Have you ever been stuck out at sea, afraid and alone? Okay, so I may be enhancing my story a bit. Technically, I wasn’t alone and we weren’t stuck out at sea, but we were stuck, and I was starting to freak out… On the inside, of course. I had to stay brave for Squirrel.

Squirrel and I decided to go out for a nice, relaxing ride on the open waters the other day. Our nice little ride turned into a nightmare. Yup, we were cruising. Life was good.

Click. Stop!

Me:  Um, what just happened? Whatever it was, it doesn’t sound good.

Squirrel:  It’s not. The motor seized.

Me:  You got to be kidding me. I thought you fixed whatever it was that needed fixing.

Squirrel:  Well…

Me:  You mean you brought me out here knowing that we might break down?

Squirrel:  I thought it was fixed. Don’t worry, we’ll use the trolling motor to get back.

**Boat doesn’t budge.

Man, it’s hot. The sun is beating down. I’m an open target and burning by the second. There’s a bee hovering around the boat. I’m afraid of bees. There’s no dang way to get away from the bee! Maybe I’ll jump in and swim to shore; every man for himself! I know I saw a life preserver around here somewhere. That would be rude, Jennie. You can’t leave your husband in the boat all by his lonesome. Plus, what would he think of you if you did that.

My thoughts tend to trail when I’m nervous. We were stuck in open water…  Stuck! Other boaters were passing us without even offering to lend a helping hand. That’s messed up! And here I thought boat people were nice, helpful people. Boy, was I wrong. No help.

Me:  Where’s the oar? Give me the oar. I’m saving us. I’m getting us the heck off of this water.

*Vigorously row, row, rows the boat all the way home.

I’m not kidding, you guys. I rowed that boat home. Little old me. Desperation kicked in and my adrenaline went into overdrive. So, while Squirrel tried to get the useless trolling motor to work, I rowed the boat to shore.

Hero? I like to think so.

What does every hero deserve after rowing a boat to safety? A cookie. A hero deserves endless amounts of cookies. And, since this hero is watching her waistline, she made and ate endless amounts of these healthier choco chip cookies.

Healthier Choco Chip Cookies

Yup, you heard that right. I just used the words healthy and cookie in the same sentence. Never thought you’d hear that combo before, did ya?

Feast your eyes…

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These are my new favorite cookie. They’re healthy, but they taste exactly like the original. I swear!

Don’t believe me? Just ask my panel of taste testers. None of them could tell the difference.

Me: How do you like the cookie?

Tester: *Crunch, crunch, chomp.

Me: So?

Tester: Mmm, it’s so good.

Me: It’s a skinny cookie. Half the fat and calories skinny.

Tester: Puh-lease. You’re kidding, right? You gotta be kidding! There’s no way… But it’s so good.

Me: I aim to please.

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Belief is in the bite.

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The trick to making healthier cookies is adding a combination of white whole wheat flour and almond flour. You can purchase almond flour at your local grocery, or you can make your own. I prefer to make my own since it’s much cheaper.

Almond flour: Place raw almonds in the bowl of your food processor and pulse until a fine crumb. Refer to the picture above for perfect almond flour consistency. Easy as pie!

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Cookies require butter to for taste, texture, and structure, and I did use butter, I reduced the amount significantly. I added a combination of butter and coconut oil. The result is a tender, buttery cookie without all of the added fat and calories.

If you haven’t tried coconut oil, I highly recommend it. It does amazing things for baked goods.

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Now I can eat a cookie, or cookies, and not feel a smidge bad about it. My healthier choco chip cookies=126 calories per cookie. The original chocolate chip cookie=553 calories per cookie. Whoa!

Move over original, there’s a new cookie in town.

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See that gooey cookie oozing with dark chocolate? It’s skinny, and it’s calling your name.

Healthier Choco Chip Cookies
Recipe Type: Cookies
Author: Jennie
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 24 cookies
Ingredients
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room-temperature
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil (do not melt)
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer attached with the paddle attachment, cream butter, coconut oil, and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until just combined.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together white whole wheat flour, almond flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and kosher salt.
  3. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture until fully incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips.
  4. Refrigerate the mixture for at least 2 hours before baking (do not skip this step).
  5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
  6. Using a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop 10 balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Pinch the sides of the dough gently to create a taller dough ball (this will ensure that the cookies bake up thick and soft). Place one cookie sheet in the refrigerator while the first batch bakes (we’ll only be baking one sheet of cookies at a time to ensure even baking). Place the cookies in the oven. Bake for 11-12 minutes (no longer than 13 minutes). The cookies will look under baked but will continue to bake on the sheets once they’re removed from the oven.
  7. Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
  8. Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container for 1 week.