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Have you ever wondered what ingredients you could substitute in a chocolate chip cookie recipe for dietary needs? How to make cookies healthier, whole wheat, vegan, gluten-free, egg-free, or butter-free?
Today I’m SO thrilled to be sharing with you my Ultimate Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies part THREE! We’re diving into dietary and health restrictions today. I can’t tell you how often I’m asked how to make a recipe work for special diet needs, and I received many requests to do an Ultimate Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies on just that topic. As someone without any special diet or health needs, this is an area I am fairly unfamiliar with. I thought this experiment would be the perfect way to dip my feet into this world!
I used an adapted version of the Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe as my control and made small variations among the ingredients to show you how they affect the cookie, all with dietary restrictions and health needs in mind. I kept everything else the same in each recipe test so we could observe the differences in the finished cookie, photographing all the results for you. See the comparison photo at the end of this post.
Tools and Ingredients Used (when applicable):
-Spring-Loaded Cookie Scoop (Medium or 1 1/2-Tablespoon size)
–Chicago Metallic sheet pans
–Escali Digital Food Scale
–KitchenAid 5-quart Stand Mixer
–Oven thermometer
–Unbleached parchment paper
-Gold Medal All-Purpose Flour
-Fine sea salt
-Light brown sugar
-Large eggs
-Unsalted butter at a cool room temperature

Free Cookie Customization Guide!
The science-based guide so you can bake perfect cookies every time!
Control Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (142 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (75 grams) granulated sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (75 grams) packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1 cup (170 grams) semi sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper.
In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, beating well to combine. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips. Scoop 1 1/2 tablespoon-sized balls and place onto prepared baking sheets.
Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
Whole Wheat:

For this batch I substituted all of the 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (5 ounces or 142 grams) of all-purpose flour in the control recipe with 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (4.7 ounces or 135 grams) of King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour, proceeding with the instructions as written. The whole wheat dough was much stiffer than the control dough and the finished cookies were chewy, firm, with a nutty flavor. I was actually quite surprised by how delicious they were, I put a little smiley face on my notes. If you’re looking to add more fiber and whole wheat goodness to your diet, you can DEFINITELY get away with substitute half, if not all, whole wheat flour in your chocolate chip cookie recipes. I’m sure white whole wheat flour would be even less noticeable.
Gluten-Free:

To make a batch of gluten-free cookies, I substituted all of the flour with the same exact amount of Cup 4 Cup Gluten-Free Flour, as directed in the Cup 4 Cup package directions (the name is quite literal). Beyond Amazon, you can find Cup 4 Cup at Sur la Table and Williams-Sonoma. I know there are MANY blends of flours and various ingredients to create a gluten-free flour mixture but I wanted to use something streamlined that I knew you guys would be able to get your hands on, and not have to spend a small fortune on half a dozen different specialty flours and ingredients. Since those who cannot eat gluten are often well versed in gluten-free recipes, I thought this would be especially helpful to those unfamiliar with gluten-free baking who may need to serve a gluten-free guest occasionally.
The gluten-free dough with Cup 4 Cup was pale and sticky. Overall, the Nestle control recipe is a fairly wet dough to begin with so I think when substituting with Cup 4 Cup, the recipe could have used a little more flour. Despite the sticky dough I proceeded, since I was trying to gauge just how effective this gluten-free product is, if it can truly be substituted one-for-one. The cookies unsurprisingly spread fast and flat with crunchy edges. I’d venture to assume that if I were to add a 1/4 cup more of the Cup 4 Cup they wouldn’t have spread so much. When I took my first bite into these cooled cookies I was pretty impressed. If I hadn’t known they were gluten-free I probably would have never guessed. The only change besides that fact that this batch needed more flour was that the texture was ever so slightly grainy. Hardly noticeable though. Cup 4 Cup is definitely a great gluten-free option for cookies, though you may need to experiment to get it just right.
Coconut Oil:

I know many people cannot have dairy, so I wanted to experiment with a butter-free cookie recipe. I substituted the stick of unsalted butter (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) in the control recipe with 1/2 cup room temperature coconut oil, weighing 3.68 ounces. I proceeded with the recipe as written and the resulting dough was ultra soft, pale, and slightly greasy. The baked coconut oil cookies were super chewy and moist, with just a hint of coconut flavor. I actually think the coconut scent was stronger than the flavor. These cookies LOOKED just like normal cookies, but were quite greasy. Regardless, they were delicious and had a great overall mouthfeel.
Maple Syrup:

Just like dairy, I know many people cannot consume processed sugar. My mom is actually allergic to cane sugar, so I was extra motivated to test out a sugar-free batch. Instead of the combined 3/4 cup total of brown and granulated sugars in the control recipe, I used 1/2 cup of pure grade A dark amber maple syrup. Since I was adding so much liquid to the dough, I also added in a 1/4 cup of additional flour, an amount based off some internet research I did into baking with maple syrup. I used my electric mixer to beat the butter by itself until creamy, then added the maple syrup and beat until very well combined before proceeding with the rest of the recipe as written. The dough was still very, very sticky but I proceeded, trusting my substitution research. To my surprise the cookies barely spread. Usually very wet doughs spread more (such as the gluten-free batch), but these maple syrup cookies remained small, tall, soft, and slightly cakey with a a little crispness at the edges. They definitely had a more mellow sweetness to them, but were still quite tasty.
Flax Egg:

Eggs are a common allergen and I am frequently asked how to substitute them, whether for allergies or to make a recipe vegan-friendly. There’s nothing else in the world like an egg, so I’ve always been hesitant to experiment with egg substitutions. I actually LOVE adding an extra egg yolk in my cookies because it makes them more rich and chewy. So the thought of using NO eggs makes me nervous and unfortunately I am sad to say, it still does. It appears I have more experimenting to do though I’m not quite sure with what – vegan friends can you help me out? The most common egg substitute according to the internet is the flax egg, which is 1 tablespoons ground flax meal mixed with 3 tablespoons water. This is what I used to substitute for the egg in the control recipe. The resulting cookies were flat, grainy, gritty, and super sweet with no depth of flavor. These were absolutely my least favorite of the experiments. I think flax eggs can work well as a one-for-one substitute in many recipes, but to me it’s far too noticeable in a chocolate chip cookie recipe. If you had absolutely no choice in the matter, a flax egg cookie could probably satisfying a cookie craving but I won’t be using it again since I don’t need to do so.
Final Comparison:

*If you use these images PLEASE give proper credit to me and link back to this post.*
What did you think of these experiments? Have you had success with any dietary substitutions in cookie recipes? Will you be trying out any of these substitutions? Let me know in the comments below – I’d love to hear from you!
All Three Guides in Comparison:

I was always curious about using honey in a cookie recipe, would that work just as well as the maple syrup, or would that produce a different result?
I was wondering that too! Maybe in a future addendum to this post or a “part 5.” 🙂
@Tessa, wonderful website, I really appreciate your very analytical approach and detailed notes and pictures.
Wow, I guess I’m not the only cookie fanatic, I’ll inform my husband 🙂 the other day I made the toll house recipe but swapped the regular butter for brown butter. After melting and browning the butter I poured it into a measuring cup, added a few tablespoons of water back to the butter (since it was
Cooked out) and stuck it in the fridge for about 2 hours so it could solidify. Still soft but not a liquid. Aaaaamazing cookies. The dough almost tasted caramel-y but the cooked cookie was just a slight variance in flavor. Also I have used Splenda instead of white sugar. Good too. Thanks for your research!
Thanks for experimenting and saving me some time (and! truthfully, calories)! Great pictures and instructions.
I have used flaxseed replacements in several baked goods before, and typically find there to be some grainy texture. I will have to try Meredith’s suggestion to blend first! I usually add two tablespoons of hot water to one tablespoon of flaxseed meal, though, and that seems to work much better for me. More like an actual egg.
Thanks again!
Oh my gosh, just found this blog on pintrest and I am in LOVE!!! i would love to do this but i dont have the time! Also my waistline would soooo not appreciate it! So i just love reading all your “experiments”! thank you….I cant wait to try some of the recipies!
Hi Kate! Thank you and welcome 🙂 I’m so happy to have you as a new reader! I hope you enjoy my recipes.
Love this installment!
For eggless cookies:
http://www.egglesscooking.com/2009/01/23/best-chocolate-chip-cookies/
It uses Ener-G Egg Replacer.
For egg substitutions, I’m not a huge fan of flax eggs, either. It does work better if you blend the flax meal and water in a blender then let it sit for five minutes, than if you simply whisk them together. But my favorite egg substitution is chickpea flour. I add two tablespoons of chickpea flour to the dry ingredients and two tbsp of water to the wet (usually with the vanilla). This is a substitute for one egg, and in a recipe like chocolate chip cookies, the flavor difference is very subtle. You’ll probably want to increase your leavener by a 1/4 tsp, but the high protein content in the flour is very similar to the binding properties of egg white!
I’ve been enjoying this cookie series, and I have some suggestions for future cookie experiments. I’d love to see these tested: less flour, replacing brown sugar with a combination of white sugar and molasses, replacing a small (e.g. 5-10%) amount of white sugar with corn syrup or Lyle’s Golden Syrup, browned butter (like the Cook’s Illustrated recipe), and the Cook’s Illustrated mixing method where you rest the dough a few times during mixing.
Just an idea if you don’t like coconut taste in the dairy free cookie you can use refined coconut oil. It’s the unrefined coconut oil that has the coconut taste.
We are a no-egg family and I have found that 20g of instant potato (flakes) and 60-80 ml of yoghurt makes for a wonderful egg replacement. I use it in cookies, cakes and muffins that have an oil base as opposed to a butter base and the results are fab! For chocolate chip cookies that use butter I use margarine and it works great.
What an interesting substitution! Thanks for the tip 🙂
My favorite mix of all these is – all brown sugar, equal parts; corn starch, baking soda, and baking powder, coconut oil, and refrigerated dough overnight. What an amazing cookie. The dough is rock hard because of the oil; but I just use a knife to break it up and its fine.
I somehow missed the first installments of this series, I’ll have to go back. My son has soy and corn allergies (among others) and I use the King Arthur’s Flour recipe for crispy chocolate chip cookies, which calls for both butter and shortening. Since I am nutritionally opposed to shortening, I replaced it with coconut oil. So they have 1/2 cup each of butter and coconut oil. They aren’t greasy at all, and hands down the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had. I’ve been making them for 2 or 3 years now, and I am quickly becoming famous for them. They have an almost imperceptible hint of coconut flavor, which is just perfect. The other thing is that I use only Enjoy Life chocolate chips, as they do not contain the ubiquitous soy lecithin.
Thanks for all this research – I’m going to make some whole wheat cookies now!
I have loved reading this series and these are some of the things I have been wondering about so thank you! I love coconut oil in cookies, but have definitely noticed they are always a little greasy! Pinned!