Chocolate Chip Cookies: Healthified

Hello there! It is Thursday, one of my favorite days of the week. To celebrate, I knew I must blog. While making lunch, I began thinking about favorite recipes that can always use healthification. After all, nobody wants to swear off all "unhealthy" foods for life! Which is where healthified recipes come in. :) I realized I had missed a common recipe in my healthifying endeavors; chocolate chip cookies! Along with the butter and sugar involved in these babies, there is also the lack of portion control. Let's be real, who eats just one cookie? If the recipe makes you four dozen and you keep them all in your kitchen, sooner (not later) they are all going to be gone.

So my brain churned out a healthified chocolate chip recipe with some portion control built-in! I originally was going for a batch of a half dozen, but ended up with a baker's half dozen (is that real?), aka seven cookies! I wasn't complaining, and I knew you weren't either. You could always make large cookies if you're into even numbers, unlike myself. :) P.S. use gluten-free oats to make these puppies gluten-free.

Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookies
yields 7

·         Ingredients:
1 tbsp. packed brown sugar
1 tbsp. applesauce
1 tsp. coconut oil
1 egg white
1/8 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp baking soda
dash of salt
1/4 cup+ 1 tbsp oats
1 1/2 tbsp mini chocolate chips

s     Directions:
      Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, combine sugar, applesauce, coconut oil, egg white and vanilla until well combined. Add the baking soda, salt and oats and mix. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Grease cookie sheet and drop spoonfuls of batter onto the cookie sheet.

Press down on top to flatten out a bit. Bake 10-12 minutes. Let cool and eat. :)

s     Nutrition per cookie: 45.5 calories, 2.2 grams fat, .5 grams fiber, 3.5 grams sugar, 1.1 grams protein

Share with a friend if you want to perk up their Thursday. I'll probably share with Riley, since I like him and all. ;)

      That's a wrap! Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions on recipes/workouts. I'm off to hit the pavement (translation: run). Hasta luego!

      --KQ