chewy and gooey.  two of my favorite qualities a cookie could ever possess.  this cookie is both chewy and gooey and also has the ability to make me salivate while typing.  wow, that’s embarrassing.  

so i was strolling through the aisles  of costco the other day (shocking, i know) and i saw a big tub of pitted dates.  i had heard of sweetening baked goods with dates before, but to be honest, they kind of freaked me out.  i decided to risk the $6.99 and see what was the worst that could happen… well, it ended up being quite possibly one of the best baking decisions i’ve made to date!! (pun intended) hah! ;)

after doing a little research on how to use a date in a recipe, i narrowed my options down to making a date-paste (which is similar to agave), soaking the dates in hot water for hours (no thanks ~ i’d like cookies sooner rather than later), or chopping them up in the food processor (sign me up).  here’s what happened next…

chewy chocolate chip cookies

• 1 c pitted dates (4.75 oz or ~about 20 dates)
• 1/2 c almond butter (or peanut butter)
• 1/3 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk or coconut milk ***
• 2 tbsp organic milled flax seed (or 1 egg)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp vanilla protein powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 c almond flour (click here for an easy way to make your own!)
• 1/4 c “enjoy life” mini chocolate chips

*** i was out of almond & coconut milk on one of my many attempts at baking this, so i used 1/3 c water mixed with 1/3 scoop vanilla protein powder and mixed it in a shaker bottle to make my own “vanilla milk” …it worked great! if you choose this option, i would recommend omitting the extra tbsp vanilla protein powder so the cookie stays a chewy, gooey consistency!

preheat oven to 350 and line your cookie sheets with parchment paper (seriously, this is a super sticky batter…parchment paper was my hero during clean up today!)

pulse the dates in a food processor until they are all chopped up into tiny pieces. add in the next 4 ingredients (almond/peanut butter, milk, flax, vanilla) and process until smooooth. scrape the sides and add in the next 3 ingredients (protein, baking soda, & almond flour) and pulse food processor until it forms a huge sticky ball of dough! this means it’s almost ready. :)

just fold in your chocolate chips and use a small cookie dough scoop to transfer dough onto parchment paper.  i make a tiny bowl of ice water and dip my scooper in it before i scoop each ball of dough…try it, you won’t even be mad.  then with the same scooper dipped in ice water, use the rounded side to flatten out each cookie.

bake for 10 min, and transfer to cooling rack.  let these cookies rest a few min before you devour them…it’s part of my recipe instructions!!! (anyone else have a husband that always sprints into the kitchen to sample stuff as soon as the oven timer goes off?!?)

recipe makes 2 dozen healthy, ooey, gooey, and chewy chocolate chip cookies! :)