5 Easy Recipes For Healthy Cookies You’ll Actually Want to Eat (2024)

Ah, cookies: the tempting, not-so-healthy sugary treat. There’s just something so irresistible about a warm, gooey, chocolatey, delectable piece of dough baked to perfection. Add a glass of milk, and forget it: There’s no way we can only have one.

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What’s even more challenging than only eating one, however, is tracking down healthy cookies. For many of us, the experience of eating a healthy cookie has been, well, less than exciting. What they lack in fat, sugar, and calorie content, they also tend to lack in all those things that make a delicious cookie so delicious: moisture, richness, and all-around doughyness. But it doesn’t have to be this way! We scoured the Internet and came up with five recipes for healthy cookies are both delicious and wasistline-friendly. Read on!

1. Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup flour (You can use oat, all-purpose, spelt, or gluten-free flour.)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda (not baking powder)
• up to1/3 cup chocolate chips, depending on your preference
• 2 tbsp (20g)brown sugar or coconut sugar
• 2tbspevaporated cane juice or white sugar (Omit if you have no sweet tooth)(24g)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon(12g) vegetable or coconutoil (or pre-melted margarine)
• 1-3 tablespoonsmilk of choice,as needed(feel free to switch proportions of milk and oil) (15-45g)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix your dry ingredients, then add in wet. Form cookies and bake 6-7 minutes. Take out when still underdone–they’ll continue to cook while cooling, and so you don’t want them to get hard. And if you want super-soft cookies, fridge the dough after rolling into balls. Then cook them after thedough is cold.

Yield: 7-11 cookies

Source: Chocolate Covered Katie

2. Espresso Crinkles

• 4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, divided
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 5 1/4 teaspoons canola oil
• 1 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso granules
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons light-colored corn syrup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large egg whites

Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk. Combine oil and chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat; cook until chocolate melts, stirring constantly. Add espresso granules to pan; stir until blended. Remove from heat. Pour chocolate mixture into a large bowl; cool 5 minutes. Stir in brown sugar, syrup, and vanilla. Add egg whites, stirring with a whisk. Add flour mixture to egg mixture, stirring gently just until combined. Cover; chill at least 2 hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 350°. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Dredge balls in remaining 1/2 cup powdered sugar; place balls 2 inches apart on 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until tops are cracked and almost set. Cool cookies on pan 2 minutes or until set; remove from pan. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Yield: two dozen

Source: Cooking Light

3. Flourless Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

• 1 cup all-natural chunky or smooth peanut butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• about 1/4 cup fruit preserves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a baking sheet with butter and set aside. In a mixer combine peanut butter and sugars until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add egg and baking soda and mix for another 2 minutes. The dough will be crumbly. Roll into teaspoon sized balls and make a small indentation in the center of the dough ball with your pointer finger. Fill the depression with fruit preserves. Bake for 12 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool on a baking sheet for two minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Yield: 32 small cookies

Source: Joy the Baker

4. Healthier Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add to the butter mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in the oats, raisins, sunflower seeds, coconut, and nuts and/or chocolate chips (if using). Drop the batter by rounded tablespoonsful onto an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake until golden brown, 10-12 minutes. Cool for 1 minute on sheet and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to one week. The raw dough can be formed into logs, frozen, and then baked straight from the freezer when the urge strikes.

Yield: 3-4 dozen cookies

Source: Serious Eats

5. Healthy Cream Cheese Meltaways with Lemon Glaze

Cookies:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 5 1/2 ounces)
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) block-style 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze:

• 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. To prepare cookies, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Combine 1 cup powdered sugar, butter, cheese, and vanilla in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy (about 4 minutes). Add flour mixture; stir until just combined (dough will be dry and crumbly). Shape dough into 36 (1-inch) balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes or until bottoms of cookies are lightly browned. Cool 5 minutes on pans on wire racks. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks. To prepare glaze, combine 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar and lemon juice, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Dip tops of cookies in glaze; place on wire racks. Let cookies stand for 30 minutes or until glaze is set.Yield: 3 dozen cookies

Source: Cooking Light

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