Better question, do you believe chocolate chip cookies can be healthy AND taste completely delicious?
On Wednesday, we shared a recipe for homemade coconut butter. We promised you a delicious treat using it and knowing how great coconut butter is at replacing traditional ingredients, we went ahead and worked on a completely vegan recipe! Having had successes with vegan almond butter cookies and peanut butter cookies, I knew the cookie category was a safe place.
You can find a lot of vegan chocolate chip cookie recipes out there. While many claim to be the chewiest or the healthiest or the best thing you’ve ever eaten, it’s easy to find fault with them if they are not your favorite kind of cookie- texture, size, flavor, whatever. I’m not going to claim anything with these, but for my first attempt at a vegan chocolate chip cookie, they are up there with my favorite recipes! I went for the gooey, soft version. As far as taste goes, they are delicious, but with a slightly unique twist.
Because I used coconut butter, it added a slight coconut sweetness. Without being overpowering, these had a hint of coconut undertones. I think the coconut butter really contributed to these cookies nice shape and dense texture though, so if you are very sensitive to coconut flavor, give it a try anyway! I personally used to hate coconut, and to me, the flavor of these cookies just resemble that sought after buttery, chocolate-y chip cookie goodness. With a healthy dose of chocolate chips and natural butter extract, these healthy cookies become as tempting as any other!
Deliciously Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies (vegan)
Print Recipe
2 Tablespoons Coconut Butter
2 Tablespoons Neutral Oil of choice (like a neutral coconut oil or grape seed oil)
2/3 cup Coconut Sugar
2 Tablespoons Xylitol
1/4 cup Applesauce
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1/2 teaspoon Natural Butter Extract
1/4 teaspoon Pink or Sea Salt
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
Heaping 1/2 cup *Sugar Free Chocolate Chips
1 cup plus 3 Tablespoons White Spelt Flour
Measure out your applesauce and allow to reach room temperature. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine your coconut butter and oil and mix well. Add the coconut sugar, xylitol and applesauce and stir to combine. Add the vanilla and butter extract, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Stir the batter to combine well. Add 1/2 cup of flour and stir to combine. Then add the chocolate chips with the remaining flour. The dough should be a tad bit sticky, but not unmanageable! Spoon out rounded teaspoons of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 8-9 minutes for extra soft cookies or 10-11 for more firm cookies.
Makes 12-15 cookies
*I’ve seen different brands of sugar free vegan chocolate chips at health food stores and online, but of course, any kind of chocolate chips will work great! You could also try using carob chips!
Based on 1 Review(s)
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ab says
hi i just wanted to thank you for trying so hard and publishing these recipes the recipes you are doing are soooooo challenging i understand this as i have been trying since 2003 to do these kind a recipes with sweeteners so thank you very much
Leslie says
I would really like to make your chocolate chip cookies with the coconut butter, but cannot find the recipe for the coconut butter. A peanut butter cup recipe comes up when I click the link. Would you be able to help me? Thank you!
Annie says
Oh no, I’m so sorry Leslie! I will work on fixing that link! In the meantime, coconut butter is made simply by mixing unsweetened coconut shreds in a food processor until completely smooth. Pour 2-3 cup of coconut shreds in your food processor and process for about 10 minutes, scraping the inside bowl every couple of minutes. You want the batter to be thick but smooth. If you have a large processor, it may be more helpful to do 4-5 cups of coconut shreds. It lasts a long time in the fridge! Hope that helps and thanks for pointing out the bad link! Hope you enjoy these cookies!
Tam says
I am one of the very few and some how very fortunate people that are allergic to coconut. (yay me. I loved cooking with it till it turned on me.) Anyway Can this recipe and any of the others that use coconut butter be made with almond butter instead?
Annie says
Oh we’re sorry to hear that!! For this recipe, almond butter could work, though you may need a tiny bit less flour. We can’t speak for every recipe where we use coconut butter, but if you let us know what other recipes you’re thinking of, we can do our best to find an appropriate substitution for the coconut. Hope these work out for you and you enjoy them.
danielle says
Just baked a batch: very nice! A little too sweet for my taste, but that’s easy to adjust!
Hayden says
I was worried about the coconut butter, but you’re right! It’s delicious!! I used extra vanilla since I didn’t have the butter extract and I didn’t have spelt so I just used white which worked fine. I am curious to try this recipe with the butter extract – I have a feeling it will be out of this world and won’t stand a chance at my house.
Dafna says
Hi,
I have two questions.
1. What is natural butter extract?
2. What can I use instead of xylitol?
Thanks!
Annie says
Hi Dafna,
We use this butter extract: http://www.amazon.com/Butter-Extract-Natural-Flavor-Blend/dp/B004XW1HO4/ref=as_sl_pd_tf_mfw?&linkCode=wey&tag=natusweerec0b-20
It’s made of natural ingredients and although it is recommended, you can do without. You can also replace the butter extract for almond extract. :)
You can replace the xylitol with erythritol or more coconut sugar. Hope you enjoy them!
Christina says
Wow! Now I have a tummy ache from eating sooooo many :) thanks for another yummy recipe.
Annie says
OH, we’re sorry for the tummy ache but are so glad you loved them!! :)
Nina says
This is the best healthy chocolate chip recipe I’ve found yet. Thanks so much!
Jessica says
I just finished a batch of these off in about an hour! I couldn’t believe they were so good and couldn’t stop eating them! Haha! So glad they are vegan!!
Annie says
I know, right!? They are addicting so it is a good thing they are vegan! Thank you for sharing what you thought of them!
Gina Sengupta says
Hi, I saw that you added a note about finding sugar-free vegan chocolate chips online and in health food stores. I would love to know the brands because I have been searching and have only found either sugar-free or vegan but not both. Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks, Gina
Annie says
Hi Gina! We like these brands, but I just realized, some may not be vegan, just dairy free. Oops…
http://www.amazon.com/Luciennes-Sugar-Free-Chocolate-Ingredients/dp/B004SNMG3E/ref=as_li_tf_mfw?&linkCode=wey&tag=natusweerec0b-20
http://www.amazon.com/Enjoy-Life-Semi-Sweet-Chocolate-10-Ounce/dp/B000HDJZWO/ref=as_li_tf_mfw?&linkCode=wey&tag=natusweerec0b-20
http://www.amazon.com/King-David-Non-dairy-Chocolate-250grams/dp/B00796M93E/ref=pd_sim_gro_3
I also LOVE Rice Dream chips, but those are also sweetened with cane juice I think….
We may need to pick the lesser of the two evils. Homemade vegan sugar free chocolate chunks are on my list to make for the blog, so I will try to post soon! Thanks for asking.
Hannah says
These might be the best cookies EVER!!! Vegan to boot! You are right, the coconut flavor is there, but just enough that it gives a really special dimension of sweetness NOT coconut flavoring. I loved these!! I want to try them with nuts and other add-ins. Thanks!
Annie says
Thank you!!! That makes us so happy. :)
Sariah says
Another winner! The whole family loved these!! Thanks for the recipes.
Chelsea says
Thank you! So glad you liked these!
Lynah says
OMG!! These are so good!!!! Thank you for posting!
Sophie says
We tried substituting sucanat for the coconut sugar an found it gave these cookies a honey-ish taste. We also had enough batter to make larger cookies, which was nice. Love these cookies!! Can’t wait to make them again.
Heidi @ Food Doodles says
Wow, these look great! I’ve been meaning to try so many different chocolate chip cookie recipes, I think I need to add this one to my list!
Squasher says
wow cant wait to try these!
Jaclyn T says
Another pinned! I have yet to use xylitol in baking. I used it to make a frosting and found it to have an interesting aftertaste. I will have to try these cookies!
–Jaclyn T
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Bridget @ The Road Not Processed says
These look mouthwatering and I don’t think it’s solely because I’m currently doing a juice cleanse haha. I would love to try these out post cleanse :)
Annie says
Oh looking at food blogs is the worst when you’re on a cleanse! :) let us know if you give them a try! Thanks!
Ricki says
Gooey and soft gets me every time! These look perfect, and easily adaptable to my dietary restrictions! Mmm.
Annie says
Oh good! I’m glad these are cookies that you can eat! :)
Lindsey @ Thrive Blogger says
These are in the oven right now! Thanks for an awesome recipe :)
Annie says
Thanks! Let us know how you liked them! :)
Lisa says
I love that you made these so much healthier. It means that I can eat a whole plateful, right? have a sweet treat linky party going on at my blog and I’d love it if you’d come by and link your cookies up. http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2012/08/sweets-for-saturday-80.html
Annie says
Thanks for the invite Lisa! We’ll check it out. :)
Kristina says
Those look like such a perfect little cookies! I still haven’t cooked with coconut butter because I was worried about the strong flavor, Butttt you’ve sold me :) These look so soft and chewy! Can you substitute any flour for spelt flour?
Chelsea @ Naturally Sweet Recipes says
Thanks! It really isn’t strong at all, especially just using a little bit! You can substitute white flour, but you might need a little less.
♥ Priya Ranjit ♥ says
wow they look so lovely and tempting… :-) first time to your space love it !!! http://cooklikepriya.blogspot.co.uk/
Chelsea @ Naturally Sweet Recipes says
Thank you!
Barbara says
Can you use all xylitol for the sweetness? I use no sugar at all.