Deliciously Healthier Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Let me start out by saying how excited I was with how these cookies turned out. I love oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and I have seen a number of recipes that played around with "healthy" ingredients, but wasn't sure I wanted to try to "healthify" my cookies.

Let's face it, if I'm eating a cookie I want it to taste like a cookie. I don't want to think, "Sure, it's good for a healthy cookie." I want it to just taste good. Because that's why I'm eating it. Well, I bit the bullet and gave it a whirl. I replaced half the butter with nonfat plain Greek yogurt, I reduced the amount of sugar by a little, and I used whole wheat flour instead of white flour. I never use whole wheat flour in my cookies. I love using it for banana bread, muffins, or other breakfast goods, but never in cookies because I don't want to risk ruining an entire batch of cookies.

Well, right before I was about to add the whole wheat flour to these cookies, I wavered. I thought, "Maybe I should just use half wheat and half white . . . " But, I stood my ground and added all whole wheat. I'm SO GLAD I did! Combined with the oats, the wheat flour adds a certain amount of nuttiness to the cookies without using actual nuts. Even the cookie dough is delicious, which was a pleasant surprise (not that I'm saying you should eat it . . .).

These cookies bake up nice and soft, have a slight crispiness around the edges, while staying gloriously chewy everywhere else. I love these. I think they might actually replace my other oatmeal cookie recipes - I love them that much. And while they're still cookies, so by no means healthy, they are certainly better for you than your average cookie, while not sacrificing in flavor or texture. Win-win! I hope you love these as much as I (and my hubby and kids) do!

There are probably similar recipes out there, but this one's from me. :) According to my calculations, each cookie has about 105 calories. Not too shabby!

Deliciously Healthier Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 c. softened butter
1/2 c. plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1/2 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 Tbls. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 c. whole wheat or white whole wheat flour
1 c. quick-cooking oats
2 c. chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet and milk chocolate)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper

2. Beat together butter, yogurt, and both sugars on medium speed, 2 minutes.

3. Add eggs, vanilla, salt, soda, and powder, and beat again for 2 minutes.

4. Stir in flour and oats until just combined.

5. Stir in chocolate chips.

6. Drop by Tbls. onto prepared baking sheets and bake approximately 10 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. 

DEVOUR those delicious cookies, and feel good about it! 

Makes about 50 cookies.

Hugs and cookies,

Amanda