While the UK is currently in lockdown, it can be difficult knowing what to do with so much time at home. With only being allowed to leave the house for one type of exercise a day or to shop for necessities, brits are searching for activities to keep them sane through this unsettled time and this leads to a whole lotttttta baking!
Now ideally, you don’t want to bake the world’s most calorific chocolate cake as let’s be honest it will get devoured in a matter of a day and will leave you feeling sluggish. The last thing we want to come out of this isolation period is having gained loads of weight and feeling unhealthy, so here are some healthier alternatives to chocolate chip cookies. These are super simple to make and can be eaten as a little treat while still sticking to your calories/macros, win-win if you ask me! Oooo and I forgot to mention, they actually taste SO good (if I don’t mind saying so myself!)
Ingredients:
210g Oat Flour (made by blending oats)
3 tbsp Brown Sugar
3 tbsp Regular Sugar
100g (or less) Milk Chocolate Chips
3 tbsp Coconut Oil (warmed up so it becomes a liquid)
6 tbsp Semi-Skimmed Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Baking Soda
Method:
Preheat oven to 190°.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the oat flour, brown sugar, regular sugar and chocolate chips.
Add the wet ingredients – coconut oil, milk and vanilla extract.
Mix together well until a large ball of cookie dough is formed.
Pop the dough in the fridge until cold (around 30 minutes). This is to ensure a soft cookie texture.
When the cookie dough has reached a cold temperature, start taking small bits of the dough with a spoon and make them into cookie shapes. Place them on a lined baking tray.
The dough will only spread out a small amount so don’t leave them in balls like you would with normal cookie dough.
(We made 12 out of our dough, however, for a lower calorie smaller treat I would advise making them smaller than this, aiming for around 16.)
Place the tray in the oven for 8 minutes initially. The cookies should be just starting to cook on the outside but still soft and gooey in the centre. If they’re still under-baked, cook them in 1-minute increments until they reach the desired texture. They will continue to cook as they’re being cooled.
Leave them for around 15 minutes and then grab a cuppa and dig in!
You can also add other dry ingredients such as raisins or crushed nuts. We trialled some with Nutella in the middle and they were amazing!
Let me know if you try these during the lockdown, the added crunch of the oat flour definitely goes down a treat and you don’t feel too naughty when eating them either!
We are definitely going to make another batch as they make a perfect, healthier 3-o’clock snack!
Nutrition: Around 100 calories (based on 16 cookies)
[…] Again, these can be made in lots of different variations with recipes being made with banana, peanut butter, dried fruits, seeds and even protein powder. I personally like to keep it simple with an oat and chocolate cookie. […]