Date-Sweetened Chocolate Chip Cookies
These refined sugar-free chocolate chip cookies are a riff on the standard Nestle Toll House recipe. Dates serve as the primary sweetener, but a few additional tablespoons of maple syrup bring in that hint of deep molasses flavor that ordinarily comes from brown sugar.
Ingredients
- 10 medjool dates (~6 oz) 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.
Notes
It's crucial that all ingredients be at room temperature for this recipe. These cookies don't spread as much as a normal chocolate chip cookie, so the butter needs to already be quite soft in order to get maximum spread during the short bake time.
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.
I have played around with the bake time quite a bit, and 8 minutes yields the perfect, soft, ever so slightly under-baked cookie.