Chocolate Chip Cookies - Yep! Sugar Free

These cookies are my dream come true. Seriously. The fact that I can still have cookies and not sacrifice my health over it makes me so happy. :) I was at a friend's house and she had made these. She knew I was sugar free and let me try one. I'll be honest and tell you that on the first bite my taste buds were taken a little off guard. The flavor is quite different than my taste buds were used to in a cookie and it might be for you too. I mean honestly, whose taste buds wouldn't choose a sugar-y chocolate chip cookie over a sugar free one, right? But by the middle of the cookie, those taste buds had forgotten their initial reaction and started rejoicing over the deliciousness of this very decadent (and healthy) cookie.

Well, I begged my friend for the recipe, and she was nice enough to share. I made them as a surprise for the kid's as an after school snack. What was their reaction? Actually my kids didn't like them at first (I think it was because of that first bite thing...and they never got past the first bite...), but I was secretly glad because it meant that I could have more...Since then I've made them again and my husband and I have ranted and raved about how good they are. My youngest gave them another try and loved them even after just the first bite. The oldest still hasn't been brave enough to get past the first bite...but he will. I'm certain. But I'm in no hurry to encourage him....cause that would mean less for me.

Chocolate Chip Molasses Cookies (Whole-grain and sugar free)
Printable Recipe

*Makes 3 to 4 dozen depending on how big you make them

INGREDIENTS:
½ Cup coconut oil
¾ Cup honey
½ Cup molasses
2 eggs
3 Cups whole grain flour (I use wonder flour; my friend uses whole-wheat)
1-½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups (12 ounces) dark chocolate chips (I use these homemade sugar-free chocolate pieces) *See Note

DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, beat the oil, honey and molasses. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips (if you are using homemade sugar-free chocolate pieces *See Note below). Because of the honey, this cookie dough is very sticky. Wet your hands thoroughly to keep the dough from sticking and roll into 1-in. balls (the original recipe said this makes 7-1/2 dozen...well I didn't get anywhere near that many, but maybe it was just me...). Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes or until edges are firm (maybe a minute or two longer if yours are a little bigger like mine...). Remove to wire racks to cool. Or if you're like me, gobble them up before they have even started to cool...

*Note: If you use dark chocolate chips, they do actually have some sugar in them. There are chocolate chips that you can buy that are sweetened with more natural sugars (grain sweetened I think they're called), but they are quite expensive and hard to find. That's why I used the homemade sugar-free chocolate pieces. As I mentioned in the post about them, you will have to kind of fold these into the recipe because they are so soft. Here's what I did. Instead of adding the chocolate chips to the entire batch of dough, I took a ball of cookie dough with my wet hands and folded in a 3 or 4 of the homemade chocolate pieces into each individual ball of dough and then reformed it into a ball. It worked good and shall I mention just once more that the cookies turned out amazing?

Recipe Source: Adapted slightly from a recipe shared with me by my friend Cherylyn



This week I'll be linking to some of these link parties.