂 ) I’d love to see your healthy chocolate chip cookies!
Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
© Amy's Healthy Baking
Yields: 12 cookies
Prep Time: 15 minutes mins
Cook Time: 10 minutes mins
Inactive Time: 30 minutes mins
Total Time: 55 minutes mins
This is one of my all-time favorite cookie recipes! The cookies are supremely soft and chewy, and they spread beautifully while baking. As a big chocoholic, I love having two different types of chocolate chips in them, too! These cookies will keep for at least two days if stored in an airtight container at room temperature, or at least one week if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. (They also freeze well!)
4.82 from 50 votes
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Ingredients
- 2 tbsp (28g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted
- 3 tbsp (45mL) unsweetened vanilla almond milk, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup (96g) coconut sugar
- 1 cup (120g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp (28g) dark chocolate chips
- 1 tbsp (14g) miniature chocolate chips (divided)
Instructions
In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, milk, vanilla, and salt. Stir in the coconut sugar. Add the flour mixture, and sprinkle the baking soda evenly over the flour (to prevent clumps). Stir in the flour and baking soda just until incorporated. Fold in the dark chocolate chips and ½ tablespoon of miniature chocolate chips. Chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line a baking sheet with asilicone baking matorparchment paper.
Drop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet using a spoon and a spatula. Slightly flatten using a spatula. (The cookies should spread some if there isn’t too much flour in the dough!) Gently press the remaining miniature chocolate chips into the tops. Bake at 350°F for 9-12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Notes
IMPORTANT - READ BEFORE BEGINNING: Make sure to follow the instructions exactly as written! The order of ingredient additions really matters in this recipe. (See my blog post above for more information!)
MILK ALTERNATIVES + IMPORTANT NOTE: Any milk may be substituted for the unsweetened vanilla almond milk.
Make sure the milk is at room temperature (or warm!). Cold milk will immediately re-solidify the melted butter or coconut oil.
COCONUT SUGAR ALTERNATIVE: Light brown sugar or granulated sugar may be substituted for the coconut sugar.
IMPORTANT FLOUR MEASURING NOTE: It’s extremely important to measure the flour correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own and love!) Too much flour will make your cookies turn out cakey or dry, instead of soft and chewy. It will also prevent them from spreading.
FLOUR ALTERNATIVES:Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour. Oat flour will also work, but be extra careful when measuring it because it tends to be more absorbent than wheat-based flours.
GLUTEN FREE OPTIONS: For the gluten free option, I recommend the following: ¼ cup (30g) millet flour, ¼ cup (30g) tapioca flour, 3 tablespoons (21g) coconut flour, and ½ teaspoon xanthan gum.
If you prefer, 1 cup (120g) of gluten free oat flour will also work, but be extra careful when measuring it because it tends to be more absorbent than many other gluten-free flours.
Many store-bought gluten free flour blends (like this one!) will work as well, if measured like this.
EGG FREE, DAIRY FREE + VEGAN OPTION: Use coconut oil or stick-style vegan butter (this is my favorite!) instead of the unsalted butter.
DOUBLING: This recipe is easily doubled!
{gluten free, dairy free, egg free, vegan, clean eating, low fat}
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?I'd love to hear what you think of it in a comment below! If you take a picture, tag @amys.healthy.baking on Instagram or use the hashtag #amyshealthybaking.
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡Healthy One-Bowl Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (egg free & dairy free too!)
♡Healthy One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies (egg free & dairy free too!)
♡Healthy One-Bowl Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (egg free & dairy free too!)
♡Healthy One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Almond Butter Cookie Bars (egg free & dairy free too!)
♡Healthy One-Bowl Fudgy Chocolate Chip Brownies (egg free & dairy free too!)
♡Healthy Practically Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies (egg free & dairy free too!)
♡Healthy One-Bowl Fudgy Chocolate Chunk Brownies
♡Healthy One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes
♡…and the rest of Amy’s healthy cookie recipes and healthy one-bowl recipes!
