Sneaky Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you're like me, the idea of a healthy chocolate chip cookie sounds like an oxymoron. AND moronic. Really...if I want a chocolate chip cookie, I'm more likely PMSing and just want something sweet more than I care about if it's good for me or not! BUT, I have to say, these fit the bill as far as fulfilling a need for sweets and being healthy to boot (or at least healthy as far as cookie standards go).

I found this recipe in Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious cookbook when my kids were toddlers. I remember being so excited to get the cookbook and then feeling like a complete failure as a mother because I hadn't been setting aside my Sundays to steam and puree enough fruits and vegetables to choke a horse.  I personally found that most of the recipes were just way too labor intensive for the little time I had to prepare food while caring for a one and a half year old and a newborn. So I didn't chop, steam, puree, and freeze avocado, beets, broccoli, butternut squash, carrots, cauliflower, peas, red peppers, spinach, sweet potatoes, zucchini, summer squash, apples, bananas, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, cherries, and pineapple in popsicle molds. Report me to DCFS. ;)

Don't get me wrong, if you were (or are) a mom (or dad) who purees vegetables and fruits and sneaks them into food on a regular basis, I think you're awesome and amazing and I'm completely jealous. I just found I had a hard time finding the time to be able to do it...let alone shower.

Anyway, back to these cookies. As I looked through the recipes and found one after the other requiring some sort of premade puree, I practically jumped with glee when I came upon this one. No puree! The sneaky ingredient comes from a can! And its a DESSERT! I was all in.

I made them for the first time to bring to a playgroup get together at my dear friend, Liz's house and I will never forget the look on my (then new) dear friend Erin's face when I told her that there were chickpeas -- yes, chickpeas...whole beans...not pureed -- in the cookies. As I'm sure she has written on here before...Erin hates beans. I did not know this at the time so her reaction was a little comical. She was VERY hesitant to try them but, God love her, she did! And I remember her and I pulling and picking them apart trying to find the beans. You cannot find them! It's like magic! Maybe it's because these "cookies" actually have more of a soft, cake-like texture than a traditional cookie.

Give them a try...I DARE you to find a bean in there once they're baked. And the kids all loved them...then and now.

~Leah

Sneaky Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe Type: Dessert

Author: Leah (adapted from Jessica Seinfeld)

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 11 mins

Total time: 31 mins

Soft, cake-like chocolate chip cookies with protein!

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray (or a silpat)


• 1 cup packed light brown sugar


• 3/4 cup trans-fat free soft tub buttery spread (I used Smart Balance)


• 2 egg whites


• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract


• 1 (15-oz.) can chickpeas (or garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed


• 2 cups (12 oz.) milk chocolate chips


• 2 cups all purpose flour


• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats


• 1 tsp. baking soda


• 1/4 tsp. kosher or sea salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray OR line with a silpat.


2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar and spread on medium speed until smooth. Beat in the egg whites and vanilla then the chickpeas and chocolate chips (you may want to lower the speed a little so chickpeas aren't flying all over your kitchen). Add the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt and mix on low speed until a thick dough forms.


3. Drop the dough by the tablespoon (or standard cookie scoop) onto the baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart (these don't spread much). Bake until golden brown and just set; 11 to 13 minutes. Do NOT overbake. Transfer to a rack to cool.


4. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days


5. Recipe yields 3-4 dozen cookies depending on your scoop size.

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