These bakery-style chocolate chip cookies are just about everything you could want in a cookie. They’re ultra thick, soft and the best part… they’re healthier than most classic cookies but are still loaded with flavor.

It’s no secret we LOVE all things chocolate, which is why we set out to make a slightly healthier, almost guilt-free chocolate chip cookie. The requirements: The recipe needed to use less butter and sugar than a traditional cookie but still be thick, chewy and equally as delicious. So, today we’re excited to share this tasty recipe!

If you’ve spent time perusing FULLforLife, then you know the recipes you’ll find here use real-food, minimally processed ingredients whenever possible.

We wanted to come up with a recipe that omits the heavily processed ingredients found in traditional cookies, such as white sugar, brown sugar, all-purpose flour and margarine. What we came up with was a cookie recipe that uses simple, FfL-friendly ingredients.

Because these cookies are made with real-food ingredients, they taste different from a traditional cookie, but not in a bad way. The coconut palm sugar yields a soft, cake-like cookie with a subtle hint of rich molasses flavor. The white whole-wheat flour gives the cookies a whole-grain, nutty taste—which we think we can all agree on tastes amazing with butter, vanilla and decadent chocolate chips.

Our family actually prefers these cookies as a tasty treat over most traditional cookies. We promise if you serve these alongside the pre-packaged cardboard cookies, these will win every. single. time. This is a cookie recipe you can feel good about serving your family (as a dessert, of course!).

That being said, if you’re truly looking for the taste and texture of a traditional chocolate chip cookie, you’ll want to stick with a recipe that uses refined white flour and sugar.

Because all-purpose flour doesn’t fall into the realm of real food, this recipe uses white whole-wheat flour, which does. By using white whole-wheat flour, you’ll achieve a tasty, chewy cookie, while still receiving all the nutritional benefits whole-grain flour has to offer.

Why not whole-wheat flour? White whole-wheat flour doesn’t have the bitter tannins of regular whole-wheat flour, so it yields a lighter, fluffier dough with a mild natural sweetness. This means you still get all the benefits of 100% whole-grain flour, without the bitterness.

Soften the butter. This is IMPORTANT! You’ll want your butter to be soft and creamy before you start mixing your dough together. Take your butter out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter 30 minutes prior to mixing so it’s slightly softened by the time you’re ready to prepare your cookies. If your butter gets too soft, chill the cookie batter in the fridge after mixing everything together. If your butter is too warm, it will cause your cookies to spread out and become flat and greasy.

Measure your flour correctly. Measuring flour incorrectly is one of the most common mistakes people make while baking. While weight is the BEST way to accurately measure your flour, not all of us have scales at home.

1. Start by stirring the flour in case it’s packed tightly in its container.
2. Don’t scoop out the flour from the container or bag directly with the measuring cup. Spoon the flour into the measuring cup until it mounds above the rim. Don’t pack the flour down into the cup while doing this.
3. Use the non-serrated side of a dinner knife to level off the top until you have a smooth flour surface (you’ll probably need to do this a few times before it’s completely level).

Don’t overmix your dough. Overmixing often results in tougher, flatter cookies.

Don’t grease the pan. Greasing the pan can cause your cookies to spread out too much. Instead, use a baking mat or line your pan with a sheet of parchment paper.

Use a LIGHT colored pan. Dark pans absorb more heat than light pans and tend to burn the bottoms of the cookies. Trust us, we know from experience, and there’s nothing more depressing than a delicious dessert coming out burnt!

Don’t overbake them. The trick to doughy, yet fully baked cookies is to not overbake them. You don’t want to wait until your cookies necessarily look completely done. They’ll continue to set up after they’re removed from the oven. Different ovens may bake too hot or too cold and the size of the cookies plays a role in their cook time. Watch for the edges to be light golden brown. You can also use the toothpick test to make sure they’re fully baked. You’ll want the toothpick to come out free (or almost free) of cookie particles when you pull it out.

Don’t rotate the pan while they’re baking (unless you know your oven bakes unevenly). You’ll let out all your precious heat, which messes with the bake time.

Use a cooling rack. Cooling racks allow the steam to escape from the bottom of your cookies as they cool. This prevents the bottoms from becoming a soggy mess. It also prevents them from continuing to bake after being removed from the oven and overbrowning on the bottom.

We’re always looking for ways to reduce time in the kitchen and simplify healthy eating, especially throughout the busy work week. You can prep your cookie dough ahead and store it in the fridge for up to four days. When you’re ready to make your cookies, spoon the dough onto your baking sheet and bake as directed.

If you frequent FULLforLife, you know we’re a huge advocate and fan of batch cooking whenever possible. At this point, we make double batches of 75 percent of our meals to simplify the weeks to come. While the ingredients are out and the dishes are dirty, why not make more to use throughout the week or to freeze for future meals, snacks and desserts? These cookies are no different! They’re simple to freeze and are great for a batch of impromptu cookies when friends or family pop over.

Drop large spoonfuls onto a baking sheet, freeze them until they’re firm (about 1-2 hours), then transfer them to an airtight container and store them in the freezer. When you want to bake them, remove the dough balls from the freezer, place them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, loosely cover them with a light cloth and once thawed (about 90 minutes), bake as directed.

Portion control tip: Because I (Kalie) have such a sweet tooth and can’t be trusted with two dozen warm, just out-of-the-oven cookies, I often make just one batch and freeze half the dough. This is only necessary if you struggle with portion control like I do.