Guys, I have a serious sweet tooth but I also like to be conscious of what I eat and keep things on the healthy side of things, at least as much as possible. I mean, I do believe in balance and I definitely don’t deprive myself as I don’t believe deprivation is sustainable, but if there’s a way to satisfy a sweet craving while getting nutrients, I’m 100% down for that. Enter these dairy-free, gluten-free, no added sugar chocolate chip cookies. I know what you’re thinking, how can these taste good? Well, as a serious chocolate chip cookie lover (and self proclaimed cookie monster), I tell you that these are DELICIOUS. Sure, I’ve had instances where I wanted a bad-for-you-decadent-chocolate-chip-cookie, but then I’d think of the healthy benefits of these and soon forget about that sugar-loaded-empty-calorie-cookie. You know? I’m not saying that I eat 100% healthy all the time (anyone else likes the 80/20* rule? I do!), and that I don’t fall for treats every now and then, but if you have a sweet tooth and need an alternative to tame it, you NEED TO TRY THESE 🙂
* 80% of what you eat is healthy and 20% is for whatever you want to allow. More or less.
. 1 tablespoon ground chia seeds.
. 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk.
. 3/4 cup instant oats.
. 1 cup (1 113gr. container) unsweetened apple sauce. You can make your own or even substitute with one large banana (I’ve made with both and they are equally delicious, it depends on how much you love/dislike either one).
. 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. unsweetened shredded coconut.
. 1 scoop vanilla flavoured protein powder (I’m currently loving like
this one).
. 2 tbsp. almond butter. If you can’t do nuts, try soy butter.
. 3/4 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips (I like to buy Baker’s baking chocolate and cut it in chunks)
. A dash of cinnamon.
DIRECTIONS:
. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
. Mix chia seeds and almond milk and let stand for about 10 min. You’ll notice how the consistency becomes a bit thicker. The longer you leave it the thicker it gets, but this won’t affect the recipe, so don’t stress about it if you forget and let it stand for 15-20 min.
. Mix in the apple sauce or banana, oats, coconut, cinnamon, almond butter and protein powder.
. Fold in the chocolate and using a tablespoon, scoop up dough and transfer to the baking sheet (you should get about 8-9 cookies).
. Bake for 16 minutes, let cool and ENJOY!!!
Make sure you sit down with a napkin as the melted chocolate gets everywhere, so so good 🙂
This is how they look before they go in the oven. I like to shape them up a bit with the spoon and flatten them on the top.
