I wasn’t able to post last week due to my work load being particularly crazy lately, so this week you get two recipes! I’ve been good about eating better and counting my Weight Watchers points for the past month, but sometimes I just get a craving for chocolate that won’t go away. Especially now since it’s almost Valentine’s Day and there are lots of chocolate recipes floating around trying to tempt me. That’s when I head to my trusty Cooking Light cookbooks because they always have really satisfying desserts that won’t kill my diet. Both recipes I’m sharing today are rich and chocolatey and will satisfy your worst chocolate craving, but they happen to be quite low in fat and calories so you don’t have to feel bad about eating either of them!
The first cookie recipe would actually make a great treat for Valentine’s Day: Double Chocolate-Cherry Cookies. These are soft and chewy chocolate cookies filled with dried tart cherries and bittersweet chocolate chips. You can use semi-sweet, but 60% cacao bittersweet chips are my chips of choice these days and I think the bittersweet chocolate works especially well with the tart cherries. These cookies are a win-win: you get your chocolate and you also get to feel good about incorporating more fruit into your diet. 😉
The second recipe, Peanut Butter-Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies, is one I’ve made a few times now because I thought it needed a little work, but I’m finally happy with this version. The original recipe had white chocolate, but I decided to use peanut butter chips instead. White chocolate just doesn’t do that much for me, I’m sad to say, but you can never go wrong with peanut butter. The original also had way too much oatmeal and not very much cookie. I guess I get what they were going for (oats = good, flour = bad), but it didn’t really work as a cookie so much as a lump of oats with some chocolate mixed in. Not so great.
After adjusting the amounts of oatmeal and flour (I subbed white whole wheat flour for AP flour in both recipes, which worked fine) I now finally have an actual cookie that is a very good approximation for my favorite no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies. I love those cookies, but I only make them around the holidays because they are the very definition of unhealthy (even with all those oats!). This new recipe gives me the same exact taste and texture as those without all the extra fat and calories.
Both of these recipes are dead easy to make and take very little time. In fact, I started making both at midnight and an hour later the cookies were cooling on a rack and my kitchen was completely cleaned up. I also really like that the peanut butter-chocolate recipe only makes 9 cookies. If you have kids or are taking these to an event you’ll want to double or triple the recipe, but for a household of two, 9 cookies is the perfect amount. The chocolate-cherry cookie recipe is supposed to yield about 30 cookies, but I successfully halved it and got 12 large cookies.
Chewy Double Chocolate-Cherry Cookies
adapted from Cooking Light
Dessert | Servings: about 30 cookies
Prep time: 20 min | Cook time: 12 min | Total time: 38 min
Ingredients
- 1 cup (about 4 1/2 ounces) white whole wheat flour (or regular flour)
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup butter, softened
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 large egg
- 2/3 cup dried tart cherries
- 3 tbsp. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips
Process
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).
- In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Place sugar and butter in a large mixer bowl and beat at high speed until well blended. Beat in vanilla and egg until combined.
- With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture. Beat just until combined.
- Fold in cherries and chocolate chips.
- Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment (or coat with cooking spray if you don’t have parchment). These cookies don’t spread out too much, so if you want rounder, flatter cookies, gently press them down before you place them in the oven.
- Bake 12 minutes or just until set. Remove from oven and cool on pans 5 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.
Nutrition info:
(Note: This is for regular flour, I assume whole wheat flour would add a bit more fiber?)
Serving size: 1 cookie
Calories: 80 calories
Fat: 2.7g fat
Carbohydrates: 13.4g carbs
Fiber: .8g fiber
Protein: 1.1g protein
Peanut Butter-Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
adapted from Cooking Light Complete Meals in Minutes
Dessert | Servings: 9 cookies
Prep time: 20 min | Cook time: 12 min | Total time: 38 min
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. butter, melted
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/4 uncooked regular oats
- 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. white whole wheat flour (or regular flour)
- 1/4 tsp. baking powder
- Dash of salt
- 1/4 – 1/3 cup peanut butter chips*
* Obviously, they are healthier if you use less peanut butter chips, but, well, you know…
Process
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).
- In a large bowl (you can use your mixer or mix by hand), beat together butter, sugar, cocoa, egg and vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, stir together oats, flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
- Add oat mixture to butter mixture, stirring just until blended.
- Fold in peanut butter chips.
- Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheet lined with parchment (or coat with cooking spray if you don’t have parchment). These cookies don’t spread out much, so if you want rounder, flatter cookies, gently press them down before you place them in the oven.
- Bake 9 minutes or until centers are almost done. Remove from oven and cool on pan 1 minute. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire rack.
Nutrition info:
(Note: This is an approximation because I couldn’t find peanut butter chips in my recipe analyzer, I subbed Reese’s Pieces candy since that was the closest product I could find in there, but I assume those would have slightly higher calories since they have the candy coating that the chips don’t have.)
Serving size: 1 cookie
Calories: 131 calories
Fat: 5g fat
Carbohydrates: 21g carbs
Fiber: 3g fiber
Protein: 2g protein
Thank you for posting the nutritional information! I find homemade recipes like this always so hard to gauge the WW points value for. I’m sure I usually err on the side of less rather than more – really just hurting myself. It’s nice to know what the damage is!
I know how you feel, I’ve been burned lately with some recipes on food blogs that claimed to be low fat/cal, but when I actually analyzed the recipe they turned out to be really bad for you. False advertising is not cool!
Those peanut butter oatmeal cookies look like the perfect little treat when you’re craving it! I’m so glad this only makes 9 cookies, too! Whenever I make cookies I’m left with dozens! Thanks for sharing and for the beautiful pictures 🙂
I can’t decide which cookie looks more delicious – they’re both great. I’m not usu. a fan of no bakes, but I’m going to try this one. Sounds delish.
Okay, clearly, I need to read slower. LOL Now I have to go find your favorite no bake recipe. 🙂
First, GREAT photos. Really lovely. What a great combo, you can never go wrong with PB & Choc, and I love oatmeal added to baked goods, it gives it another depth of flavor and texture. I’m going to have to try this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
I too have to compliment you on those photos. Normally, I’m not much for PB and chocolate, but you made them look too delicious to pass up. I’ll try the recipe out and see if I can get something close to what yours were.
Thanks, everyone! I’m glad you like the photos, I lucked out by having nice light that day. Slightly overcast seems to be the perfect light for food.
I just made the Chocolate-Cherry ones, and they are delicious! Was worried at first, as the batter seemed to be rather dry, but it eventually blended together really well (just had to keep stirring!) and turned into moist, rich cookies. And the cherries really take them to the next level. In a funny coincidence, I was also planning on making the chicken tortilla soup you blogged about a while back… so I guess I have you to thank for dinner AND dessert!
Yay, I’m so glad you liked them! I think both cookies definitely seem dry at first since there isn’t tons of butter, but you’re right that they come together and wind up being very moist.
Weight watchers is great except for when that chocolate sweet tooth comes a knockin!!!!
both of them look amazingly awesome. I for one prefer the chewy chocolate cookies, but I guess that the peanut butter oatmeal are also incredible. Thanks a lot for posting these two recipes. Definitely going to try them.