Healthy Chocolate Cookies with no butter, white sugar, oil, or flour! These cookies are thick, chewy, and filled with good-for-you ingredients.
Try some of our other wholesome recipes: Healthy Sugar Cookies, Healthy No-Bake Cookies, or Healthy Pumpkin Bread.
We make a lot of cookies at my house, and while I wish I could feel great after eating the entire batch of these Caramel Snickerdoodles…it doesn’t usually work that way.
So, here are some healthy cookies for the win! These Healthy Chocolate Cookies are made with natural ingredients and are naturally sweetened. They’ve also got peanut butter in them which has lots of protein and healthy fats, making these cookies more substantial and more filling than most.
Healthy Chocolate Cookie ingredients
- Peanut butter: This forms the base of these cookies and is integral to the texture and flavor.
- Coconut sugar: If you aren’t familiar with coconut sugar, you can read up on it here. Essentially, it is a natural palm sugar produced from the stem of a coconut palm. I don’t find it makes these cookies taste at all coconutty, but if you’re super sensitive to the flavor of coconut you may be able to notice it. Light brown sugar can be used instead but does make these cookies less healthy.
- Vanilla extract: Just a dash provides so much flavor enhancement.
- Dutch-process cocoa powder: Make sure to get Dutch-process instead of natural or plain cocoa powder. The Dutch process offers a much more robust and intense chocolate flavor. Regular cocoa powder will make these cookies dry and less flavorful. Here’s the exact cocoa powder I use (and highly recommend).
- Egg: The egg binds all the ingredients together and also contributes some extra protein to these cookies.
- Salt and baking soda: These important baking agents add flavor and texture.
- Dark chocolate chips: While any type of chocolate chips will work in these cookies, dark chocolate chips have more health benefits and offer antioxidants.
Quick Tip
What’s the big deal with Dutch-process cocoa? Here’s a great article explaining it, but the tl:dr version is this: Dutch-process cocoa is washed with an agent that reduces the alkalinity. This mellower coocoa is darker than standard cocoa powder. But because the alkalinity is reduced, Dutch-process cocoa reacts differently with leavening agents like baking soda. Many recipes using Dutch-process cocoa call for baking powder instead of baking soda. Because of this, natural cocoa and Dutch process aren’t interchangeable.
How to make Healthy Chocolate Cookies
The descriptions below correlate with the photo collage above this text.
- Add peanut butter, coconut sugar, and vanilla to a large bowl. Mix until smooth and creamy.
- Stir together cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda in a separate bowl.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
- Add in the egg and stir until combined.
- Add in the chocolate chips.
- Stir until combined.
- Using a tablespoon, measure cookie dough balls, roll them, flatten, and bake.
- Add a few chocolate chips on top of the finished cookies and a sprinkle of sea salt if desired.
Baking tips
- Flatten the cookies before baking. These cookies don’t spread much, so press them down a bit before baking.
- Watch bake time carefully. Healthy Chocolate Cookies go from perfectly cooked to burnt very quickly so watch carefully. They’re a bit gooey and crumbly right out of the oven, but they firm up quickly as they cool.
More cookie recipes
- Healthy Oatmeal Cookies with chocolate chips
- Shortbread Cookies with a chocolate drizzle
- Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- M&M Cookies
Healthy Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2/3 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (Note 1)
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, plus extra for topping
- Optional: Maldon sea salt flakes
Instructions
- PREP: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or a nonstick liner.
- WET INGREDIENTS: In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the 1 cup peanut butter, 2/3 cup coconut sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Don't heat the peanut butter at all, even if it's a little stiff and hard to work with. Beat together with a hand mixer until smooth.
- DRY INGREDIENTS: In a separate bowl, combine the 1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon baking soda. Stir to combine.
- COMBINE: Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Add in the egg, beat until just combined. Stir in the 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips.
- FORM COOKIE DOUGH BALLS: Use a tablespoon measuring spoon to measure exact amounts of dough. Roll the tablespoon of dough into a ball and flatten slightly with your hands. Press 3-4 chocolate chips into the tops of the cookie dough balls.
- BAKE: Bake for 6-8 minutes. Watch them carefully because they go from perfectly baked to burned very quickly (because of the coconut sugar). If desired, add a few more chocolate chips on top, let melt slightly from residual heat, and then add on a sprinkle of sea salt.
- COOL: These cookies are crumbly while they are hot. Let them cool completely to firm up and harden (or enjoy some deliciously hot, but crumbly cookies right out of the oven). Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Cookies are best eaten within 2-3 days.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
That was an amazing and easiest way of making chocolate cookies at home.
I am so happy to hear this! 🙂
Wow! I have experimented with lots of healthy cookie recipes and this one is even husband approved. And I mean the kind of husband who uses Toll House pre-made dough to make his cookies.😳
I used unsweetened cacao chips I found at TJ’s and 0 added sugar pb and cacao bliss
Powder and these still were delicious. I sprinkled them with some espresso sea salt and that finisher was epic. What a great recipe!!!!
I am seriously so happy to hear how much you guys loved these healthy chocolate cookies! Thanks Barb! 🙂
These cookies are delicious!! I added an extra egg. Omitted the chocolate chips, and used cocao powder instead. Smart Balence peanut butter also. Used all of your same measurements. Wow!! It was chewy, crunchy edges and brownie like texture. Thanks for the recipe! 🥰👍🏽
So glad you enjoyed this recipe; thanks Jeanette! 🙂
so dang good! i used mini chocolate chips in mine and they are so good! thanks so much for sharing the recipe, i will for sure be making again!!!!
Thanks so much Claire! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Can you make these with sun butter? My kids can’t have peanut/nut buttee
I haven’t personally tried, sorry!
I loved this cookies! Just made them yesterday and they are just delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
So happy to hear that! Thanks for the comment Karla 🙂
What are the nutritional facts? I definitely want to know if this is a Keto treat or not because they look so yummy!
I don’t have nutrition facts on all of my recipes (yet!) so I’d recommend using My Fitness Pal in the meantime 🙂
I loved this! Except I got it mixed up with another recipe I’d written down and made it as brownies…turns out they make really good brownies! 😀
These cookies look incredible! Unfortunately I’m allergic to coconut and coconut sugar… have you tried making it with agave or honey? How do you think it would affect the batter?
Thank you so much!
I’m not sure how they would hold up with those substitutions without further recipe testing. I know you could sub out the coconut sugar for regular brown sugar though because I have done that! 🙂
Just made these to share with a friend who eats gluten free. They are delicious, and full of chocolate goodness! I only had extra crunchy peanut butter, so used that instead of creamy. I also did not have coconut sugar, so used 1/3 cup white granulated sugar PLUS 1/3 cup packed brown sugar. I am not sure those amounts are the correct substitutions for the coconut sugar, but they worked. I used MINI semisweet chocolate chips, but did not add any extra to the tops ( and don’t think they need it). I also added 1/4 teaspoon espresso powder and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. I used my smallest cookie scoop to measure out the dough for each cookie, then gently rolled each one into a ball. I used a flat-bottomed drinking glass, which I dipped in hot water and blotted dry after each use, to flatten out the cookies. These cookies are tender and delicate, and I think making them larger and/or with regular sized chocolate chips would make them fall apart easier. Thank you for a gluten free recipe that doesn’t require gluten-free flour or other special ingredients.
Thanks so much for leaving your substitutions — they are so helpful for other readers 🙂 SO glad that you enjoyed these!! Thanks for your comment 🙂