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
I’m so excited! I was at the store and I had the biggest craving for chocolate chip cookies. I’ve been trying to cut back on sweets/junk foods so I started to surf the web for some ideas. I stumbled across your recipe and immediately started buying the ingredients to make some tonight! Thank you for sharing, they sound great!
My pleasure Tessa! I really hope you enjoy these cookies. It’s wonderful that you’re trying to eat a little healthier, and good for you for sticking to your goals with all of the tempting desserts at the grocery store! It’s always really hard to pass them by, especially if they contain lots of chocolate. 😉
Ok, so I just made these and I was just wondering about how many calories are these cookies? They are soooo good, I substituted both chips for the toll house peanut butter milk chocolate mixture sooo good!!!
Thanks Thomas! Directly underneath the recipe, there’s a link to the Nutrition Information. It may be slightly different because of the PB milk chocolate mixture, but it’ll at least give you a ballpark idea! And thank you for sharing your modification too! I had no idea that the PB milk chocolate mixture existed, but with how much I love both of those flavors, I definitely need to check it out. 🙂
Super recipe! I didn’t have cornstarch, so I substituted arrowroot powder. I know, odd that I’d have that and not cornstarch. They worked great, and I bit my tongue to keep myself from telling my partner and three boys that they’re a healthy version. They’re clueless, and happy. Thanks so much. I love science.
Mary, I’m so happy you and your loved ones enjoyed the cookies! That’s smart thinking on your part to substitute arrowroot powder; I’ll have to remember that when I run out of cornstarch. As hard as it is, isn’t it fun to keep the “healthy sweets” secret sometimes? My favorite is when I get to surprise people who have never tasted my baking before (or don’t know all of my recipes are healthy) — their look of amazement is priceless!
I live in Colorado (dreaded high altitude baking) and was wondering what your recommendation for adjusting for high altitudes? I still haven’t been able to make the perfect cookie.
I’m not entirely sure Leslie. I live at sea level, so I haven’t had to bake in higher elevations. I tried researching what recipe substitutions are generally used for baking cookies, but I saw a lot of potential problems that actually contradicted themselves: “Cookies brown too quickly, cookies are underdone, cookies spread too much, cookie turn out dry…” I think what I’d recommend to start would be to only make a half batch (12 cookies) and follow the recipe as written, except skip the chilling step and drop the cookie dough into rounded scoops onto the baking sheets right after you finish mixing it. (It’ll be a little too sticky to shape, so try using a silicon spatula — the cookie dough generally doesn’t stick as much to that!) If the cookies don’t turn out exactly as you hoped, let me know and I’d be happy to make suggestions on how to improve them!
I just made these cookies, I will say they are very tasty, I like the idea of the two different size chocolate chips, but would have liked them to be a little chewier, I may have overcooked them. I will definitely try them again.
Thanks Jacky! I’m sorry they didn’t turn out as chewy as you’d like; that must have been disappointing. Let’s sort this out to make sure your next batch is perfectly chewy! 🙂 How long did you bake your first batch of the cookies? To keep them extra chewy, I’d highly recommend baking for no more than 10 minutes. You could also try skipping the chilling step and dropping the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets with spoons instead (the dough will be a little too sticky to handle). Once you explain how long you baked them, I may have other ideas to help too!
i made these cookies (unfortunately due to health reasons I had to fast, and I haven’t tried them yet) and the bottoms burned, maybe the oven temperature should be closer to 325.
Oh no, that must have been really disappointing! What kind of cookie sheets did you use? The cookies have not burned for me or other readers at 350°F, so it could potentially be your cookie sheets or that your oven runs hot. I hope they turn out better the next time!
Thanks, I could also be because my oven doesn’t distribute the heat evenly. I used aluminum cookies sheets, I assume they are the basic.
That could very well be true! You could try rotating the pan partway through and seeing if that helps. As for cookie sheets, aluminum are standard. I prefer the lighter colored ones without any rims around the sides; the darker ones tend to cook the bottoms of my baked goods a little more.
I wanted to say that I made them again today, used a different pan (a ceramic one) and they came out perfectly!!!!! Exactly like your pictures, and they are delicious, soft, chewy and moist!
I’m so happy to hear that! And it’s great to know that the pan does make a difference. I’ll definitely keep that in mind for the future! 🙂
Can I use white chocolate chips instead of regular chocolate chips?
Of course! Use a total of 6 tablespoons for the 24 cookies, and if you’d like, you can roughly chop a few tablespoons to imitate the mini chocolate chips. 🙂
Hi Amy, I’m new to your site and was interested in making this recipe…do you think I could make the cookie dough and refrigerate it one day before I actually bake it or would that be too much chilling time?
That should be fine Angie! The cookies won’t spread if chilled that long, so just make sure you flatten the dough balls before baking. (If you want them to spread a little, bake the cookie dough just after mixing it all together.) They’ll still taste the same either way though!