How to make any cookie recipe sugar-free and delicious
Just follow these steps:
Look up a cookie recipe online
For ingredients that are: sugar, white sugar, brown sugar, molasses, agave, maple, honey, corn syrup or maybe some others I can't think of, omit those
Substitute 1 or all of these: 1-2 blended bananas, 5-10 blended whole dates (take the pit out though), apple sauce, a teeny, tiny pinch of stevia
That's all I do! Then I experiment and see what works and what doesn't.
Some additional tips:
the more ripe the bananas are the sweeter your baked goods will be
Medjool dates are sweeter and more moist than Deglet Noor
adding nut butter to recipes often enhances flavor and texture
when baked goods are not as sweet, salty flavor stands out more. Use unsalted butter, unsalted nut butters, and/or omit the salt from the recipe.
Here's my chocolate chip from scratch recipe: https://www.kindwarrior.co/sugar-free-chocolate-chips-recipe/
Here's my applesauce from scratch recipe: https://www.kindwarrior.co/recipe-cinnamon-applesauce-from-scratch/
These cookies are this recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/9996/chewy-peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies/
I omitted the sugar and corn syrup and instead blended two bananas as the sugar and then made chocolate chips with dates per the recipe listed above. (Here it is again.)
They came out a little dry, a little salty, and a little bland.
What I would do differently next time:
blend some dates in with the bananas
use riper, sweeter bananas
use salt-free butter and peanut butter and omit the salt
reduce the flour to 1.5 cups, maybe add 1/2 cup of coconut or oat flour
add finely chopped walnuts for flavor
Recipe (as I would do it next time):
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat unbleached flour
1/2 cup coconut or oat flour
1/2 cup softened unsalted butter or coconut oil
1/2 cup unsalted peanut butter
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
15 medjool dates, chopped, then pulsed in a food processor with 2 tbsp cocoa powder until "chips" are formed
3 medjool dates blended
2 tbsp water
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp of salt OR use salted butter OR salted PB (But not all three)
2 tsp real vanilla extract
2 eggs
Blend eggs, water, vanilla, bananas, 3 dates, peanut butter, butter/coconut oil in a food processor.
Mix flours, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.
Add chocolate chips and walnuts to cookie batter.
Form 1" balls of dough on a cookie sheet. Smoosh them with a fork in both directions to create a criss-cross pattern.
Cook for 8 minutes at 350F.
