Healthy Strawberry Maple Cookies

 
Just over a week ago, on the same day I needed to start packing up my entire kitchen to move, a humongous cookie craving hit mid-afternoon. I felt like the Cookie Monster… “Me want cookie—NOW!!” (Just a little less blue and furry!)

I seriously debated about walking down the street to the grocery store, but most of their bakery’s cookies taste stale by mid-morning. As a soft-and-chewy-cookie type of girl, those weren’t worth my time!  
 

 
At that moment, my guy walked into the room and asked why I looked so distraught. “Did we run out of boxes? Tape? Did you drop something heavy on your foot?” When he heard my forlorn look was all because of cookies, he could only laugh.

He suggested running over to Trader Joe’s since we both love their gingersnaps and soft-baked snickerdoodles, but… My picky side kicked in. Nothing spiced… Something fruity… Super soft and tender…

With one mixing bowl and a baking sheet still left to stick in cardboard boxes, I procrastinated on finishing packing and decided to bake my own. After spotting a bag of strawberries in the freezer (gosh you guys… I hoard frozen fruit as much as dark chocolate!), I added the rest to my cookie dough to create…
 

 
Healthy Strawberry Maple Cookies! Perfectly sweet and pure comfort food, they taste like the freshness of summer intertwined with coziness of fall. With no refined flour or sugar, they’re entirely clean-eating (plus low fat and low calorie too!), so they’re a sweet treat you can feel good indulging in!
 

 
Still on a gluten-free kick after baking this cake, these brownies, and these banana bars, I experimented with my first batch of GF cookies in almost two years. (This was my first and only GF cookie recipe… Goodness, my photography has come a long way since then!) I created my own blend of millet, brown rice, tapioca, and coconut flours, but feel free to substitute your favorite mix instead. And as always, whole wheat flour works perfectly fine too.

I’ve started using coconut oil in most of my clean eating cookies because I have a big jar in my pantry. However, after polling Facebook earlier this week, I realized most of you actually prefer butter for baking! They both work equally well, but if you do go the coconut oil route, I promise you can’t taste any coconut—just purely sweet maple syrup!
 

 
Because of the extra liquid from the maple syrup, the cookie dough is initially very tacky, so you must chill it. Chilling is mandatory! If you baked the cookies immediately after mixing up the dough, they’d spread into one massive cookie blob on the baking sheet.

Even with chilling, they’ll still spread, so if you only refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes, make sure to drop them into rounded scoops as tall as they are wide… Basically as spherical as you can make them! This reduces the chance of forming a cookie blob and ensures they end up somewhat thick, not completely paper thin, so you can actually sink your teeth into these!
 

 
Dry, overdone, or burnt cookies are practically a crime in my house, so I always slightly underbake my cookies and let them cool longer on the warm baking sheet. This allows the centers to continue cooking through without the outsides turning crisp and crunchy. They’ll stay soft for an entire week, and these ones actually developed that soft sugary thin coat on top like banana bread after it’s sat for a day.

Seriously addictive!
 

 
With their sweet berries and extra soft texture, these healthier Strawberry Maple Cookies are a chewy cookie lover’s bliss! It was practically impossible to keep my hands out of the cookie jar… I ate 5 in a single day! I’d like to chalk it up to moving stress, but…

I’m probably just a Cookie Monster at heart. 😉
 

 
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 strawberry maple cookies!

Healthy Strawberry Maple Cookies

© Amy's Healthy Baking

Yields: 15 cookies

These soft and chewy cookies always disappear in less than a day! With their sweet berries and light maple background, they’re the perfect combination of summer and fall. Store any leftovers in an airtight container on the counter for up to a week—if they last that long!

5 from 5 votes

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Ingredients 

• 1 ¼ cup (150g) whole wheat flour or gluten free* flour (measured like this)
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ⅛ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp (28g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup (120mL) pure maple syrup
• ½ cup (80g) diced strawberries (fresh or frozen & thawed slightly)

Instructions

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, egg, and vanilla. Stir in the maple syrup. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Gently fold in the strawberries. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes. (If chilling longer, cover the top of the bowl with foil.)
• Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.
• Drop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet in rounded scoops. (If the dough was only chilled for 30 minutes, make sure they’re as tall as they are wide to prevent excessive spreading.) Bake at 325°F for 13-16 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for at least 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. (If the cookies threaten to break when you try moving them, let them cool completely on the baking sheet instead.)

Notes

FLOUR ALTERNATIVES: White whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the whole wheat flour. Oat flour may also be substituted, but be very careful when measuring it because it tends to be more absorbent.

 

SWEETENER ALTERNATIVES: Honey or agave may be substituted for the pure maple syrup. Do not substitute sugar free maple syrup; it changes the texture of the cookies and makes them bready.

 

STRAWBERRIES NOTE: If using frozen and slightly thawed strawberries, chill the cookie dough for at least 1 hour to compensate for the added moisture from thawing, and make sure the mounds of cookie dough are as tall as they are wide to prevent excessive spreading.

 

GLUTEN FREE OPTION: For the gluten-free flour, I used as follows: ½ cup + 2 tablespoons millet flour (75g), ¼ cup (30g) brown rice flour, ¼ cup (30g) tapioca flour, 2 teaspoons (5g) coconut flour, and ½ teaspoon xanthan gum. Many store-bought gluten free flour blends (I like this one from Bob's Red Mill) should also work, if measured like this. Certified gluten free oat flour should work as well, but be very careful when measuring it because it tends to be more absorbent.

 

DAIRY FREE OPTION: Use the coconut oil option, or substitute stick-style vegan butter (I like Earth Balance).

 

{gluten free, dairy free, 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