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 just baked these and they are really good! 🙂
Thanks Jessica; I’m so happy you enjoyed them! 🙂
Fantastic recipe. Thanks. Just finished making & have already eaten 6. What a way to spend a rainy day.
That’s the biggest compliment Henry — I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies! 🙂
I’m so excited to make these! I bake mostly for myself, so I’m curious about freezing either the cookie dough or the cookies after they’re baked. Do you think they would turn out well either way?
I’m not entirely certain because I haven’t tried it myself, but I think either should work. If you freeze the raw dough, I definitely recommend flattening it before you freeze it. The cookies won’t spread at all while they bake, so you’d end up with pretty spherical cookies otherwise! 😉 As for freezing the cookies after they’re baked, that might be my personal preference. Much quicker to thaw and eat! I really hope you enjoy them Mandy!
Made these tonight and they turned out fantastic! This is definitely going to be my new go to recipe!
– Caitlyn @ http://alottlebitofpink.blogspot.com
That’s such a huge compliment Caitlyn — I’m so happy you liked the cookies! 🙂
Oh dear. I made these this evening because my son is type 1 diabetic. They never flattened out in the oven. I also substituted the brown sugar for Splenda’s Brown Sugar blend. They came out tasting great but disappointed with their shape. I’m wondering if I should just stir in softened butter instead of melted?
I’m so sorry about that Anna; it must have been really discouraging. Once you chill the cookie dough, it doesn’t flatten in the oven; it doesn’t have to do with melted vs. softened butter. If you want the cookies to be wider and thinner instead of thick, skip the chilling step. You’ll still have to flatten the dough balls a little, but not quite as much as if you’d chilled them. (The dough will be much stickier without chilling, so you may want to use a spoon or spatula to shape them instead of your hands!) I also don’t know whether the Splenda blend prevented the cookies from spreading as well, but since your son is diabetic, I wouldn’t want to risk his health and have you use regular brown sugar! 🙂 Hopefully skipping the chilling step helps and your next batch turns out perfectly!
These were fabulous–thank you! I was hesitant that they would be too flat with the melted butter, but they were beautiful. They taste more like cookie dough, that a crunchy chocolate chip cookie, but to me that makes them even better!!
I’m so happy you enjoyed the cookies Zoe! I’m a huge fan of cookie dough and extra soft cookies, so it’s wonderful that you liked them better this way! 🙂
I BAKED A HUGE BATCH OF DISAPPOINTMENT WITH THIS RECIPE. I expected soft, chewy, light cookies. I got dense, cakey, and flavorless cookies. I followed this recipe 110%. The batter tasted pretty good which is usually a good sign. I chilled them for 4 hours, placed them on a cookie sheet and baked for 10 minutes at 350. The cookies did not spread at all. I’m very disappointed with this recipe because the pictures looked amazing.
I’m very sorry the cookies didn’t turn out the way you expected; that must have been a true disappointment. Low-fat cookies generally do not spread after chilling because they contain a lot less butter, so it’s really important to flatten them to the thickness you’d like before popping the baking sheet in the oven. If they were cakey, it sounds as if they cookie dough contained a bit too much flour. How did you measure it? I’ve found that if I scoop the flour out of the container instead of lightly spooning it into the measuring cups and leveling with a knife, I get 1.5 times as much, which always dries out my cookies and leaves them cakey or crumbly. I hope these tips help so your next batch turns out perfectly!
I was wondering if I can make these into balls and freeze them. We give all new people that come to our church a plate of homemade cookies on their first visit. I need to make 6 plates with a dozen cookies on them for a whole month. I was thinking of using this recipe and the rainbow sprinkle recipe but would like to do all mixing on one day and then freeze so that I can throw them in oven on Saturday night so everyone has fresh cookies on Sunday morning. I know you can freeze most cookies but didn’t know if it would be possible with these.
That’s so kind and thoughtful of you to make cookies for all of the new church members Amy! The thing about low-fat cookie dough (in general) is that it doesn’t spread while baking after chilling in the fridge or freezer, so I’d probably recommend freezing it after you’ve rolled out and flattened the balls of cookie dough. That way your new members don’t get thick cookie balls instead of nice flat cookies! 😉 I hope everyone enjoys them!