These healthy chocolate caramel cookies are fudgy, chewy, and decadent! They are topped with luscious caramel and a stripe of chocolate. No one will believe they are also gluten free, vegan (options), and healthy! Made with only good for you ingredients ;)
These chocolate caramel cookies are INSANELY good! They taste so unhealthy, yet are full of healthy fats and protein! These are seriously addicting with that gooey salted caramel (that has a secret ingredient) and fudgy cookie that tastes almost like a brownie! These are also pretty simple to make, compared to my other recipes!
The Cookie
This cookie is extremely fudgy and chewy, all thanks to the nut butter! You could use any nut butter you'd like. Just keep in mind that if the nut butter has a strong flavor, such as peanut butter or tahini, the flavor will shine through and have a strong impact on the cookie. But there's nothing bad about a chocolate peanut butter cookie! I used homemade almond butter in these cookies.
Next you'll need an egg. You can substitute this with a flax or chia egg, or even aquafaba with is the liquid from a can of chickpeas. To make a flax or chia, all you need to do is combine 1 tbsp ground flax or chia with 3 tbsp water. Please do not use whole flax or chia seeds, it would not work. Allow the mixture to gel up for around 10 minutes before using.
Sugar is the next ingredient. You can use any granulated sweetener of choice, such as coconut sugar, monk fruit, and erythritol. You could also use brown sugar, which would make the cookies extra chewy. Vanilla extract is for flavor, do not leave it out! Even though these are chocolate cookies, you need the vanilla for an extra depth of flavor!
Cacao powder is a more unrefined version of cocoa powder. It was processed at a much lower temperature than cocoa powder, allowing it to keep a lot of its nutrients and antioxidants that cocoa powder does not have. Cacao powder is what gives these cookies that rich chocolate flavor, but you could also use cocoa powder, the taste will be the same. Oat flour binds the cookie together. You could make your own oat flour easily by blending up oats in a blender until it turns into a find powder. Make sure the flour is very fine, so a weaker blender or food processor would not do a good job. You would have to sift the flour if your blender is weak, for the best results.
Baking soda will help give the cookies some lift, so it isn't as dense as a bar of chocolate. Baking powder cannot be substituted, unless you want a cakey cookie. Salt, though it may seem weird to add to cookies, really enhances the sweetness and prevent the cookies from tasting "flat".
This cookie dough is make all in one bowl, no extra dishes to clean! One last thing: do not overbake the cookies as they will turn hard. They would not be wonderfully soft and fudgy cookies anymore. The cookies may seem way too soft when they come out of the oven, but give them time to cool on the baking sheet and they will firm up.
The Caramel
This caramel starts off with some coconut milk. This cannot be substituted with any other kind of milk, as we are relying on the high fat content of the coconut milk to make the caramel. Please do not use low-fat coconut milk either. The coconut milk should be thick and creamy. Don't worry, the caramel will not taste like coconut. Next you will need sugar. Again, any granulated sweetener of choice would work, such as coconut sugar, monk fruit, or erythritol. Just make sure the sweetener behaves just like sugar.
When cooking the coconut milk and sugar, you need to be extra careful and keep stirring. The caramel could turn from perfectly done to burnt in under a minute. The caramel may still look white, but if the texture is bubbly and thick you need to take it off the heat. After it is taken off the heat, you'll add in the secret ingredient: Soy sauce. Yes, you heard me right. Soy sauce has a wonderful umami flavor that takes this caramel to the next level! The saltiness of the soy sauce also transforms the caramel to a salted caramel! If you really cannot find soy sauce or just do not like it, just add 1/8 tsp salt, or omit it completely. Vanilla extract also adds a nice depth of flavor to the caramel.
Assembly and Storage
Once the cookies are cooled to room temperature, you can add on the caramel! You can either spoon the caramel on with a spoon or place it in a Ziploc bag and pipe it onto the cookies! Do not add too much caramel as it will overflow and also the caramel can be overpowering. In the same Ziploc bag, add the melted chocolate. This way it reduces waste and then you can also pipe on stripes of chocolate!
To store these cookies, place them in an airtight container and they will keep for around a week in the fridge, and you can freeze them up to 3 months (if they can last that long!). Do not leave then at room temperature as the chocolate will melt and the caramel will be runny.
Watch this video on how to make Chocolate Caramel Cookies!
Healthy Chocolate Caramel Cookies
Prep time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total: 42 minutes
Serves: 12
These healthy chocolate caramel cookies are fudgy, chewy, and decadent! They are topped with luscious caramel and a stripe of chocolate. No one will believe they are also gluten free, vegan (options), and healthy! Made with only good for you ingredients ;)
Ingredients
Cookie:
125 grams (1/2 cup) nut butter*
1 egg**
50 grams sugar (or granulated sweetener of choice)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
20 grams cacao powder (or cocoa powder)
15 grams oat flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
Toppings:
40 grams (3 tbsp) full-fat coconut milk
36 grams sugar (or granulated sweetener of choice)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp soy sauce (or 1/8 tsp salt)
2 tbsp chocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350° F (175° C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, add in the nut butter, egg, sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix these together until completely smooth. To the wet ingredients, add in cacao powder, oat flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix together until a dough forms.
Scoop out the dough into 1 inch ball using a cookie scoop or a spoon. Place in on the lined baking sheet, around 3 inches apart from each other. With a wettened hand to prevent sticking, flatten out the cookies as they do not spread. Create a divot in the center of each cookie; this is where the caramel will go. Bake for 10-12 minutes, and let them cool completely while making the caramel.
To make the caramel, add the coconut milk and sugar to a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for around 3 minutes, until it bubbles a lot and becomes a bit thicker. The color may still be white. Add the soy sauce and vanilla extract, mixing until completely smooth. If it clumps up, add a little more coconut milk and place it back over medium heat, stirring until it becomes smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
Place the caramel in a plastic bag and cut off an end. Pipe the caramel into the centers of the cookies. Melt your chocolate, then place that in a plastic bag. Cut off an end, and pipe a stripe of chocolate onto the cookies. Place the cookies in the fridge until the chocolate and caramel has set, around 20 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
*Please note that if you use a nut butter with a stronger flavor, such as peanut butter, the flavor will shine through. I prefer to use a nut butter with a more mild flavor, such as almond or cashew butter. If you have a nut allergy, you can also use any kind of seed butter.
**If you are vegan, you can substitute the egg with a flax or chia egg. To make that, combine 1 tbsp GROUND flax/chia with 3 tbsp water, letting it sit for 10 minutes before using in the recipe. You can also replace it with 3 tbsp aquafaba (liquid from a can of chickpeas).
Nutrition Info
Serving Size: 1 cookie
Calories: 125 kcal
Fat: 7.8 g
Carbohydrates: 12.4 grams
Sugars: 9 grams
Protein: 3.4 grams
Sodium: 94 mg
Fiber: 2 g
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