This is it! This is the BEST chocolate-chip cookie recipe ever! And what’s better is that it’s way much healthier than your average chocolate-chip cookie. Impossible? Well, I don’t think so.

There’s usually a problem with “healthy” alternatives: they usually cannot replicate the “original” one. I’ve tried so many healthy chocolate-chip cookie alternatives, but the result was usually so bad that I didn’t even want to eat them. Now, I have to want you beforehand, if you are looking for low-fat or low-calorie chocolate-chip cookies, then this is not the place to look for. Besides, I don’t think there exists a chewy, delicious and full chocolate-chip cookie recipe that is also low in fat and calories. Well, you can use low-fat-vegan-margarine type artificial “things” (I don’t even call them food), but I don’t think they are healthy, and taste good. In fact, you immediately notice that something is wrong with those cookies. But my recipe is different! Despite being high in fats (healthy fats) and carbs (healthy carbs), if you eat in considerable amounts, I think these cookies make a great afternoon snack with a cup of tea. Mmmm!

Now you may be expecting a complex, fifteen ingredient, protein-powder boosted recipe, but no. This recipe originally uses Sinem’s chocolate-chip cookie recipe, which is already lower in sugar and fat, but not less delicious than regular chewy c-chip cookie recipes. But it has two ingrediential (is that a word?) problems that makes it a little unhealthy: butter and processed sugar. Now, I have to say that I’m not cursing butter. I think you should consume it now and then, but I would like to use my “butter quota” by spreading on a slice of bread, not in cookies. So, I don’t usually use butter in my recipes.

So first of all, I looked for something that can replace butter. I actually knew the answer for a while. It’s obviously coconut oil, which is solid in room temperature. That’s why you get real cookies when you make it with coconut oil (believe me, I tried some cookies with olive oil, and I don’t want to talk about the results). Coconut oil is also a healthier alternative to butter, since it has no cholesterol. Because of its high saturated fatty acid content, I wouldn’t want to use it everyday, but I have been wanting to try coconut oil in a recipe for a while. I like to use different things in my recipes. Remember my dark hummus? Or maybe purple carrot muffins?

But coconut oil is not something you can find everywhere, unless you live in the United States and have Whole Foods or a similar store nearby. So, I have been searching the web for quite a while to find coconut oil, among with some other things like Artisana Coconut Butter that everyone’s obsessed with, or raw cocoa nibs. But, unless you want to pay huge amount of money for shipping and customs, there’s no way you can supply these stuff in Turkey, even though there are lots of places that sell coconut oil as massage oil, which cannot be used as cooking oil.

Wait, there’s another way! Place an order to your friend who will visit the States! So, I ordered some coconut oil, coconut butter, raw cocoa nibs and some palm sugar from my friend. This may seem to be a temporary solution, but I won’t be using the coconut oil everyday, and I think I found a store in Turkish Ebay that sells edible coconut oil.

The second “ingrediential” problem was the processed sugar, and it was solved by Navitas Naturals’ palm sugar. Palm sugar is considered to be a healthier alternative to cane sugar (or, beet sugar for Turkey) since it’s lower in glycemic index and more nutritious. And it has a caramel-like taste, which I immediately liked. So, I decided to incorporate this to my recipe.

If you have access to coconut oil and palm sugar, I urge you to try this recipe. I stored a batch of cookies in the freezer. So, I just take them out in the morning and by the time I get to work, they are ready! And they usually become my afternoon snack with a cup of tea. So good!

Coconut Oil and Palm Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from Sinem’s recipe

makes 16 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 75 gr (2.6 oz.) coconut oil, in room temperature
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• ½ cup palm sugar, or any other semi-processed alternative
• ¾ cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• pinch of salt
• cocoa nibs to sprinkle

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 175 degrees C (350 degrees F).

Mix together palm sugar and coconut butter until the mixture becomes creamy, then beat in the egg.

Add the other ingredients.

Drop 1 tablespoon of dough on a parchment paper. Be sure to have space between the cookies. Sprinkle with some cocoa nibs.

Bake the cookies for 13 minutes, or until the edges turn golden.

And what about the “famous” Artisana Coconut Butter I got? I made a batch of Katie’s chocolate fudge, and they were amazing!

There are some white and dark chocolates waiting to be used in the kitchen for about a month. Actually, it’s a miracle that these chocolates can survive in the kitchen for a long time. In short, it was the time to use them. So, what I did was quite impromptu, I brushed my chocolate molds with white chocolate, and filled with some nice dark chocolate with almonds. But it was too “plain”. So what should I do to make these boring chocolates extraordinary? I simply added some red hot pepper on tops, and make these chocolates reaally hot!! Enjoy!

Spicy Chocolates

makes 12 chocolates

Ingredients:

• 100 g (3.5 oz.) white chocolate
• 100 g (3.5 oz.) 70% dark chocolate (preferably Mexican)
• 100 g  (3.5 oz.) heavy cream
• powdered red hot pepper
• chopped almonds (optional)

Directions:

In a pan, bring heavy cream to boil, and remove it from heat. Add the dark chocolate and stir until it is completely melted.

Let the ganache cool in the refrigerator. Add almonds to the ganache if you want.

Brush the chocolate molds with white chocolate, and let it chill in the freezer for 3 minutes. Continue this process a couple of times. By the way, make sure that all sides of the mold are covered with chocolate.

Fill in the molds with the dark chocolate ganache using a piping bag, while leaving some space at the top. Let the molds cool in the freezer for 15 minutes.

To the top of the molds, pour white chocolate to complete the white chocolate shell. Flatten the molds with a palette knife. Let them cool for another 10 minutes in the freezer.

Finally, sprinkle the tops with powdered red hot pepper. Keep the chocolates in the refrigerator.

What I like most about truffles is, they are easy to make and you can let your imagination do the rest! The last time I made truffles, I followed the recipe, but this time it was a real impromptu. I made two types of truffles: hazelnut and white chocolate dip truffles and dark chocolate raisin cocoa dip truffles.

You can add whatever you like to your ganache: candied orange peels, candied gingers, raisins, almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, some orange zest, lemon zest or some red pepper.

Black and White Truffles

makes 20 truffles

Ingredients:

• 200 gr (7 oz.) dark chocolate
• 200 gr (7 oz.) heavy cream
• handful of chopped hazelnuts (for white truffles)
• handful of raisins (for dark truffles)

For dipping:

• 100 gr (3.5 oz.) white chocolate, melted (for white truffles)
• ½ cup chopped hazelnuts (for white truffles)
• 100 gr (3.5 oz.) milk chocolate, melted (for dark truffles)
• cocoa powder (for dark truffles)

Directions:

Heat the cream in a pan until it starts to boil.

Remove the pan from heat, and add the dark chocolate. Stir well until all the chocolate is melted.

Divide the ganache into two parts. Add hazelnuts to the first one and raisins to the second. Spread each part thinly to a pan with parchment paper on bottom, and let them cool in the refrigerator for an hour.

Take a piece from the ganache with a little spoon, roll with your hands and form little balls, and dip each ball to 1- white chocolate, 2- hazelnuts or 1- milk chocolate, 2- cocoa powder.

Keep truffles in the refrigerator.