Healthy-ish Chocolate Cookies

Baking cookies is one of the simplest yet incredibly satisfying activities, and I’ve got the perfect recipe for you guys to try out this weekend. The recipe is for a batch of delicious yet healthy chocolate cookies. These chocolate cookies are large, soft on the inside, and instantly melt in your mouth.

Cookies are delicious, but they can also be a little unhealthy with all of the butter and sugar that goes into it. Considering the scarce grocery store shelves during the ongoing pandemic and giving healthy-ish desserts a shot, I jotted down this recipe for you people that love chocolate but don’t want to consume the high amounts of butter and sugar.

This recipe for chocolate cookies calls for no butter or sugar, well, very little sugar. The texture of these cookies is on the crumbly side; they are giant and kind of dense as well.

Instead, you’ll be needing a type of clarified butter, aka ghee and some powdered jaggery for this recipe. I’m sure every Indian household has these two ingredients. Apart from that, I know not everyone has cocoa powder or chocolate in their pantry, but that’s okay. This cookie recipe is incredibly adaptable; you can make substitutions with your eyes closed. Although I wouldn’t recommend baking with your eyes closed, it could be disastrous.

Let us now know what goes into my healthy-ish chocolate cookies!

What’s in these chocolate cookies?

I tried replacing as many ingredients as I could with much healthier substitutions. I used ghee instead of butter, jaggery instead of sugar and whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour.

Talking about ghee, it’s not too different from butter. Both have similar calories, but ghee has a higher amount of fat since it contains no milk solids. The lack of milk masses allows ghee to remain solid at room temperature and requires no refrigeration, unlike butter. Ghee is 100% a better choice for people who are lactose intolerant.

Now, moving onto jaggery, which is undoubtedly far healthier than refined white sugar and even brown sugar. Jaggery is super nutritious and rich in vitamins and minerals, such as iron. And since it doesn’t undergo strenuous processing, jaggery is almost 50 times better than refined sugar. For this recipe, I’ve used very little refined white sugar, just to give the cookie some crispness.

And of course, while all-purpose flour is excellent for baking, it can increase your bad cholesterol if consumed regularly. But, whole wheat flour has more fiber, protein, and minerals; basically, it is healthier.

The next ingredient is chocolate. Since this is a recipe for chocolate cookies, you will need chocolate. The cookie dough calls for natural cocoa powder, and I fold in some milk chocolate chunks for an extra flavor element. Now, in case you do not have cocoa powder, feel free to leave it out. And for the chocolate chunks, you can use any variety of add-on that you like, dark chocolate, dry fruits, nuts, and so on.

I also add chemical leavening agents: baking soda and baking powder to the cookies to make them lighter. The recipe also calls for some arrowroot powder, which helps tenderize the texture. You can also use cornstarch instead of arrowroot powder.

Finally, the binding agent in these cookies is a flax egg. A flax egg is just ground flax seeds mixed with some water. It becomes gelatinous and gooey just like an egg while giving the cookies an underlying nutty flavor.

With the ingredients all understood, let us see what equipment you need to make these healthy-ish chocolate cookies.

Equipment

My recipe for these chocolate cookies does not need any special equipment. You only require a large mixing bowl, a whisk, and a spatula. I use an ice cream scoop to measure the cookies, but you can feel free to eyeball them.

These cookies are crumbly and kind-of dense, which means the cookie dough will also be a little firm. Which is why, at a certain point during mixing, I like to get in there with my hands and form the cookie dough.

Lastly, you will also need a baking tray and parchment paper, but the parchment is optional.

Here is every piece of equipment needed to make the healthy-ish chocolate cookies:

• Large mixing bowl

• A wire whisk

• A rubber spatula

• Ice cream scoop

• A baking tray

• Parchment paper

The Recipe For Healthy-ish Chocolate Cookies

Time: 30 minutes

Yields: 10 four-inch diameter cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon powdered flaxseed

• 3 tablespoons room temperature water

• 150 grams (¾ cup) room temperature ghee (solidified not melted)

• 40 grams (3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon) granulated white sugar

• 130 grams (¾ cup) jaggery powder

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 150 grams (1 ¼ cup) whole wheat flour

• 50 grams (⅓ cup) all-purpose flour

• 50 grams (⅓ cup) cocoa powder

• ¼ teaspoon baking soda

• ¾ teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon arrowroot powder or cornstarch

• ¼ teaspoon fine table salt

• 120 grams (1 cup) chopped milk chocolate chunks

METHOD

• Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and line a baking sheet.

• Mix the ground flaxseed and water and let it sit for 5 minutes.

• Meanwhile, in a separate mixing bowl, add the ghee, sugar, and jaggery. Whisk for at least 3 minutes until everything is combined well.

• Add in the vanilla extract and whisk once more. Now, add the flaxseed mixture and give it another whisk to incorporate everything.

• Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and cornstarch. Add the salt.

• Fold it in gently with a rubber spatula. The dough should have become hard to work with a spatula by this point, continue mixing the dough with clean hands. Do not over-mix the dough, stop when everything is incorporated.

• Next, add the chopped milk chocolate and fold it in.

• Using an ice cream scoop or a ¼ cup measure, scoop out cookie dough onto the prepared baking tray. Leave about an inch or two between each cookie. Flatten the cookie with your fingers, press it together if it breaks.

• Bake for 13-15 minutes in the preheated oven at 180°C.

Notes

In case you do not have cocoa powder, you can leave it out but it won't be a chocolate cookie. Don't replace it with melted chocolate.

If you’d like a crisper and thinner cookie, reduce the amount of flour by ¼ cup.

And, those were my healthy-ish chocolate cookies. I hope you guys try these out and if you do, comment below or share it with me on Instagram or Facebook!

#cookies #chocolatecookies #dessertsandpastries