The year after I graduated from college, I stood in my kitchen with the recipe for these fudgy triple chocolate cookies in front of me, preparing to bake them as Christmas gifts. I pulled out my mixing bowls and the ingredients, and I started playing festive holiday music in the background on my laptop.
I sang along with the carols as I measured and whisked together the flour and cocoa powder, but when I went to melt the butter, a brilliant gift idea for someone in my family popped into my head. Without a pen or pencil handy, I repeated the thought over and over in my head so I wouldn’t forget it…
But that meant I completely lost track of what recipe step I was on, so I added the flour mixture to the melted butter before stirring in the sugar. Five seconds later, I realized that baking truly is just like math… The order of operations really matters!
Sugar dissolves in melted butter, which creates more “liquid” in your mixing bowl. When you add the flour after the sugar, there’s enough “liquid” in the bowl to incorporate all of the flour (and cocoa powder, in that particular recipe!). However, if you add the flour first… You end up with an incredibly dry and crumbly mess. And adding the sugar after doesn’t help one bit. Oops.
Although I had to start all over with that particular batch of cookies, I’ve never forgotten the order of {baking} operations I learned that day… And that comes in really handy when making one-bowl baking recipes, like these Healthy One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Cookies!
If you remember to follow the order of ingredient additions (like I always do now!), then you’ll end up with supremely soft and chewy cookies that taste just as sweet and buttery as traditional cookie recipes. Yet these healthy one-bowl chocolate chip cookies contain no eggs, refined flour or sugar—and only 100 calories!
One bowl, minimal clean up, perfectly chewy low-calorie cookies… Definitely the best kind of recipe! Life doesn’t get much better than this! ?
Let’s go over how to make these healthy one-bowl chocolate chip cookies!
The first ingredient you’ll add to your bowl is melted butter (or melted coconut oil!). I prefer melted butter for two reasons: (a) I don’t need to remember to set out the butter to properly soften and (b) melted butter creates more soft and chewy cookies. Since that’s the way I prefer my healthy chocolate chip cookies, extremely soft and chewy, I definitely love the melted butter trick!
Next you’ll add a bit of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, vanilla extract, and salt. Any milk will work, but since some of my family members are lactose-intolerant, I used almond milk so they could eat these healthy one-bowl chocolate chip cookies, too.
The vanilla extract is actually a semi-secret ingredient! This is because you’ll add slightly more vanilla extract to your cookie dough compared to traditional recipes. Vanilla extract enhances butter’s rich flavor, so adding a little extra makes your healthy one-bowl chocolate chip cookies taste just as rich and buttery as traditional recipes!
After you’ve whisked those together, you’ll stir in coconut sugar (like this!). Coconut sugar is exactly what it sounds like: an unrefined sweetener that comes from coconuts! However, it does not actually taste like coconuts. It has a rich caramel-like flavor, similar to brown sugar, but it pours like granulated sugar. It works really well in baking recipes like these healthy one-bowl chocolate chip cookies (plus cinnamon rolls and brownies too!).
Since you’ve now mixed in the coconut sugar (remember from my cookie disaster story how important that is?), it’s time to add in the white whole wheat flour (this kind!) and baking soda. By waiting until now, you’ll definitely end up with the correct cookie dough texture—and therefore supremely soft and chewy healthy one-bowl chocolate chip cookies!
White whole wheat flour isn’t actually a combination of white (aka all-purpose) flour and regular whole wheat flour! It’s made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat (hence the name!), whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. They have the same healthy benefits, but this gives white whole wheat flour a lighter taste and texture… And that lets the soft and chewy texture of your healthy one-bowl chocolate chip cookies truly shine!
Time for the chocolate chips! You’ll mix in both dark chocolate chips (these taste delicious!) and mini chocolate chips (these are my favorite!). I love combining the two! The regular-sized dark chocolate chips add a big burst of melty chocolate, while the mini ones ensure that every bite contains a bit of chocolate. Yum!
One last thing! Chilling is mandatory for this healthy one-bowl chocolate chip cookie recipe. The cookie dough should be very loose and sticky when you first mix it together. If you tried to bake it right away, you’d end up with one gigantic cookie blob on your baking sheet! Chilling stiffens the cookie dough, so it’s easier to work with and your cookies spread the proper amount.
And as soon as your timer dings…
Try not to burn your tongue when you eat one fresh from the oven! ? 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 one-bowl chocolate chip cookies!
| Healthy One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Cookies | | Print |
- 2 tbsp (28g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted
- 3 tbsp (45mL) unsweetened vanilla almond milk, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup (96g) coconut sugar
- 1 cup (120g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp (28g) dark chocolate chips
- 1 tbsp (14g) miniature chocolate chips, divided
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, milk, vanilla, and salt. Stir in the coconut sugar. Add the flour mixture, and sprinkle the baking soda over the flour. Stir in the flour and baking soda just until incorporated. Fold in the dark chocolate chips and ½ tablespoon of miniature chocolate chips. Chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Drop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet using a spoon and a spatula. Slightly flatten using a spatula. (The cookies should spread some if there isn’t too much flour in the dough!) Gently press the remaining miniature chocolate chips into the tops. Bake at 350°F for 9-12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Any milk may be substituted for the unsweetened vanilla almond milk.
Light brown sugar may be substituted for the coconut sugar.
It’s extremely important to measure the flour correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own and love!) Too much flour will make your cookies turn out cakey or dry, instead of soft and chewy.
Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour. Oat flour will also work, but be extra careful when measuring it!
For the gluten-free option, I recommend the following: ¼ cup (30g) millet flour, ¼ cup (30g) tapioca flour, 3 tablespoons (21g) coconut flour, and ½ teaspoon xanthan gum. Many store-bought gluten-free flour blends (like this one!) will work as well, if measured like this.
This recipe is easily doubled!
{gluten-free, clean eating, vegan, low fat}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy One-Bowl Fudgy Brownies
♡ Healthy Practically Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookies
♡ Healthy Practically Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
♡ Healthy One-Bowl Fudgy Chocolate Chunk Brownies
♡ Healthy Chocolate Chip Scones (another one-bowl recipe!)
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy cookie recipes!
Thanks to your detailed tips, the cookies turned out picture-perfect! (My first batch came out a little flat, but I think I may not have chilled the dough long enough, or perhaps flattened the cookies a bit too much–or maybe it was the different type of baking sheet, who knows. Anyway, the second batch couldn’t be improved!)
Amazing there’s no egg in the recipe, but it works well! My only remaining wish to make this recipe utterly perfect is to figure out how to use honey or better yet stevia instead of sugar.
Thanks for taking the time to ensure our success with your tips!
I’m so glad you loved these cookies Chris! That really means the world to me that you’d call this recipe perfect — I’m so honored! 🙂 I actually have a similar chocolate chip cookie recipe that’s sweetened with a combination of honey and stevia here. I’d love to hear what you think if you decide to try making those cookies too!
I made a batch of these Healthy One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Cookies today. They aren’t bad, not bad at all! I will make them again. I like that they make a small batch. I used butter, unsweetened almond milk with no vanilla flavor added, whole wheat flour instead of white whole wheat flour and dark chocolate chips all the way around. I weighed all dry ingredients and used a silicon mat on a cookie sheet. Next time I will chill dough for a longer time as it become quite sticky as I quickly rolled and weighed out equal portions of cookie dough. Every chocolate chip cookie recipe I make I wind up comparing to the Gold Standard, Nestle Tollhouse. Obviously the Healthy One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Cookies are a completely different type of cookie and recipe slanting off in the “healthful” direction, so a direct comparison isn’t appropriate, but they hold their own. I will mention the calories are just about the same for each recipe if you divide the Tollhouse recipe into 48 cookies. Tollhouse = 115 vs Amy’s = 100 calories.
I’m glad you enjoyed these cookies Mark! That means a lot to me that you’d consider making them again. 🙂 Your cookie dough was actually the right consistency — I never roll it out because it’s much too sticky! Instead, I use a spoon and spatula, just like I directed in the Instructions. (If this cookie dough is too stiff, then it doesn’t spread at all while baking!)
Amy this recipe rocks!!! I’ve been making it back to back for weeks now, my family (and mostly I) just can’t have enough of it. Astonishing that it is so much lighter and healthier than the classic recipe and still soooo good! I am mixing oat flour with wholewheat and using dark chocolate chunks instead of chips.
And as soon as I take the tray out of the oven I lightly squish each cookie with 2 spoons facing each other, rendering the cookies thicker and crinklier, which is the secret for softer, chewier cookies that will stay that way (found that trick on some blog and been doing it ever since, life changing! So thought I’d share).
One question though, if I were to use 70g of sugar instead of 90g to make it a bit less sweet, what else should I be changing to keep the same consistency?
Thanks again for an awesome recipe!
I’m so glad you love these cookies Marina! That truly means the world to me that you’ve made them so many times. You just made my entire day — that’s the best compliment ever!! 🙂 If you wanted to use less sugar, then you’ll need to increase the milk a bit to get the same cookie dough consistency (I’m guessing just a few teaspoons should do it!). The cookies may turn out slightly cakier, rather than quite as soft and chewy, because of the added liquid… But without it, the cookie dough will be a bit dry. I’d love to hear what you think of that lower sugar batch, and thanks for sharing your spoons trick too! So fun!
These were amazing cookies, my kids ate the entire batch which says a lot because I usually can’t fool them with healthy cookies!What made your cookies so light colored? The dough was darker for mine, not that it matters I was just curious
I’m so glad you and your kids enjoyed these cookies Andrea! That means a lot to me! 🙂 Certain brands of coconut sugar can be darker in color, so that’s probably why your batch looked so dark!
hi Amy, i have a question but i want to first thank you for sharing your Healthy One-Bowl Chocolate Chip Cookies! and again, as other viewers mentioned, thanks for your awesome details, they make a big difference! my question: i’m probably going to use the Old Mill 1 to 1 gluten free baking flour (i do have Celiac), do you think it be ok if i added handful… 1/4 c. walnuts ? or do you have any of your “awesome details” stuffed away that you could help me with adding these? THANKS AGAIN 🙂 Lori Arnold, Perry Hall, MD
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Lori! It truly means a lot to me that you find my tips and details helpful. Thank you for taking the time to let me know! 🙂 Yes, I think it should be fine if you add ¼ cup of walnut pieces! I don’t know that I’d add too much more… Because too large of a mix-ins to cookie dough ratio can prevent your cookies from holding together. (Does that make sense?) To ensure your cookies bake evenly, I’d also recommend cutting the walnuts to be no larger than the size of the chocolate chips. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear how your gluten-free walnut version turns out!
Can I make these cookies without any sugar at all?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Brin! Unfortunately, that won’t work. The sugar is required for both taste and texture. Without it, your cookies would taste like bread, and the cookie dough wouldn’t even hold together at all. I’d love to hear what you think of these cookies if you decide to try making them! 🙂