Throughout my childhood, Mom always kept at least one or two tubs of ice cream in our freezer for my brother and me to enjoy as dessert after dinner. We usually asked for our scoops served in our plastic cereal bowls with straws built into the sides, which let us slurp up any ice cream that melted faster than we could eat it.
Mom often opted for flavors like vanilla bean and mint chocolate chip (the latter is still her favorite classic flavor!), but every once in a while, she bought cookies ’n cream or chocolate chip cookie dough for us as a special treat. When those two flavors appeared, we started asking for ice cream as an afternoon snack too… Not just as an after dinner dessert!
With those “special” flavors, I ate all of the ice cream first, carefully digging around the chunks of Oreos or cookie dough. As a little girl, I always set aside the “best” parts of my food to enjoy last, which meant I slowly savored the big chocolate cookie pieces and spheres of cookie dough once I had already spooned all of the quickly melting ice cream into my mouth.
While at the grocery store last week, I walked past a mom with her two young kids standing in front of the ice cream selection. She asked them what flavors they wanted, and of course, they picked chocolate chip cookie dough as their first choice.
My own fond childhood memories came flooding back, but in the midst of reflecting, another idea floated through my head.
What other desserts could cookie dough be added to?
Lots of ideas rushed through my mind. Frozen yogurt, truffles (I’ve already done that here!), and…
Brownies. Which resulted in these Healthy Flourless Fudgy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies, of course! They’re extremely rich and decadent, almost like oversized squares of fudge, with spheres of cookie dough liberally sprinkled throughout the batter.
Yet unlike most brownie recipes—and definitely unlike the cookie dough in store-bought ice cream!—these contain no heavy cream or refined sugar… And each brownie is just 84 calories!
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY FLOURLESS FUDGY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH BROWNIES
Let’s go over how to make these healthy fudgy flourless chocolate chip cookie dough brownies!
You’ll start by making the bits of chocolate chip cookie dough. You just need one bowl for this! In that bowl, you’ll whisk together a teensy tiny bit of melted butter, vanilla extract, liquid stevia (more on that in a moment!), milk, and salt.
That’s right… The bits of healthy chocolate chip cookie dough contain no eggs, so it’s perfectly fine to sneak a little taste test from the bowl!
Liquid stevia is what replaces the refined granulated sugar often found in traditional cookie dough and fully baked cookies. Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that contains nothing refined or artificial (aka it’s clean eating friendly!). It’s also highly concentrated—and that’s critical for these healthy chocolate chip cookie dough bits!
If you tried using pure maple syrup or honey, those would add way too much liquid to the cookie dough. It would have the consistency of muffin batter, and you wouldn’t be able to roll the cookie dough into spheres!
If you reduced the amount of pure maple syrup or honey and simply added enough to get the correct cookie dough consistency, your cookie dough bites would taste more like bread… Not nearly as sweet as true cookies!
But by using liquid stevia, which is really concentrated, you end up with perfectly sweet cookie dough bites with the correct texture and consistency. Hooray!
Hint: I buy my liquid stevia online here! That’s the best price I’ve found, and I haven’t noticed any strange aftertaste with that particular brand. You’ll also use liquid stevia in all of these recipes of mine, too!
Now you’ll add oat flour to your bowl! Oat flour is technically just really finely ground oats… But “oat powder” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. 😉 I wasn’t sure whether to call these practically flourless or plain ol’ flourless. Regardless, these healthy chocolate chip cookie dough brownies are delicious!
Hint: This is my favorite oat flour (and this as the gluten-free version!). I also show you how to make your own oat flour at home here!
Time to fold in the mini chocolate chips! Yes, they must be mini chocolate chips. (These are my current favorite!) If you used regular chocolate chips, their larger size would cause your healthy cookie dough spheres to fall apart. So if you only have regular chocolate chips (or chocolate bars!), just chop them first!
With your bowl of healthy cookie dough all mixed together, you’ll roll it into tiny spheres. You want your bits of cookie dough to be the size of peas—no larger! This (a) allows your brownies to bake evenly and (b) ensures every bite of brownie contains cookie dough.
You should end up with dozens and dozens of teensy tiny cookie dough bits!
Transfer those to a small baking sheet lined with foil, and put them in the freezer. Yes, the freezer! When you briefly freeze the healthy chocolate chip cookie dough bits while you prepare the brownie batter, it hardens them so they don’t fall apart or disintegrate when you mix them into the brownie batter later.
Super handy trick, right??
So let’s turn to that brownie batter now!
You’ll start with more powdered oats oat flour (again, practically flourless or plain ol’ flourless—you decide!) and unsweetened cocoa powder. Just regular unsweetened cocoa powder! Because you’re adding just as much cocoa powder as oat flour, your brownies already taste really rich and chocolaty without Dutched or special dark cocoa powder. (I’ve also found that those latter two options taste more dull and muted in these brownies, not nearly as indulgent and decadent as regular unsweetened cocoa powder!)
Just remember to measure the oat flour and cocoa powder correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own and love!) This is so important. Too much of either ingredient will dry out your brownies and make them crumbly, rather than exceptionally moist and fudgy. This is especially true of the oat flour because it’s so absorbent and soaks up lots of moisture from the batter! Furthermore, too much cocoa powder will make your brownies taste bitter, instead of rich and decadent.
So the moral of the story? I promise it’s worth taking the extra time to measure your oat flour and cocoa powder correctly!
Unlike traditional brownie recipes that call for a full stick of butter (or lots of oil!), you just need 1 tablespoon in this recipe. That really helps keep your healthy flourless chocolate chip cookie dough brownies low fat and low calorie!
Then to make sure they still turn out really fudgy and chewy, you’ll mix Greek yogurt into the batter. Greek yogurt is one of my all-time favorite ingredients in healthy baking! In this recipe, it adds the same moisture as extra butter or oil but for a fraction of the calories. It also gives your healthy flourless chocolate chip cookie dough brownies a protein boost!
You’ll skip the refined granulated sugar often found in traditional brownie recipes and use coconut sugar instead. 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 very similar to brown sugar, and you can often find it on the baking aisle right next to the regular sugar.
Finally, just to make sure these healthy flourless chocolate chip cookie dough brownies taste extra chocolaty, you’ll mix more mini chocolate chips into the batter. I save some to press into the top of the batter just before baking for a pretty presentation—but I’m getting ahead of myself!
You need to gently fold your partially frozen chocolate chip cookie dough bits into the batter first! Then spread the batter into your square baking pan, sprinkle those remaining mini chocolate chips on top, and slide that into the oven to bake.
Your healthy flourless chocolate chip cookie dough brownies actually don’t take too long to bake! They’re ready to come out of the oven when the edges look firm but the center still looks glossy and somewhat underdone.
The heat from the pan will continue to cook the center while you let the pan cool to room temperature on your counter. This prevents the edges from drying out, which means your entire pan of healthy flourless chocolate chip cookie dough brownies will be exceptionally chewy and fudgy!
For the best, chewiest, and fudgiest texture, you need to wait at least 6 hours after your brownies have reached room temperature to slice them into squares. Yes, it feels like torture… But they turn fudgier as they rest! If you cut into them sooner, your brownies will taste cakier. I pinky swear promise their chewy and fudgy texture is worth the wait!
I almost didn’t share any of these… But with how delicious they look (and taste!), can you blame me?? 😉 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 flourless fudgy chocolate chip cookie dough brownies!
| Healthy Flourless Fudgy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies | Print |
- for the cookie dough
- ½ tsp unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted
- ⅜ tsp vanilla extract
- ⅜ tsp liquid stevia, or adjusted to taste
- 2 tbsp + 1 tsp (35mL) nonfat milk, room temperature
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ½ cup (60g) oat flour (gluten-free if necessary and measured like this)
- ½ tbsp (7g) miniature chocolate chips
- for the brownies
- ¾ cup (90g) oat flour (gluten-free if necessary and measured like this)
- ¾ cup (60g) unsweetened cocoa powder (measured like this)
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (60g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ½ cup (96g) coconut sugar
- 6 tbsp (90mL) nonfat milk
- 2 tbsp (28g) miniature chocolate chips, divided
- Place a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper on a baking tray.
- To prepare the cookie dough, stir together the butter, vanilla extract, and liquid stevia in a small bowl. Stir in the milk and salt. Add in the oat flour, stirring until just incorporated. Gently fold in the chocolate chips.
- Working with a small amount of the mixture at a time, roll into a pea-sized sphere (no larger!). Place on the prepared baking sheet. Once all of the cookie dough has been shaped into pea-sized spheres, place the baking sheet in the freezer while preparing the brownie batter.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F, and lightly coat an 8”-square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. (Optional: Line the 8”-square baking pan with wax paper and coat it with cooking spray for easier removal of the brownies.)
- To prepare the brownies, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, egg whites, and vanilla. Stir in the Greek yogurt, mixing until no large lumps remain. Stir in the coconut sugar. Stir in the milk. Add in the flour mixture, stirring until just incorporated. Fold in 1 ½ tablespoons of miniature chocolate chips and the partially frozen cookie dough bits.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Press the remaining ½ tablespoon of miniature chocolate chips into the top. Bake at 300°F for 16-20 minutes (16 minutes yields the fudgiest brownies; 20 minutes yields slightly cakier brownies). Cool completely to room temperature in the pan, and let the brownies sit for at least 6 hours once at room temperature for the fudgiest texture before slicing and serving.
Too much oat flour and cocoa powder in the brownie batter will make your brownies dry and crumbly, rather than chewy and fudgy. Too much cocoa powder will also make your brownies taste bitter, rather than rich and chocolaty.
I highly recommend using the liquid stevia! It’s one of my favorite ingredients, and you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too! I buy mine online here because that’s the cheapest price I’ve found. For sweeter cookie dough bites, increase the liquid stevia by an additional ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon.
If you really prefer not to use the liquid stevia, then omit it and substitute pure maple syrup, honey, or agave for the milk. (The cookie dough centers won’t be quite as sweet with any of these substitutions! They’ll be closer to the sweetness level of muffins, rather than cookies.)
You must use miniature chocolate chips! Regular sized chocolate chips are too big, and they’ll make the cookie dough bits fall apart when you try to roll them into spheres. If you only have regular sized chocolate chips, then chop them first. Also, do not add more miniature chocolate chips to the cookie dough! Too many will also cause the cookie dough to fall apart when to try to shape it into spheres.
The cookie dough bits must be no larger than the size of peas. This ensures the brownies bake evenly (and that there’s a bit of cookie dough in every bite of brownie!).
White whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the oat flour.
For a non-oat-flour gluten-free option in the brownie batter, use as follows: ½ cup (60g) millet flour, 2 tablespoons (15g) brown rice flour, 2 tablespoons (15g) tapioca flour, and ½ teaspoon xanthan gum. Most store-bought gluten-free flour blends (like this one!) will work as well, if measured like this.
I don’t recommend using Dutched or special dark cocoa powder. The brownies already taste very rich and dark chocolaty without it!
If your cocoa powder is very bumpy and/or clumpy, then sift it into the mixing bowl.
Brown sugar or granulated sugar may be substituted for the coconut sugar, but the brownies will no longer be clean eating friendly.
Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.
In the brownie batter, if you’d prefer, ½ cup (120mL) of pure maple syrup, honey, or agave may be substituted for the coconut sugar and 4 tablespoons of the milk. (You still need to add those 2 final tablespoons of milk!)
The brownie edges should look firm but the center should still look somewhat glossy and underdone when you remove the pan from the oven. If the edges of your brownies begin to pull away from the edges of your pan within 10 minutes of removing them from the oven, then you’ve baked them long enough!
PRO TIP 1: For the fudgiest texture, you must wait 6+ hours after your brownies reach room temperature before slicing and serving! If you cut into them while warm, they’ll taste cakey instead of fudgy. The brownies turn fudgier the longer they rest on the counter. I promise it’s worth the wait! (If you’re running short on time, then refrigerator your pan of brownies for at least 1 hour after they’ve cooled completely to room temperature!)
PRO TIP 2: Once your brownies have fully set (after 6 hours!), then microwave individual brownies for 9-14 seconds to warm them and make the chocolate chips turn melty again! (This is my favorite way to eat them!)
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles
♡ Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Energy Bites
♡ Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough “Peanut Butter” Cups
♡ Healthy Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites
♡ Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Bars
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy fudgy brownie recipes!
If you really prefer not to use the liquid stevia, then omit it and substitute pure maple syrup, honey, or agave for the milk. Is this statement right? or should it be for the a liquid stevia
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Charlene! Yes, this statement is correct. It says that pure maple syrup, honey, or agave will be used in place of both the liquid stevia and the milk. (Omit the liquid stevia. Use pure maple syrup, honey, or agave as the sweetener instead in place of the milk.) See my blog post above for more information on why the balance of liquid ingredients is so important! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of these brownies if you make them!
What happens if I use Splenda.Vera
Why can’t I use splend
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Vera! What type of Splenda would you like to use, and which sweetener would you like to substitute it for? 🙂