The other night, I was on a baking kick and decided to create my own recipe for “healthy” banana chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. I’m not sure if it was the rain, being stressed out at work or if I was simply trying to please my cookie monster boyfriend but I actually had fun baking (something I swore I would never do). During my Martha Stewart moment, I decided I was a mastermind at baking and could create the ultimate healthy cookie sans butter recipe using applesauce and bananas (I don’t know what possessed me to do this). The batter looked pretty normal albeit a somewhat watery consistency and when I put those little suckers in the oven, I was pretty sure it was time to quit my day job and start my own healthy cookie bakery. I was wrong. 
What resulted, looked and tasted a lot like a cross between banana bread and a scone. They didn’t have that chewy, melt in your mouth taste that you’d expect from a cookie. Eating one bite, definitely didn’t have me wishing for more. Bryan liked them and has eaten most of them already but he eats almost anything so I’m not sure that counts.
Does anyone have any tips for using applesauce for baking? Or any good healthy cookie recipes or ideas?
Here’s a few recipes I found across the Web that look promising:
Healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (Eat , Drink and Be Aware): http://eatdrinkandbeaware.blogspot.com/2009/02/monday-eats-healthy-oatmeal-chocolate.html
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies (Steph Cows): http://stephchows.blogspot.com/2009/01/peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookies (The Adventures of Mama Moo): http://theadventuresofmamamoo.blogspot.com/2009/02/healthier-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
Home-made healthy chocolate chip cookies (Battle Heart Disease.com): http://battleheartdisease.com/finally-home-made-healthy-chocolate-chip-cookies/
Heart-Healthy chocolate chip cookies (Delicious By Nature): http://www.deliciousbynature.com/2008/07/heart-healthy-chocolate-chip-cookies.html - yum, just check out the picture!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (About.com Cooking for Kids): http://kidscooking.about.com/od/halloweenrecipes/r/pump-choc-chip.html
Dicks Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe (Group Recipes: http://www.grouprecipes.com/53781/dicks-healthy-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
And, then there were some that didn’t look so promising….
I was surprised to see many of the “healthy” cookie recipes on the Web containing margarine and Splenda (YUCK) - people, haven’t we learned that these artificial food wannabes are BAD for you!!!
http://www.nanascorner.com/2008/11/20/santas-favorite-healthy-chocolate-chip-cookies/ - Grandma and Grandpa are trying to poison Santa, its true
http://www.creativeconfectioneryblog.com/2008/09/as-promised-follow-up-to-perfect.html - Creative Confections with poison
http://nwadvocare.com/focus/2008/04/28/healthy-chocolate-chip-cookies/ - Meal replacement shake mix and maragarine? In my cookie? No thank you!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh I’ve definitely had the same issues with trying to bake with applesauce instead of butter! It doesn’t really work in cookies or in biscuits. It’s great for bread, though (I’ve got an AWESOME banana bread recipe that doesn’t use any fats at all).
I’ve made these cookies and they were amazing, quite healthy too, not a lot of fats OR sugars: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/peanut-butter-cookies-recipe.html
This isn’t a cookie recipe…but a REALLY good “guiltless” rich chocolate souffle like dessert…I wasn’t convinced when I read the ingredients but I was very impressed with the outcome. Use high quality chocolate and enjoy, mmmm
http://www.fitsugar.com/2790959
I bought a jar of wild harvest cinnamon applesauce and tried the eggless, butterless recipe on the label except i put in choc chips instead of dried cranberries. They are OK. My 3 yr old likes them.