Hi.
My name is Courtney.
It’s been two weeks since I baked and/or ate a real dessert.
(No, these do not count – they are for breakfast.)
I think I might be slowly going insane. Seriously, the last dessert I baked and ate was our pie on Fourth of July. And I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed something chocolate-y.
I needed an intervention, stat… so I was very glad when I saw these healthy cookie dough balls.
I was excited to find a way to enjoy something sweet with chocolate, while still sticking (mostly) to our healthy eating (I refuse to call it a diet).
The Recipe:
Healthier Cookie Dough Balls, adapted from Bake Your Day
¼ c whole wheat flour
1-¼ c oats
1 t cinnamon
¼ t salt
1/2 scoop protein powder
½ c creamy peanut butter
¼ c applesauce, all natural/no sugar added
⅓ c all-natural maple syrup
1 T honey
2 t vanilla
¼ c dark chocolate chips
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk the flour, oats, cinnamon, salt, and protein powder; set aside.
Cream the peanut butter, applesauce, maple syrup, honey and vanilla in a large bowl until well-combined. Add the flour and oats mixture and stir until combined. Add dark chocolate chips and stir well.
Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. (I just used a small ice-cream scooper.) Recipe makes about 12-16 dough balls.
Refrigerate before serving.
The Results:
Yep, this pretty much did the trick.
The dough tastes similar to most (peanut butter chocolate chip) cookie doughs I may have allegedly sampled in the past. And it so filled my craving for something bad – without being that bad.
They are a little sticky, so be prepared to wash your hands afterwards. But it’s a small price to pay for a little sanity happiness.
~~~~
We’ll be out-of-town camping this weekend and won’t return until Tuesday… so don’t expect to hear from me until Wednesday. And wish us luck – a two-year old and five-year old… in a tent… for several days. Oh, boy.
I live with a man who is an amazing cook. I am definitely not. But I'm learning. Join me as I share the ups and downs of figuring out this cooking thing.
I thought we were starting to lose you from the united dessert front, but these look really good!
“cookie doughs I may have allegedly sampled in the past…” Ha Ha! Yup. Been there. Sampled those. No allegedly about it. These look great. Have fun camping!
I’m a firm believer that every cookie is a healthy one.
Healthy and delicious my friend, I’m so glad you made these little balls of guiltless pleasure!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
I second Jed!
I began thinking you were making a cookie and was thrilled when you stopped at the “dough” part! Yay.. raw cookie dough that is good for you!! Good luck with your camping trip, you’ll be making lots of memories there!!
So I already ate my dessert for the night and now you have me craving more.
Cookie dough balls. I like this idea. I have a serious love for cookie dough. And I’m impressed…I can’t go that long without desserts. And if I did, I can guarantee what I’d make would not be remotely healthy to make up for it. 
Well, if you had to stray, these are certainly the way to go. They’re about as healthy a cookie dough treat that you could make and still remain tasty.
I hope you guys have a great camping trip. What wonderful memories you’ll bring home! Have fun!
What could be better than to have cookies without any guilt feeling.
Have a wonderful trip and yeah, all the best.
They look very nice and healthy. Do you think they’d be less sticky without the applesauce? Less sugary too…!
Hope you had a wonderful camping trip and everyone had a grand time. I would decrease the amount of maple syrup or leave out the honey.
The perfect, healthy dessert! These sound delicious.
I love using maple syrup as a sweetener! This recipe looks amazing. I can’t wait to give it a try.
All I need is the applesauce. Excuse me–I have to run to the store. Cookie Dough Balls? OMG, what could be healthier (big grin!)?
These actually look like they’d be really, really good on a camping trip–a nice snack after a hike, perhaps. They also look super delicious.
That sounds so yummy and hey! There’s no sugar in there. It’s gotta be a low calorie one!! Or at least we’d like to think so! But yeah I totally get what you mean! I’ve been a little deprived of desserts and kinda stuffed myself with more than I should today… lol. By the way when I say “deprived” I’m talking about eating desserts 3 times a week instead of every day. haha. Have lots of fun on your camping trip Court!!