(Featured Recipes: 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies and 4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies)
I absolutely do believe you can Have Your Chocolate And Eat It Too– but I also believe it’s important to ‘healthify’ (or adapt a particular dish or food item in order to improve the health value) our foods as much as we possibly can in order to reduce the amount of exposure to toxins. I will discuss some of the ways I healthify the foods I prepare.
No Highly Restrictive Diets for Me
I’ve never been one for highly restrictive diets or fad diets, but I understand that for some individuals there may be medical, ethical or religious reasons involved. Making the kinds of choices that contribute to a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle is key if I want to look and feel my best. Those choices have included limiting certain foods as opposed to eliminating them altogether. For instance, I might treat myself to a hunky chunk slice of 3-layer vanilla cake (with lots of fruit filling and chocolate ganache or buttercream between the layers) just every now and then instead of a couple of times a week. And there are also times when, after completing my morning workout, I eat a few cookies (or a small portion size of other homemade confections) along with the oat bran hot cereal that I have for breakfast. I choose to do this because if I eat my higher carbs early then I have more hours to burn off the carbs- and besides, I’m constantly moving around and being more active during the earlier part of the day than I am during later times of the day.
Another significant lifestyle choice for me is working out regularly. Not only is it good for the heart, controlling weight, and combating health conditions and diseases, but it’s also a great way to manage stress and boost mood and energy.
A Switch to Quality Ingredients
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Ingredients I No Longer Use
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Ingredients I Use
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Refined Sugar
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Unrefined Sugar (e.g., Zulka Morena Pure Cane Sugar)
Coconut Sugar
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Bleached, Enriched All Purpose Flour
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Unbleached, Unbromated All Purpose Flour
Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour
Coconut Flour
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Margarine/ Most Vegetable Oils
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Grass-Fed Butter (e.g., Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter)
Avocado
Organic, Unrefined Virgin or Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
Extra Virgin Olive Oil |
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Processed Honey
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Raw Honey |
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Peanut Butter (containing unhealthy fats)
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Non-Hydrogenated Peanut Butter (e.g., Aldi’s Peanut Delight Natural Creamy Peanut Butter or Simply Nature Organic Creamy Peanut Butter) |
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Sweetened Shredded Coconut
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Organic Unsweetened Coconut Flakes (e.g., Great Value Organic Unsweetened Coconut Flakes)
Unsweetened Desiccated Coconut |
I’m able to find the healthier, quality ingredients I listed above for an affordable price at stores like Walmart, Aldi or Trader Joe’s. There’s not a Trader Joe’s close by where I live, so I don’t get to shop there as often I would like.
Because I limit the amount of dairy I consume, I often use almond or coconut milk as a replacement. One of the next steps I plan to take in making my foods healthier will be to switch out the brand of eggs I use and instead begin to buy from companies whose eggs are produced by hens raised in a Certified Humane, free-range environment and fed antibiotic free feed. In the health article “The 9 Foods You Should Never Eat”– Dr. Mercola provides information on why it’s better to ditch certain foods and opt for others.
For this month, I chose to healthify the popular 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies(which has quickly become one of my most craved sweet treats to make) by reducing the amount of sugar and using non-hydrogenated peanut butter. I also have included a recipe for 4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies, with chocolate chips. I’d love to have you share what you think about these marvelously tasty and moist peanut butter fudge-like cookies, so try them and give us your feedback. And please feel free to share some of the ways you healthify your foods.
| 3-INGREDIENT PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES AND 4-INGREDIENT PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Recipe ByShirell Dalton, The Simple Chocolatier Prep: 3 minutes Cook Time: 7-8 minutes Yields 14 cookies Ingredients: For the 3-Ingredient version: 1 cup natural peanut butter (I used Aldi’s Peanut Delight Natural Creamy Peanut Butter) 1/4 cup unrefined pure cane sugar (I used Zulka Morena Pure Cane Sugar) –see note below 1 large egg For the 4-Ingredient version: 1 cup natural peanut butter (I used Aldi’s Peanut Delight Natural Creamy Peanut Butter) 1/4 cup unrefined pure cane sugar (I used Zulka Morena Pure Cane Sugar) 1 large egg 1/4 cup quality semi-sweet chocolate chips (can also use bittersweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips or coarsely chopped dark chocolate) |
| Note: For a slightly sweeter cookie, the 1/4 cup of unrefined sugar can be replaced with 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (6 tablespoons) instead. The peanut butter I use has enough sweetness, so I prefer using just the 1/4 cup.
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine peanut butter, sugar and egg. If you use the 4-Ingredient version of the recipe, then also add the chocolate chips to the mixture. Stir the mixture till it comes together and begins to thicken (if preferred, place in the refrigerator or freezer to make firmer). Scoop a heaping tablespoonful of mixture for each cookie and roll into balls then arrange on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Press each peanut butter ball down with the back of a fork to form a crisscross pattern. Bake for approximately 7-8 minutes. Do not over bake. Remove from oven and allow to cool. |
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Jumbo Peanut Butter Cookies with Dark Ganache
White Chocolate Ganache Salted Caramel Filled Cups
The Simple Chocolatier 
These look delicious and I love how simple and fast the recipe is plus only few ingredients like hat a triple plus in my book.
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Thank you Joan 🙂. These cookies are so simple to prepare- it takes only 3 minutes to make and about 7 minutes to bake. You can’t get too much simpler than that when it comes to baking.
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Looks so yummy! Trina
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Thank you so much Trina.
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They look super yummy and if they’re healthy, even better! Also, thanks for the handy list of alternative ingredients. x
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Thank you Leanne. These cookies are super moist and incredibly delicious- and they’re made healthier by using quality ingredient options and reducing the amount of sugar. Hope you have an incredible day.😊
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Definitely going to try these. We are Keto lifestyle so I think I can adjust this even more! Thank you for sharing!
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I’m all for tweaking recipes. I haven’t tried xylitol or erythritol in this recipe as of yet, but it may work well as a substitute for the unrefined sugar. If using erythritol, you’ll need to substitute a little extra because it’s not as sweet. As far as the peanut butter, I don’t think the 100% peanuts only brands will create the right consistency, so you may have to add almond or coconut flour. I’d love to know how it turns out. Hope you have a lovely day:)
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Learned something new here. Didn’t know about peanut butter.
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I’ve become a stickler for reading and comparing ingredient labels. As much as possible, I try to avoid peanut butter and other foods that have artificial preservatives, food additives and unhealthy fats. Local health food stores usually carry fresh ground peanut butter. You may want to try some of the varieties they carry. Crazy Richards and Justin’s all-natural peanut butter are also great choices.
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