Two weeks ago while perfecting my skinny vanilla mug cake recipe, I started craving the chocolate version that I posted last fall. While I enjoy a classic vanilla cupcake now and then, I’m a chocoholic at heart (that’s why I wrote a chocolate cookbook!) and need my fix on a multiple-times-a-day basis.
A tiny square of dark chocolate after breakfast, another little nibble as a mid-morning snack, a slightly bigger piece after lunch (or, even better, a small brownie or cookie!), one more morsel partway through the afternoon, and a chocolate-filled baked treat as dessert after dinner. Or at least a big chunk of my favorite dark chocolate bar.
I’m obsessed!
The day after I finished filming the vanilla mug cake video, I finally whipped up the chocolate recipe that had been on my mind for so long, but since I had waited so long to bake it, I decided to make a double serving as an extra decadent dessert. I slowly savored every bite of that warm chocolate cake as my bedtime treat… The less you let it cool, the more it tastes like a lava cake crossed with a fudgy brownie. Pure dark chocolaty bliss!
Shortly after falling asleep, I woke up feeling rather hot, which is basically unheard of for me! I have really poor circulation and constantly feel like a popsicle during the winter, even here in California while bundled up in multiple pairs of socks and scarves or buried underneath three layers of blankets in bed. But I figured it was stress or over-thinking recipe photo shoots for the blog, and I eventually nodded off again.
Because I enjoyed that double serving of my chocolate mug cake so much, I ended up making it again the following evening. (Did you see both of them on my @AmyBakesHealthy Snapchat?) It tasted just as decadent as the first, and I even ran my finger around the mug and licked it clean!
Yet I woke up feeling extremely hot in the middle of the night again, and after what felt like half an hour of lying there, I finally rolled over and pulled up the web on my iPhone. After a quick search, I quietly giggled…
It turns out that a double serving of my chocolate mug cake contained as much caffeine from the 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder as a regular cup of tea.
Whoops!
So the following day, I baked a batch of these Fudgy Triple Chocolate Cookies to get my dark chocolate fix instead! They taste just as rich and decadent as my mug cake, but they contain a lot less caffeine per serving… And those melty chips are positively irresistible!
This super easy recipe begins with white whole wheat flour. White whole wheat flour comes from a special variety of finely ground white wheat, whereas regular whole wheat flour is made from red wheat. This gives white whole wheat flour a lighter taste and texture, closer to that of all-purpose flour, but it still retains the same health benefits of whole wheat flour.
Note: Whole wheat pastry flour is a great substitute, if you prefer!
Next comes the cocoa powder. You just need the regular unsweetened kind! Because of the 2:1 ratio of flour to cocoa powder, these cookies already taste really dark, similar to 70% dark chocolate, without using Dutched or special dark cocoa powder.
However, it’s extremely important to measure the cocoa powder correctly! Too much cocoa powder will quickly dry out the dough and make the cookies crumbly. You can use the spoon and level method or a kitchen scale, but I highly recommend the latter. This is the inexpensive one that I own, and I use it for every recipe that I make for this blog because it ensures that your baked treats turn out with the perfect taste and texture every time. It’s my favorite kitchen gadget!
To keep these cookies clean eating friendly, you’ll sweeten them with coconut sugar instead of refined sugar. Coconut sugar does not actually taste like coconut! It has a very light caramel-like flavor, just like brown sugar, but it pours like granulated. You can find it on the baking aisle of most grocery stores near the other sugars, as well as online.
And now for my favorite part… The chocolate chips! You’ll use both dark chocolate chips and mini chocolate chips. These are my favorite dark chocolate chips because they’re the same size as typical semisweet chocolate chips, whereas many other brands make their dark chocolate chips much larger in size. These are my favorite mini chips because they melt really well—and their tiny size ensures that every bite contains a morsel of melty chocolate!
All we need now is a cold glass of milk!
| Fudgy Triple Chocolate Cookies | | Print |
- 1 ⅓ cups (160g) white whole wheat flour (measured like this)
- ⅔ cup (53g) unsweetened cocoa powder (measured like this)
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 tbsp (56g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (192g) coconut sugar
- 4 tbsp (56g) dark chocolate chips
- 2 tbsp (28g) miniature chocolate chips, divided
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the sugar. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in the dark chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon of miniature chocolate chips.
- Using a spoon and spatula, drop the cookie dough into 24 rounded scoops onto the prepared baking sheets, and flatten to the desired thickness and width using a spatula. Gently press the remaining miniature chocolate chips into the tops. Bake at 350°F for 9-11 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Light brown sugar may be substituted for the coconut sugar.
Semisweet chocolate chips may be substituted for the dark chocolate chips.
{clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
Oh Sorry something went terribly wrong while posting :/
SO here is What I wanted to say:
Amy these cookies are perfect, they are crispy on the outside but super fudgy on the inside 🙂 And I really appreciate that you give the ingredients not only in cups but also in grams, which makes baking really easy since in Germany kitchen scales are more common than cups 🙂
Sorry again for the confusion
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies Steffi! 🙂 And thanks for taking the time to leave a comment — that means a lot to me!!
Hello from Australia 🙂
My son asked for a chocolate cookie today so we went in search for a healthy recipe, despite the amount of sugar we picked this one. We dont use wheat so i used spelt flour and i had no coconut sugar so we used half brown sugar half pure maple syrup. This produced a very wet batter/dough but a beautiful cookie in the end, a little more cake like than brownie but still beautiful 🙂 thank you Amy
I’m so glad you and your son enjoyed these cookies Marly! That means a lot to me! 🙂 If you use all brown sugar next time, instead of half brown sugar and half maple syrup, that should result in a chewy/fudgy brownie-like texture. The extra liquid from the maple syrup is what caused the cakey texture!
Hi Amy,
i made these cookies second time now, followed the recipe precisely, and once again they turned out more like cakes not crumbly and fudgy cookies like one would expect. The dough looked perfect thoyúgh, and tasted far better than the cookies 🙁
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Patty! Let’s figure out what’s going on. 🙂 Did you measure by weight with a kitchen scale or with measuring cups? Did you make any substitutions, including those in the Notes section underneath the Instructions? These cookies aren’t going to be crunchy/crumbly — rather, they’re supposed to be chewy and fudgy! Does that make sense?
Amy, you’re the best, I love the fudgy triple chocolate brownie cookies, and so does everyone I share them with. I added chopped almonds and 3 pieces of chopped macadamia nuts on top, they look like little white buttons. I new to baking and I enjoy the aspect of chemistry and creativity.hmm, I wonder which one of Amy’s recipes I’ll try next!
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed these cookies Steve! I love the idea of adding almonds and macadamia nuts. Sounds delicious! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what recipe of mine you try next!
Question, why use baking powder and not baking soda. I’ve seen similar recipes but with baking soda, can you explain? Thank you 🙂
Baking powder is baking soda with added acid (often monocalcium phosphate and sodium aluminium sulfate). Baking soda typically needs an added acid (like lemon juice or vinegar!) in order to be activated and work properly, whereas baking powder has the acid added already, so it just needs to be mixed with liquid ingredients in order to be activated and work as a leavener. Does that make sense? 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try these cookies Stacey!
Delicious cookies. I left it 12 mn in the oven to make sure they are crunchy outside. They were soft inside. My 2 boys loved them. We finished them all the same night. I can’t wait to try your other recipes. They all look so good. Thanks Amy:)?
I’m so glad you and your boys enjoyed these cookies Farrah! That means the world to me if the entire batch disappeared in a single night — that’s the best kind of compliment! So thank you! 😉 I’m so excited to hear what recipe you decide to try next!
Hi Amy,
What would be the amount of white granulated sugar if you used that instead? I have a lot of allergies so this is what I would need to use. Your recipes all look delicious! I just found your blog and can’t wait to start trying them all!
I truly appreciate your interest in my recipes Kris! Use the same amount of granulated sugar (or brown sugar, if you can have that — it has a slightly better texture!). 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookies!
These cookies turned out perfect even though I accidentally used 2 egg whites instead of 2 whole eggs. I’m so used to your recipes using only egg whites so I didn’t even think twice about it. Oops! Well they’re yummy and fudgy anyway, also replaced some of the dark chocolate chips with white chocolate chips and that worked well too. Thanks, really love all your recipes!
I’m so glad you loved these cookies Ella! I love your idea of using some white chocolate chips too. I definitely need to remember that the next time I make a batch of these! 🙂 I’m really excited to hear what recipe you decide to try next!!
I made these, only using 1/2 cup of honey to cut down on the sweetness. They were perfect! Delicious, not overly sweet, and a perfect consistency.
Definitely a winner, thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies Carissa! Thanks for taking the time to let me know about the honey — I always love hearing what recipe tweaks work! 🙂
i made this today and i followed the recipe but they came out really dry. And the batter was really doughy.??
I’m honored that you tried my recipe Loren! That sounds disappointing and not like how these cookies should turn out at all, so I’d love to help figure out what happened. 🙂 Did you make any modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section? How did you measure the flour and cocoa powder: with a kitchen scale or measuring cups? If the latter, can you describe how you used them to measure? How long did you bake your cookies?
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but once I know your answers to all of them, I’ll have a much better idea of what happened and how to fix it!
Hi, for the modifications, I used all-purpose flour. I used measuring cups, however, used a scale for the butter. And I baked for about 12 mins. Thankyou
It’s my pleasure Loren! I’m always happy to help! 🙂 How did you use the measuring cups to measure the flour and cocoa powder? Did you dip them into your containers of either ingredient?
I did not dip, but I poured the flour and cocoa powder into the cups, then levelled it.
Thanks for sharing Loren! That’s actually the culprit. Pouring them in, just like scooping directly from the container, can result in 1.5 times as much flour as when you lightly spoon and level, and that extra flour and cocoa powder is definitely causing the issues that you’ve experienced! Since you already have a kitchen scale, I highly recommend using that to measure the flour and cocoa powder. It tends to be much more accurate than measuring cups, and it usually results in fewer dishes to wash too! 😉
Otherwise, if you’re staunchly against using your kitchen scale, then here’s what I recommend doing for measuring flour (and cocoa powder, oats, etc!): use a fork to “scoop” up flour from the container, and lightly shake the fork back and forth over the top of your measuring cup to transfer the flour into it. Once there’s a small mound of flour extending past the rim of the measuring cup, then place the flat back of a knife against the top of the measuring cup, and gently scrape it across the top to get rid of the excess flour. Never “pat” the flour down with the knife or fork, and never shake the measuring cup back and forth either. This fork method acts like a sifter (without dirtying another dish!) and guarantees you’ll add less flour to the cookie dough, so you’ll end up with soft and chewy cookies. Does that make sense? 🙂