Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten Free, Vegan, Low Sugar) Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What can you substitute for brown sugar in chocolate chip cookies? ›

But whilst we'd love to answer this with a resounding yes, the answer is more of a maybe. Depending on the recipe, and more specifically how much refined sugars they contain vegan cookies probably aren't the healthiest option when it comes to a sweet treat.

Simply being on these diets and consuming the products that fall under that category does not mean you are eating healthy. For example a Gluten-Free cookie is no healthier than a regular cookie and in either case they are both seen as a treat that you should enjoy on occasion.

Mix 1 cup of granulated sugar with 1 tablespoon of molasses to mimic a cup of light brown sugar. Mix 1 cup of granulated sugar with 2 tablespoons of molasses to mimic a cup of dark brown sugar. If you don't have molasses on hand, you can combine white sugar with another liquid sweetener, like maple syrup or honey.

For basic baked goods like sugar cookies or pound cake, using maple syrup or honey instead of sugar lends the finished product a little extra flavor. You'll need a little less of these sweeteners for your recipe—just ¾ cup of maple syrup or honey replaces a full cup of granulated sugar.

Almond flour is a grain-free, protein-rich flour that lends well to cookies, cakes, and more! Almond flour is made from blanched almonds, meaning without skins (as opposed to almond meal, which is made from raw almonds with skins). This is why it has a fluffy, light texture and pale golden color.

Oat flour is best for cookies and quick breads, though you can use it for other things in combination with other gluten free flours. When making yeast bread, you'll need extra yeast to make the dough rise, and other recipes need about 2 ½ teaspoons of baking powder per cup of oat flour.

Using xanthan gum helps provide some of the stickiness that gluten free goods lack, replacing some elasticity. Xanthan gum mimics some of gluten's most essential properties by sticking to flour and its moisture. This helps create moist goods that hold their shape after being baked.

What is the healthiest cookie brand? ›

While not entirely organic, Simple Mills makes some of the healthiest cookies we found. The ingredients here are very clean, in addition to being grain-free. The flour is a blend of nuts, the fat is coconut oil, and the sweetener is coconut sugar.

If your cookies call for cold butter, use a solid vegan butter stick, solid coconut oil or coconut butter. If your cookie recipe calls for melted butter, use melted coconut oil, olive oil or applesauce.

Gluten-free flours often contain fine starches, so they absorb more liquid than conventional flour. To address this, gluten-free recipes usually call for more liquid and produce looser batters. They may also call for a larger quantity of leavening, like baking powder, to help add volume and lighten the texture.

Although gluten-free products are proven to be beneficial for those who need them, they're not any healthier than those that contain gluten. And while following a gluten-free diet is safe, keep in mind that any diet that relies heavily on processed foods is unlikely to result in any health benefits.

Yes, pure, uncontaminated oats are gluten-free. The U. S. Food and Drug Administration considers oats a gluten-free grain under its gluten-free labeling regulations and only requires that packaged products with oats as an ingredient contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten overall.

Is brown sugar necessary for cookies? Most chocolate chip cookie recipes use a mix of brown sugar (for added moisture and chewiness), and granulated sugar (for that slight crisp on the edges of a cookie), but it is not necessary.

Brown sugar, meanwhile, is dense and compacts easily, creating fewer air pockets during creaming—that means that there's less opportunity to entrap gas, creating cookies that rise less and spread more. With less moisture escaping via steam, they also stay moist and chewy.

Maple syrup offers a delicious caramel, toffee-like flavor, making it ideal for fall treats like pumpkin bread or oatmeal muffins. To use it in baking, use ¾ cup maple syrup per 1 cup of white or brown sugar, says Ziata.