Last year, the buzz going around was that Santa needed to go on a diet. When we think of Santa, we think big, cuddly, and jolly. Santa wouldn’t be Santa if he were thin, but we do want him to be healthy so he can continue to spread his acts of kindness around the world. Healthy can be yummy.

I’ve been told by someone who knows that Santa’s favorite healthy cookies are chocolate chip cookies. It is possible to bake healthy chocolate chip cookies for Santa when you replace white flour with whole wheat and oat flours, egg with egg whites, milk chocolate chips with dark chocolate, limit the sugar, and use fat free milk. Whole wheat cookies can often taste like sawdust. Not these. These whole wheat cookies get their rich taste from the Ghirardelli chocolate chips.

For this healthy chocolate chip cookie recipe, the result is a batch of healthy cookies that are full of flavor. Dark Ghirardelli chocolate chips (60% cacao) are recommended because they’re richer-tasting and bigger chips, so you get more chocolate taste with fewer chips.

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup I Can’t Believe Its Butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 egg whites
1/4 cup nonfat milk
5 oz. Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips (or your favorite bittersweet chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir together flours, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter substitute and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg whites, then the milk. Stir in the flour mixture. Stir in the Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto cookie sheets. Bake 12-14 minutes or until browned around the edges.

Makes 36 cookies.

Leave these cookies for Santa and I’ll bet you might get an extra special gift this Christmas!

source: heart-healthy-cooking.suite101.com (The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup butter and 1 egg - I tweaked it to make even healthier cookies for Santa ~ compare butter and I Can’t Believe It’s Butter)