Diet Choco-chip Oatmeal Cookies

A warm chocolate chip oatmeal cookie straight from the oven is a decadent treat but is not necessarily a healthy eating decision. While traditional chocolate chip oatmeal cookies contain a significant amount of fat, calories and sugar, the good news is that you can replace these ingredients with healthier alternatives. Once you know these substitution tricks, your chocolate chip oatmeal cookies will be lower in fat and calories and will supply you with key nutrients.

Calories, Fat and Sugar

Traditional chocolate chip oatmeal cookies should not be a regular part of your diet because they contain large amounts of fat and calories. A 1-ounce chocolate chip oatmeal cookie has about 120 calories. A significant portion of this calorie count comes from the added sugar in traditional cookie recipes. A typical 1-ounce chocolate chip oatmeal cookie can have as much as 17 grams of sugar. The same cookie has between 5 and 6 grams of fat, with about 1.5 grams being unhealthy saturated fat.

Substitutions

Replacing a portion of the butter, oil, sugar and chocolate chips will help reduce the fat and calorie count of your cookie. Certain substitutions will also improve the nutrition of your chocolate chip oatmeal cookie. Replace half of the oil or butter with fruit, such as applesauce, mashed banana or pureed pears. In addition to reducing the fat and calorie count, it will also add vitamin C and fiber to your cookies. If your recipe calls for milk, use skim milk in place of 2 percent or whole milk for less fat. Reduce the amount of sugar in your recipe by half, and add a bit of almond or vanilla extract to maintain the sweetness of your cookie. This will reduce the calorie count. Alternatively, use a sugar replacement in place of some or all of the sugar in your recipe. Use dark chocolate chips in place of milk chocolate chips because they are lower in fat, calories and sugar, but also add antioxidants to your recipe.

Recipe

Cream 1/8 cup of softened unsalted butter with 3/8 cup of applesauce. Add 1/4 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of sugar substitute. Mix the ingredients until fluffy. Add 1 egg and 1 egg yolk and beat to combine. Stir in 2 tablespoons of skim milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. In another bowl, stir together 1 cup of flour, 3/4 cup of oats, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Gently stir in 1 cup of dark chocolate chips. Spoon onto greased cookie sheets and cook in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 11 to 12 minutes.

Healthy Additions

There are additional ingredients that will boost the nutrition of your diet chocolate chip oatmeal cookie without increasing the saturated fat or calorie content. Add a handful of almonds or walnuts with the dark chocolate chips. They will add a dose of magnesium, fiber and healthy unsaturated fat. Replace some or all of the flour with whole-wheat flour to increase the fiber content of your cookie without adding any additional fat or calories. Wheat germ or ground flaxseed will add protein and fiber to your recipe.