Amanda Cook Before I lost the ability to digest refined sugar, I was the Cookie Queen. Some people love cakes, some people love pastry, but I loved baking cookies. My mom and I used to crank out Christmas cookies by the dozen every December, and my friends always received gift boxes jam-packed with at least six different types of cookies as holiday presents.
When I first started experimenting with natural sweeteners, I started with pies because the additional liquid from the maple syrup or honey could easily be offset with a little extra cornstarch. But cookies do not handle liquid sweeteners well. Cookie dough has a very particular texture — the fat-sugar-flour ratio is a delicate balance — and dumping a bunch of excess liquid into the batter just doesn’t work (believe me, I tried, with hilarious results).
So I turned to dates as my primary sweetener of choice for these refined sugar-free chocolate chip cookies. Their chewy texture lends itself well to cookies without adding extra liquid to the cookie dough. However, for those following a low-FODMAP diet, be forewarned that dates are a high-FODMAP food, so enjoy these cookies in moderation.
These date-sweetened chocolate chip cookies use the standard Nestle Toll House recipe as a starting point, but dates and maple syrup replace white and brown sugar. For the chocolate chips, I’ve found that I can tolerate the small amount of refined sugar in these Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate Morsels, which are allergen-free. But if you want a true refined sugar-free cookie, I’d recommend Lily’s Dark Chocolate Baking Chips.
Lastly, these refined sugar-free, date-sweetened chocolate chip cookies do not spread very much on their own. Make sure your butter is truly softened to room temperature before you start to get maximum spread during the short bake time, and flatten the cookies a little bit before placing them in the oven.
Date-Sweetened Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 10 medjool dates soaked in hot water
- 1/2 cup butter softened (room temperature)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 TBSP pure maple syrup
- 1 egg room temperature and lightly beaten
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Soak the dates in hot water for 10-20 minutes.
- Once the dates are softened, transfer them to a food processor and blend until they resemble a thick paste. If the dates are still hard and clumpy, try adding 1 tsp of water to help the mixture along.
- Add softened butter to the food processor and pulse until dates and butter are combined, being careful to not overwhip the butter (this will add too much air to your cookie dough and result in a cakier cookie).
- Transfer the date butter to a stand mixer or large mixing bowl and add vanilla extract and maple syrup. Stir until just combined.
- Add egg and continue mixing until just combined.
- Add flour, baking soda, and salt and stir until the dough comes together, again being careful not to overwork the mixture.
- Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Drop by generous rounded tablespoon onto an ungreased baking sheet, then gently flatten each cookie using your index finger or the back of the spoon.
- Bake at 350°F for 8 minutes.
These look amazing!
Thank you! If you wanted to make them vegan, you could probably use a 1/2 cup of softened (but not melted) coconut oil and a flax egg instead of the butter and egg. Let me know if you try it!
I will!! Thanks!
I just tried this recipe out as a base, but subbed coconut oil for butter and used a gf all purpose flour. I also threw in some walnuts and oats and they turned out great!
I’m so glad you were able to make it work for you! Good to know that coconut oil works as a sub for butter for our vegan friends, and that the recipe holds up to custom mix-ins. Thanks for sharing your experiment with this recipe!
These taste amazingly close to the Nestle tollhouse recipe with no sugar!
[…] of the biggest surprises since launching this blog has been the overwhelming popularity of my Date-Sweetened Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I had found success in refined sugar-free pies and cakes, but cookies were a much bigger […]
What about using GF Flour in this recipe?
I haven’t personally tried GF flour since gluten is one of the few things I haven’t needed to remove from my diet. If you give it a go, please let me know how it turns out!
I have had great success subbing all-purpose gf flour blend. Really love this recipe
I have had great success subbing all-purpose gf flour blend. Really love this recipe
Incredible. 100% Tollhouse taste. I overwhipped the butter for sure, but I don’t mind. 😄 I subbed gf flour (Bob’s 1-1 mix) and they worked great. Thank you for this recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these, and that they worked out with GF flour!
I only have Deglet Noor dates right now. How many of them would be the equivalent of Medjool Dates?
Deglet dates tend to be a little smaller than medjool dates, so I would try about 14 of them. I’ve also found that deglet dates don’t blend in the food processor as easily, so give them a good long soak in hot water, rough chop them before adding to the food processor, and add a few more teaspoons of the soaking liquid to get them to form a paste. Good luck!
How much hot water do you recommend? Do you use the soaking water to blend? I make a banana bread which uses a date paste but it uses the soaking water. 1 cup dates/1/2 cup hot water. Would love to give these a try.
I use enough hot water to cover the dates completely, which could vary depending on the bowl you’re soaking them in. And yes, I do reuse the soaking water to help the date paste along in the food processor!
Ok, great! Thank you Amanda.
Could I use date syrup instead? I have some from Trader Joe’s that’s 100% dates. If you think that will work, how many tablespoons would you suggest? Thanks
I have not personally tried date syrup before, but my instinct would be that it’s too liquidy. The blended date paste is nice and thick and really helps bind the cookie together, so I think adding another liquid sweetener would ruin the texture of the cookie dough.
Are you de-pitting the dates? I’ve been trying to find better ingredients for my kids without them noticing much difference. I’m definitely trying this recipe! I can’t tolerate stevia and wish there was another chocolate chip option that was sweet without sugar.
Yes definitely de-pit the dates! Some come already pitted, and others you will have to remove on your own. And I hear you on chocolate chips… so many of the no-sugar options just have sugar alcohols, which are horrible for digestion!
You are so quick! Thank you! We are making the cookies now!
I have just found that the HU brand is now carrying chocolate chips sweetened by dates!!! Only the semi-sweet, the dark chocolate is coconut sugar. I have found them at Target, and Kroger brand grocery stores so far.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I’m going to have to keep an eye out for these at my local Target and try them.
Human dark chocolate chips use coconut sugar if you can handle coconut sugar!
Hu has a chocolate chips made with coconut sugar or one made with just dates!!!
I’ve started seeing these at the grocery store and Target! Have you tried them? Are they good?
I have date paste, so how much do I need to make this recipe?
Having never used date paste, I’m sorry I can’t say for sure. My best guess would be 1/2 cup, but I also wonder if using pre-made date paste might be too loose of a texture for this recipe. If you try it and find success, please let me know!
These are amazing! I made them the other night. My mods were avocado oil based plant butter and deglet noor dates. For the chocolate I used Enjoy Life semi sweet chunks. Sooo good. My new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe! For me they are pillowy soft with a light crunch on the edges. Maybe because I used plant based butter or over mixed the butter a little is why they came out a bit airy. Although it doesn’t matter because they are still delicious! Can’t wait to make them again. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Oh this makes me so happy to hear! I’m glad you were able to modify them and enjoy them 🙂
1st pan out and I’ve eaten 2 already! So good. After 1st pan I raised temp to 375 and baked for 10 minutes. Could be my oven but 1st pan were quite doughy but delicious.
My personal preference is definitely a super soft cookie, so I’m glad you were able to adjust the baking time and temp to get the perfect texture for you!
Trying to replace sugar in my baking lately. This is my first time baking with dates and I was initially really nervous. I tried this recipe with boiling Deglet Dates for 10 minutes (saw it in another recipe for cookies when preparing dates), vegan butter and honey instead of maple syrup and they turned out amazing. First batch came out slightly underdone so I put it in for another 2 minutes (most likely due to high altitude baking). I seriously do not notice a difference.
I’m so happy you landed on this page for your first attempt with refined sugar free baking! I’ve never tried boiling the dates first — I’ll have to try that, too. As someone who grew up baking with lots of refined sugar, I remember feeling like I had no idea where to start when trying to cut it out of my tried and true recipes. These cookies are one of the tougher recipes on this site, so I’d definitely recommend checking out some of my pie and cake recipes if you’re looking for something slightly easier. Happy baking!
Great taste. Unfortunately, the absence of sugar really affected the texture. The cookies lacked structure . Even baking them longer didn’t help. They were still way too soft and didn’t brown. Overall, delicious, just missing that classic cookie crunch.
Ah, I think my bias for ultra soft cookies is showing! These admittedly won’t get you a crunchy texture, but I’m glad you still enjoyed the taste.
What are the nutritional values for this recipe? I would love to make them but I’m on a weight watchers diet and have to tally all the values.
Thank you for the recipe. Can wait to make these cookies. Can you use Almond flour instead?
Thanks for your comment! Since I have a nut allergy, I have never used almond flour, so I couldn’t say for sure how it would affect this recipe. A few of the other commenters have successfully subbed GF flour at a 1:1 ratio, but no word on almond flour yet. If you try it, let us know how it goes!
Can’t wait to try this recipe.
But why not use molasses to replicate the flavour of molasses?
You could totally do that! I just usually have maple syrup on hand, and I know that it agrees with my stomach. From what I’ve read, maple syrup and molasses have a similar glycemic index, so it should have a similar result in this recipe.
Delicious and definitely a great substitute. Also found them to be on the soft side but that’s logical when you don’t add sugar so…for a sugar-free cookie they are great! Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Thanks so much for your comment! Glad you enjoyed them.
I look forward to trying these! Have you tried using date sugar? Would that substitute for the white sugar in Nestle tollhouse recipe still using the maple syrup for the dark sugar taste?
I’ve never used date sugar before, so I can’t say. This recipe was specifically designed for whole dates. But let me know if you try it and find success!
My kids and I don’t feel well on even smaller amounts of refined sugar, but my own experiments substituting with dates in cookies resulted in dry, crumbly hockey pucks. I haven’t even attempted cookies for years. Fast forward to trying this recipe out yesterday. It’s amazing. It’s a real cookie, and we don’t feel awful afterwards. THANK YOU!
Thank you so much for sharing this! My hope in publishing these recipes is always to help people with dietary restrictions still have a little bit of joy in their lives, so I love that you and your family were able to enjoy these cookies!
Hi,
I’m excited to try this recipe, I wanted to know if I can sub honey for the maple syrup? Also has anyone subbed anything for the egg, my daughter can’t have eggs or maple syrup at the moment, it’s so hard to find recipes for baked goods that don’t use eggs and do use honey. I’m really grateful I found your page though!
Hi! Honey is definitely an easy substitute for maple syrup. I do find that honey has a more distinct taste, whereas maple syrup tends to blend more into the other flavors in the recipe. So as long as you don’t mind your cookie maybe tasting a bit like honey, it shouldn’t affect the texture. As for the egg, I don’t know if anyone has tried it for this recipe, but you could experiment with a flax egg. I’ve never tried it before so I can’t vouch for it, but that would be my best guess. Let me know if it works out for you!
Turned out so yummy! I did add an extra Tb of maple syrup just cuz I have the biggest sweet tooth, and I used applesauce instead of butter. They’re so good. They have the texture of a pumpkin cookie. Divine!
Thanks for sharing your modifications, and glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Do you know how these effect the glycemic index? I notice they do not register as sugar free in their nutritional facts.
Yes! Maple syrup has an approximate glycemic index of 55, and dates are approximately 45, so this refined sugar-free recipe comes in at about half the GI of a recipe with refined cane sugar (GI of 100). Hope that helps!
Can you freeze these cookies? I am wanting to make cookies ahead of time and freeze to take on vacation.
I’ve never tried it! We tend to eat these instantly at our house, so we’ve never frozen them for later. So I’m sorry I can’t say for sure, but if you have successfully frozen other cookies in the past, then these might be OK, too.
Can you freeze these cookies? I am wanting to make cookies ahead of time and freeze to take on vacation.
Could you share the recipe in grams? Thanks!
In regards to the comment about eggs , you can use bolts Red Hill egg replacer or plant base eggs called “Just Egg”. I’ve had great results with both of them.
I’ve just made these and tasted one when it had cooled but still warm. Lovely 🙂 I’ll be making these again!
I did sub half wheat flour/white flour and replaced a bit of that with almond flour. Used 2 tbls of maple syrups instead of three and they’ve come of super sweet 🙂
I might try adding some xantham gum or psyllium next time for added binding? It might help with the fall apart-ness of them. But I’m happy with them as they are. Thank you :)) xxx
I suspect the crumbly nature might be from the almond flour substitution that you’ve made, though I’ve never worked with almond flour because I have a nut allergy. But I’m glad you enjoyed them, regardless!
Oh I did 😉 I’m making them again today, I’ll leave the almond flour out this time to see if it makes a difference 👍
They came out grate, I add dark chocolate chips. They definitely taste like toll house! I added protein powder, I know it defeated the purpose without sugar. They still came out good. Next ones I’ll make without.
I can’t wait to make them for my grandkids.
I love that you’re going to make these for your grandkids! Sharing delicious food that makes other people happy is what baking is all about.
Great flavor! But mine were to cakey and I tried really hard not to overstir. Will try again! I did use einkorn flour, not sure if that could be cause. First recipe trying it. Thank you!
Hate to tell you but maple syrup is sugar
These are awesome tasting. So my husband loves store bought junk. I made these and I didn’t tell him the ingredients and he loved them. He said they tasted different from the previous ones that I made so I told him what they had in them and he said he loved them. Woohoo!
Glad they were a hit for both of you!