Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies (low fat)

Applesauce chocolate chip cookies are soft and delicious but with a third of the fat in classic chocolate chip cookie. A low calorie and low carb cookie that is light and chewy, can be made with gluten free flour, and is eggless using applesauce instead.

These are applesauce chocolate chip cookies rival any classic chocolate chip cookie recipe in flavor and texture yet are low in fat. The list of ingredients is short and simple, with lighter swaps such as applesauce, and the recipe is quick - no long chilling and cookies are ready in half an hour!

If you like these, you'll likely enjoy my other cookie recipes especially my cinnamon chocolate chip cookies and chocolate sugar cookies.

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love These
• Ingredients
• Substitutions
• Step by Step Instructions
• Troubleshooting Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Recipe Tips
• Serving Suggestions
• FAQS
• More Healthy Cookies
• 📖 Recipe

Why You'll Love These

Great for all diets. This chocolate chip cookies are lower in calories, about 100 calories per cookie.

Fool-proof method. This cookie recipe is easy to replicate because of my troubleshooting tips.

Crispy outside, chewy inside. These tasty applesauce cookies have a crisp exterior and a soft, chewy interior that is hard to resist.

Ingredients

Flour. Use an all-purpose flour or 1 to 1 baking gluten free flour if you need to avoid gluten. Visit my how to measure a cup of flour post for tips on measuring accurately.

Sugars. You'll need a brown and a white sugar.

Butter. I used a vegan butter from a stick and softened. Make sure the butter is at room temperature.

Applesauce. Use applesauce to replace the egg found in a traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe. Applesauce works like a binder just as an egg does because it contains pectin, a natural starch that acts as a binder.

Chocolate chips. I used dairy free chocolate chips such as Enjoy life brand. Or you can use my homemade chocolate chips recipe.

See the recipe card at the bottom for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions

Flour: You can use gluten free flour instead of all-purpose flour to make these vegan cookies also gluten free.

Butter: Instead you can use coconut oil or vegetable shortening.

Sugar: For the light brown sugar, you can substitute coconut sugar, and for the white sugar, you can substitute organic cane sugar.

Applesauce: If you don't have applesauce, you can substitute it with pumpkin puree, or dairy-free yogurt, or even almond milk.

Step by Step Instructions

Below find general steps on how to make applesauce chocolate chip cookies. Find detailed instructions and measurements at the bottom of the post.

Step 1: Combine the butter and sugars, stirring or mixing about 2 minutes to full dissolve the sugar. (Image 1)

Step 2: Then stir in the applesauce and vanilla for about 1 minute. (Image 2)

Step 3: Sift the dry ingredients on top of the wet ingredient mixture. Be sure to measure the flour exactly - I used the fluff and level method. Read further about this method in my how to measure a cup of flour post. (Image 3)

Step 4: Mix the batter well either with a spoon, or with a hand mixer or a stand mixer. Don't over mix, especially using all-purpose flour, or you'll create a rubbery batter. Fold in the chocolate chips or chunks (or both) with a spatula. (Image 4)

Step 5: Chill the batter for at least 20 minutes to increase flavor and decrease spreading.  Then scoop using a 1 tablespoon size small scoop and space the dough balls 2 inches apart. This will make 24 small cookies. (Image 5)

Step 6: Bake 350 F for 10 minutes. Do not over-bake these cookies! They might not look done when you pull them out of the oven. Look for golden brown edges, and centers that look just dry, and beginning to show slight cracks. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely. (Image 6)

Troubleshooting Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cookies

1. Check your cookie dough after you've chilled it. Does it look like the picture below? After 20 minutes of chilling, the cookie dough should be soft, slightly sticky, and easy to scoop. Flour brands or measurements or humidity can create differences.  If your vegan cookie dough does not have the same texture as mine, here's your chance to correct it for perfect cookies.

2. If the dough is too wet and doesn't hold a scoop ball form, then add more flour in single tablespoon increments, not going over ¼ cup.

3. If your dough is dry and crumbly, you can add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, not exceeding 3 tablespoons.

Recipe Tips

Soften the butter. Make sure the butter stick is softened to room temperature. Microwave it for 10 seconds, or let it sit out for 2 hours.

Pack the brown sugar. The ½ cup of brown sugar should be packed when measuring it.

Chill the dough. Chilling the dough for at least 20 minutes before baking will help prevent the cookies from spreading too much in the oven and will give them a better texture.

Serving Suggestions

These applesauce chocolate chip cookies are delicious on their own with a glass of milk or paired with another dessert, but there are plenty of other ways you can enjoy them. Here are a few ideas:

Sandwich them with ice cream: Make ice cream sandwiches by placing a scoop of your favorite vegan ice cream between two cookies.

Crumble them on top of yogurt: Crumble the cookies and use them as a topping for your favorite vegan yogurt or oatmeal.

Gift them: Package the cookies in a cute gift box or tin and give them as a gift to a friend or family member.

FAQS

More Healthy Cookies

If you tried these applesauce chocolate chip cookies or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!

📖 Recipe