Everyone needs a solid chocolate chip cookie recipe to get through those challenging times of life… and also all the other times too. Who better to go to than your own grandma? Or in my case, my “nana.” This simple and insanely delicious chocolate chip cookie recipe has been devoured by my own family for as long as I can remember and now is in regular rotation at my house as requested by my husband and young daughter, and of course myself.
As good as this recipe has always been, when I finally got my hands on the actual ingredients I realized I needed to change up some things, but knew that I would have to be careful not to sacrifice that nostalgic taste.
Like in all my other recipes, I first looked to use the highest quality ingredients I could find as I knew this would at least boost the nutritional value of these cookies. Some of these upgrades included using Kerrygold grass-fed butter, organic pasture-raised eggs, organic unbleached all purpose flour, and pink himalayan salt.
Next, I axed all the cane sugar and went for my favorite alternatives: coconut palm sugar and stevia.
If you haven’t tried swapping out sugar for coconut sugar yet in a recipe, please leave my site now and go try it out. You can thank me later.
Coconut sugar can be substituted for cane sugar in a recipe at a 1:1 ratio which makes it super user friendly and it gives your dish or baked good such a robust sweet flavor that mimics that of cane sugar without the risk of wrecking your health.
Aside from the cane sugar mixed into the original recipe dough, the other sugar component was in the milk chocolate chips. To avoid the sugar there, I use a few different brands of chips that sweeten their chocolate chips with stevia instead. I’m a big fan of stevia as I have been using a small amount of it in my coffee each day for about 10 years now.
I was delighted to recently discover chocolate chips that used this sweetener as a healthy alternative to cane sugar. Try to source a brand that does not contain soy as an emulsifier if possible, or at least one that contains an organic soy additive.
Another undesirable ingredient in my nana’s recipe was shortening. I know she traditionally used Crisco and I just could not bring myself to do the same. Instead, I pay the extra money to buy the Nutiva brand of organic vegan shortening made out of a blend of organic palm fruit oil, red palm oil, and coconut oil.
My favorite way to prepare these classic cookies is to roll small 1″ balls which makes the cutest dome-shaped cookie that is a two-bite treat that has a firm crunchy foundation layer with a soft and slightly chewy top. You can add a little more flour to the recipe to create a more cake-like texture if desired.
Don’t be afraid to get real crazy and make yourself a mini ice cream sandwich because, well, life is short and it is just way too good.
So I think it’s safe to say I have maintained my nana’s old-fashioned chocolate chip cookie recipe while simultaneously altering just about every ingredient to produce an even tastier and much healthier and higher quality cookie than I enjoyed as a young child. Somehow, someway, the original flavor and spirit of this timeless cookie recipe was not lost in the process. HalleluYah! I know my nana would be proud 🙂
Nana’s old-fashioned no sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- cookie sheets
- parchment paper
- bowl
- mixing spoon
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 2/3 cup Grass-fed butter (softened) *about 10 Tbsp
- 2/3 cup Organic vegan shortening Nutiva red palm oil blend is recommended
- 2 cups Organic coconut brown sugar
- 2 Pasture-raised eggs
- 2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract *do not use imitation vanilla
Dry Ingredients
- 3 cups Organic unbleached all-purpose flour *add 1/2 cup more flour for more cake-like texture
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- 1 tsp Pink himalayan salt *any high quality salt is fine
- 12 oz Stevia-sweetened semi-sweet milk chocolate chips *sub dark chocolate if desired
Instructions
Preparation
- Turn on oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two (2) cookie sheets with parchment paper. You will need a medium or large mixing bowl as well as a mixing spoon.
Combining Wet Ingredients
- In your mixing bowl, mix together softened butter and shortening. Then mix in coconut brown sugar. Add in eggs and vanilla extract and stir until everything is well combined.
Combining Dry Ingredients
- Add flour, baking soda, and salt into mixing bowl with wet ingredients and mix with spoon until it becomes hard to continue. At this point use your hands to do kneading motions to fold and incorporate all the ingredients into a nice dough ball/mass. The warmth of your hands really helps at this point.
- Pour in about half of the chocolate chips in the package and press and fold into the dough using your hands. Add in the remaining chocolate chips and fold into the dough until evenly distributed.
Shaping for Baking
- Roll dough balls about 1" in diameter using your hands and place on cookie sheets about 2" apart. The dough should yield about 25-30 cookies depending on the size you make them.
Baking
- Bake in oven for around 9-12 minutes depending on your oven and desired level of doneness. They should be a golden brown color. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes, then dive right in & enjoy!