Despite the porcelain Peter Rabbit cookie jar prominently displayed on our kitchen countertop, Mom only preheated the oven once every month or two to fill it with homemade treats. Instead, she dropped Little Debbie chocolate snack cakes or oatmeal cream pies into our insulated lunch boxes for our desserts at school. But on the rare occasions she plugging in the handheld electric mixer to cream butter and sugar, she always turned to the Nestle chocolate chip bag as her recipe.
My younger brother and I anxiously hovered in the kitchen, pleading to help place spoonfuls of dough onto the stained baking sheets. We needed to supervise the bowl as she scraped and shaped. Make sure to leave some for us, Mommy!
Sitting cross-legged on the tile floor, I drew a line down the center of the wide metallic mixing bowl. I smooshed my finger around my half in straight lines to get my fair share of the “leftover” cookie dough, while my brother haphazardly scraped his side in squiggles and circles. Mom generally pretended to forget about a couple of chocolate chips in the bowl too, and we divided those evenly, sneaking an extra one from the bag if necessary to even our shares.
When the timer dinged and Mom granted us permission, we grabbed a warm cookie from the cooling rack and sank our teeth into the soft dough. Melted chocolate oozed across our fingertips, which we happily sucked off before reaching for more.
Eight years later, as a high school freshman in Health Class, I stared at the Food Pyramid as I soaked up the teacher’s lecture. Less sugar… Lower fat… Sweets in moderation… That afternoon, I eliminated the Tollhouse recipe from my repertoire and vowed to bake only healthier low-fat cookies.
In the ensuing decade, I realized one fatal flaw: most low-fat cookies didn’t feel right. With proper ingredient ratios, they could taste as rich and sinful as their indulgent counterparts, but their texture fell closer to that of a cake-like muffin than a soft and chewy cookie.
So 2 months ago, I challenged myself to create the ultimate healthy soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie. After 7 different batches, my 10 taste testers agreed: this is it!
I started with the butter because it was the biggest obstacle in developing a healthy chocolate chip cookie recipe. After countless tweaks, I noticed a trend. To achieve a chewy texture, the cookies needed a minimum of 18% of their calories to come from butter (or margarine). Anything less resulted in a bready muffin texture. Six tablespoons for 2 dozen cookies provided the perfect amount of chew.
To further increase their chewiness, I used melted butter. This means you can stir the cookie dough together with a spoon. No electric mixer required (and one less thing to wash)!
Although other bakers and bloggers proclaim that extra egg yolks also increase cookies’ chewiness, I completely eliminated them and just added egg whites to lower the fat and cholesterol. Don’t worry, the cookies will still be chewy! We started with the perfect amount of melted butter, remember?
Make sure your egg whites are at room temperature! If still cold from the fridge, they’ll chill the melted butter and partially turn it back into a lumpy solid. Not good! To warm up your egg whites the easy way, place the entire egg in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes while measuring the dry ingredients.
I also mixed in a touch of skim milk to increase the moisture and better balance the liquid-to-dry-ingredient ratio. Feel free to substitute whatever you usually store in your fridge: 1%, 2% whole, rice, almond, soy… We want to keep these cookies simple so you don’t need to buy any strange new ingredients!
We’re going to add more vanilla than most recipes require. Extra vanilla mimics a buttery flavor, without the excess fat and calories. You’ll need 4 teaspoons for these healthy cookies.
While the Tollhouse cookies call for half white and half brown sugar, I opted for all brown. Brown sugar increases the moisture and chewiness of these skinny chocolate chip cookies and also adds a subtle hint of caramel. Yum! Either light or dark brown sugar will work.
As you probably predicted, I reached for regular all-purpose flour for this recipe. It is imperative that you measure the flour correctly (see here for details). Adding too much results in dry, crumbly, muffin cookies instead of the extra soft, extra chewy ones we want. Sprinkle in a little salt for flavor, and you’re all set!
As for leaveners, I selected baking powder. Some recipes list baking soda as well, but I omitted it for 2 reasons: (a) to simplify the ingredients list and (b) the cookies lack a good acid source to activate it. (Baking powder = baking soda + added acid. Yes, I’m still a chemistry geek at heart!)
I also stirred in cornstarch. Cornstarch helps the cookies stay thick and moist. It sounds strange, but it’s been my secret weapon for many of my cookie recipes! (See here, here, here, here, and here.)
Finally the most important part: the chocolate chips! My tongue dances and my eye roll back in my head a bit every time my teeth hit a large gooey chunk of melted chocolate, whereas disappointment sinks in on the bites without. To counteract the latter, I measured out regular semisweet chocolate chips for the big burst as well as minis to ensure every bite contained some chocolate. Most taste testers agreed that they preferred a 2:1 regular-to-mini chip ratio.
To mix up the dough, simply whisk together the dry ingredients, stir the wet ones in a separate bowl, combine the two, and fold in the chocolate chips. So easy! I usually reserve about half of the mini chocolate chips to press into the tops of the dough just before baking as a pretty finishing touch. They look so tempting—they’re practically begging you to eat one!
Before popping in the oven to bake, you must chill the dough. Chilling is mandatory for thick cookies. Try to refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes. I prefer chilling mine for 4 hours, but I know that’s a struggle with out-of-control cookie cravings!
These lightened chocolate chip cookies require barely any time to bake—just 10-12 minutes. They will look and feel slightly underdone, but they’ll continue to cook while sitting on the warm baking sheet.
Whew, that was a lot of information! Here’s a quick recap of the key components of the Ultimate Soft and Chewy Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies:
»» less butter, and melted for chewiness
»» more vanilla for buttery flavor
»» brown sugar for moisture and chew
»» cornstarch for softness and thickness
»» regular and mini chips for more chocolate throughout
»» chilling for thickness
»» baking 10-12 minutes for softness
Ready for a tall glass of milk and a big stack of cookies?
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 cookies and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
Psst… My newly released Healthier Chocolate Treats cookbook is full of sweet and healthy recipes like these chocolate chip cookies! Learn more and buy your copy here!
| The Ultimate Healthy Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies | | Print |
- 2 cups (240g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp cornstarch
- ¼ tsp salt
- 6 tbsp (84g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slighlty
- 2 egg whites, at room temperature
- 1 tbsp (15mL) skim milk
- 4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (192g) coconut sugar or light brown sugar
- ¼ cup (56g) regular chocolate chips
- 2 tbsp (28g) miniature chocolate chips, divided
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cornstarch, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter and egg whites until small bubbles form (about 15-30 seconds). Whisk in the milk and vanilla extract. Stir in the brown sugar, smearing out any clumps along the side of the bowl. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in the regular chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon of mini chocolate chips. Cover the top with plastic wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes. (See Notes.)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- Drop the cookie dough into 24 balls onto the prepared baking sheets. Flatten slightly to about ¾” thick. Press the remaining mini chocolate chips into the top of each. Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to sit on the warm baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Do NOT overbake these cookies! After 10-12 minutes in the oven, they’ll still look and feel slightly underdone, but they’ll continue to bake and set on the warm baking sheet for the 10 minutes after.
For a vegan version, use coconut oil or margarine in place of the butter, 1 tablespoon Ener-G + ¼ cup warm water in place of the egg whites, and non-dairy milk in place of the skim milk.
For a gluten-free version, see this recipe of mine.
Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted in place of the white whole wheat flour.
It's extremely important to measure the flour correctly, using the method outlined in the links above or a kitchen scale. (I highly recommend a kitchen scale! This is the one I own, and it has been the best $20 I’ve ever spent. I swear by it!) Too much flour will make your cookie dough dry and your cookies turn out cakey or crumbly.
For a more decadent treat, I highly recommend using these dark chocolate chips in place of the regular chocolate chips!
{gluten-free, clean eating, vegan option, low fat}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
Hi Amy, these are next on my list… can I make them ahead of time and freeze the cookies?
Definitely! These cookies freeze really well after they’ve been baked. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear how they turn out!
They turned out excellent! Thank you for the recipe!
That makes me so happy to hear Mira!! 🙂
The dough is not doughy. More dry like a paste. Reminds me of malt o meal with not enough milk. We will see how this goes. Side note I used coconut sugar and coconut flour. May be the issue
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Christina! Unfortunately, the coconut flour is definitely the issue. It’s about 3X as absorbent as any other flour, so it won’t work in this recipe because it immediately dries out this cookie dough… As you’ve probably noticed. 🙁 If you’re trying to keep these cookies lower carb, use almond flour instead! That should still achieve the correct cookie dough consistency. 🙂
Will I be able to substitute around 1/4 (or more) of AP flour with a tbsp or two of coconut flour? I know coconut flour absorbs well and so less is required, aka lower calories. If making the substitute, should I also add a tbsp more milk? Those cookies look delicious, by the way! Can’t wait to try them!
Thanks for your kind words Debra! You probably could, although I can’t personally vouch that it’ll work. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookies if you try them!
Hi Amy- I apologize if you answered this already… but I made these for our house a month or so ago and we loved them so much that we (ok, I… lol) decided these were going to be our holiday treats for first responders (our HOA collects baked goods to deliver to first responders for Christmas)… so a couple of weeks ago I whipped up 10 dozen and did everything but bake them before popping them in our deep freezer. My question is, should I thaw them first- or just put them straight in the oven? Also- should I adjust the cooking time? (On another side note- my stepdaughter and I will be baking your sugar cookies this weekend for a cookie competition at my work on Tuesday). Lots of baking in our house this weekend.
I’m truly honored that you wanted to make these for the first responders Brooke! Unfortunately, the frozen dough doesn’t bake as well as when it’s fresh. In the future, it’s better to bake your cookies and then freeze after instead! 🙂 Did you simply roll your cookie dough into balls before freezing, or did you roll and flatten them before freezing?
Bummer I knew I should have asked first! I flattened them slightly before freezing.
Okay! It does help that you flattened them before freezing. The frozen cookie dough usually doesn’t spread at all while baking, which is the main reason why I always recommend to freeze the baked cookies rather than the raw dough. 🙂
Ok great! Well I did make 2 dozen extra for us and I just had one… while it doesn’t look as pretty as before… it tastes just as good! Thank you so much Amy for providing those of us who love to bake with such amazing and healthy recipes!!!
Yay!! I’m glad they still tasted good! 🙂 It’s my pleasure, Brooke!!
Hi Amy! So I baked these for our Battle of the Businesses Bake Off for Special Olympics and our bowling league’s potluck.. I did this when I had time last week, and since neither event is until end of this week and beginning of next, I froze them (after baking). What is the best way to thaw them out? They do not need to be warmed by any means. (Oh and the carrot cake cupcakes I made back at the end of January hadn’t been used yet (they’ve been in the freezer as well)- are they still good? I’m thinking of bringing them to the battle bake off too).
I’m honored that you’re using two of my recipes for your potluck, Brooke! That means so much to me! 🙂 For these cookies, there are two different thawing methods. I use the first when I want to eat the cookies ASAP, and I use the second if that’s not the case… So I’m guessing the second method will be better for you, but I wanted to give you both just in case! For the first method, I microwave the cookies on 30% power until they’re fully thawed (and usually a little bit warm because I want to eat them ASAP and love melty chocolate chips!). I usually thaw individual cookies for about 20-30 seconds, so it’ll probably take more time than that if you’re thawing an entire batch. Remember to put them on a microwave-safe plate! For the second method, put your airtight containers in the refrigerator, and put a paper towel in between the cookies if they’re stacked on top of each other to soak up any ice crystals as they melt. Does that make sense? 🙂
Hi!! I was wondering if it would work as well if I used stevia or maple syrup as the sweetener? 🙂
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Elizabeth! Maple syrup will not work because it adds too much liquid to the cookie dough. If you have a stevia product that measures cup-for-cup like granulated sugar, that might work… But the texture may be slightly different because stevia doesn’t bake/caramelize exactly like brown or coconut sugar. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try these cookies!
Just made these, Amy! Didn’t have coconut sugar so I substituted for half a cup of honey, eliminated the milk, and added an extra half a tablespoon of flour! Came out soooo delicious!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies Ameena! Thanks for sharing your recipe modifications — I always love to hear what tweaks work! 🙂
Hi Amy,
I’m trying to make chocolate chip cookies with splenda (white sugar replacement) and truvia (brown sugar replacement) to replace the sugars. I’ve made really good cookies in the past following this recipe “https://www.reddit.com/r/Morganeisenberg/comments/7jrydp/the_best_chewy_cafestyle_chocolate_chip_cookies/”.
I never knew that sugar does more than just affecting the taste. My cookies didn’t spread as much and the texture was a bit cakey and crumbly. Do you know a good way to get cookies to spread more using these substitutes?
Thanks
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Ismail! You’re correct — sugar does a lot more than just provide sweetness! It turns out that Splenda doesn’t add nearly as much volume to batters or doughs as regular sugar, so that’s probably why your cookies turned out cakey and crumbly. I’ve found that for every 1 cup of granulated sugar you replace with granulated Splenda, you’ll need to add 2-3 tablespoons of liquid (like milk) to your batter or dough to compensate. 🙂 I don’t have any experience with Truvia as a brown sugar replacement. It actually doesn’t sit well with my stomach, so I try to avoid it! 😉 I hope my cookie recipe turns out better for you with that tip!
I tried to make these cookies (using coconut oil and sugar) and they turned out terrible! They were not sweet, sour and very bitter 🙁 Maybe it is because I used dark chocolate instead of the chocolate chips.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Saskia! That sounds disappointing and not like how the cookies should turn out at all. I’d love to work with you to figure out what happened! Did you use coconut sugar or light brown sugar? What type of flour did you use, and how fresh was it? Did you make any modifications to the recipe besides using chopped dark chocolate instead of chocolate chips? How was the texture of the cookies — soft and chewy or something else? We’ll figure this out so your next batch turns out much better if you decide to retry this recipe! 🙂
I made this recipe into impromptu cookie bars, using maybe half a cup of white chocolate chips and a quarter cup of dark chocolate chips (it was all I had!), pressing to about half an inch thick on a parchment lined and sprayed cookie sheet, topped it with graham cracker crumbs, and baked it for about 15 minutes.
They taste just like smores blondies! Everyone loves them.
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them Abby! That sounds delicious — I love your creativity!! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Amy;
Hi,i just made your chocolate chip cookies at home and i followed the ingredients and instructions exactly and after they came out really nice and i cooled them in the cookie sheet and mom and i just had 2 cookies and they tadted kind of doughy so mom put them back in the oven for a few minutes and i just took them out of the oven
This is the first time that i made a batch of cook since i last made peanut butter cookies in the house that we used to live in which was a few years ago.The chocolate chip cookies turned out ok but i am not impressed with these cookies because they taste doughy still and i don’t know what i did wrong.
I love and enjoy making muffins than cookies.I am going to try making another one or several more of your cookie recipes.
Kim
I’m so honored that you tried one of my cookie recipes Kim! I’m happy to help you fix that doughy issue. Do you mean they tasted like there was too much flour, that they were underdone / raw, or just too soft for your liking? These cookies are meant to be very soft and chewy, not crisp or crunchy. Do you use a kitchen scale to measure the flour, or do you use measuring cups? Also, did you watch my video above the recipe, and if so, did your cookie dough seem to have the same texture at each stage of the recipe? 🙂
Amy;
Hi,i meant to type tasted but i didn’t catch my mistake.
Kim