Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies with Coconut Oil

A soft, chewy cookie recipe that beats them all! This is truly the best recipe for Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies made with coconut oil, natural sugar, whole wheat flour and dark chocolate chips. If you're like me, you will hide these in the pantry from your kids!

I'm a prolific buyer of coconut products, and by that, I mean all the coconut products. In my cart, you will find: coconut oil, coconut sugar (to make my coconut sugar cookies), coconut milk (both canned and fresh), and coconut cream.

I've been buying all the coconut oil to make batches of these healthy chocolate chip cookies for my friends, family, and neighbors. This is one of my favorite easy cookie recipes and because I can have cookies in less than 20 minutes, I tend to make it often. Plus, it only has 8 easy ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry!

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ingredients

• Coconut Oil. Today, we're baking with unrefined coconut oil, which means it has not been stripped of its coconut flavor. When you open the jar of coconut oil, it will smell of luscious coconuts and faraway beaches. Refined coconut oil has had the aroma removed so that it can be used for frying without imparting its coconut flavor. It's best if the coconut oil is solid, not melted, because we're going to cream it like we would cream butter for our tea cakes recipe.
• Coconut Sugar. Coconut sugar is also known as coconut palm sugar. It's similar to raw sugar, and it is made by collecting the sap from the coconut flower and then heating to remove excess liquid. It appears like a finer-grain brown sugar. See below for sources and tips to locate coconut sugar.
• Egg Yolk. We only need the egg yolk, not the whole egg for this recipe.
• Vanilla Extract. Real, pure vanilla extract is best here, because it compliments the flavors of the dark chocolate chips.
• White Whole Wheat Flour. My go-to for ensuring my kids eat whole grains made from the entire wheat kernel is white whole wheat flour. It's made from a softer variety of white wheat, so it feels more like regular refined all-purpose white flour, yet it actually is a whole grain. It has all the benefits of using whole wheat flour, but a much milder taste, more similar to regular flour. If you can't find it, use half whole wheat flour and half regular white flour.
• Baking Soda and Baking Powder.
• Dark Chocolate Chips. The darker the chocolate, the better, am I right? I reach for the 72% dark chocolate chips, but I have also used 60% dark. You can also chop up a dark chocolate bar. This will result in much more melty chocolate than using chocolate chips.

Helpful Equipment when making Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Small Cookie Scoop - This is the best small cookie scoop I have in my kitchen.
• Best Cookie Sheet - I prefer light metal cookie sheets that are not insulated with air or overly thick. This is my current favorite.

Coconut Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies Substitutions

• Coconut Oil - I don't recommend substituting coconut oil with butter or any other type of oil for this healthy chocolate chip cookies recipe. Coconut oil has a higher percentage of fat solids than anything else, and this recipe has been developed based on that.
• Coconut Sugar - You can use granulated white sugar in place of coconut sugar here. Do not use brown sugar in its place, even though it is the same color. It contains molasses, which changes the moisture of the dough. I talk about this in my Chocolate Chip Cookies without Brown Sugar recipe.
• Flour - I prefer white whole wheat flour for this recipe. This is because it is a whole grain flour that contains all the benefits of using the whole wheat kernel. It is made from a soft white wheat berry so it is not as coarse or harsh as regular whole wheat flour. In the absence of it, use half regular whole wheat flour and half regular all-purpose flour.

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies add ins and Variations

Instead of chocolate chips, you can use dried fruit, like dried cranberries or dried cherries. These cookies would be great with ¼ cup of finely chopped pecans in the dough, too. You can also double this recipe successfully, as long as you follow it exactly. This means use two egg yolks (not one whole egg).

How to make Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookies

Storing and keeping these Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies Fresh

Truthfully, these cookies do not last long in our house. I leave them on the counter, lightly covered with a kitchen towel. They will keep an air-tight container for up to 3 days on the counter at room temperature.

I do not recommend making and freezing the dough, because the melting point of coconut oil is so low (just slightly above room temperature), so the oil can melt and ooze out before the rest of the dough defrosts in the oven.

However, you can bake the cookies fully and then freeze them flat in storage bags. Just defrost at room temperature for a few hours, and they're ready to eat.

Can Coconut Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies be frozen?

These cookies can be frozen if they are already baked. Individually wrap them in plastic and store inside a freezer-safe container. They will keep for up to 3 months. To enjoy, defrost at room temperature for a few hours, and microwave for 5 seconds, if desired. I do not recommend freezing this dough, because if baked from frozen, the coconut oil might seep out before the rest of the dough defrosted.

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Frequently Asked Questions about Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

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