This chococolate chip chia cookie recipe comes to you from Shannon Carney, our personal trainer and sports nutritionist. She not only makes our members buff, but does it with nutrition in mind as well. When working towards your fitness goals, nutrition and workouts go hand in hand, and we take it all seriously at Sister Bay Athletic Club.

Notes from Shannon

I love something sweet after a dinner – it lets my palate, and my mind, know that eating for the day is over; however, my body gets very upset with me if I try to sneak in a delicious bowl of custard or a comforting chocolate lava cake. I took this challenge into my own hands because I LOVE chocolate, so decided to start making my own desserts, so I could indulge and not worry about how much fat, calories and sugar were in each bite. This Chocolate Chip Chia Cookie Recipe is the bomb, and here are a few tips on healthy substitues when baking as well.

Five Healthy Substitutes When Baking that you can use for this Chocolate Chip Chia Cookie Recipe

1. Butter/Oil – Try replacing half (yes half) of the butter in cookies, or half of the oil in cakes, with applesauce. The substitution will maintain the moisture and provide natural sweetness. Bonus: it’s even better if you can make your own applesauce. Don’t add any sugar or extra flavors to your applesauce – reserve that for your baking.
2. Sugar – Coconut sugar, sugar cane and even honey can be used to replace white refined sugar in most recipes. Even with the substitution, try cutting the sugar in half. Coconut sugar can be found in natural food stores in a powdered form which will easily replace sugar in any recipe. Honey, on the other hand, will make your baked goods denser, and is naturally much sweeter than refined sugar, so a small amount goes a long way.  If you are used to eating very sweet desserts, it may taste a little strange at first to cut the sugar, so take it in steps.
3. Eggs – Eggs act as a combining agent, but they are heavy in un-necessary fat and cholesterol. Try using only the egg-whites. Egg-whites can be bought on their own in cartons, so you don’t have to waste the yolk. Another suggestion, a personal favorite of mine, is to replace the egg replace the egg with a water and ground flax seed mixture (three tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon flax seed, and let sit to thicken). Usually, this mixture will replace one egg.
4. Flour – The gluten from flour can leave us feeling bloated, especially after a meal. So try experimenting with gluten-free flours such as buckwheat, brown rice, quinoa, etc. You can replace up to half of the required flour with gluten-free flour in muffins, cookies, waffles, Bundt cakes, etc.
5. Chocolate – Chocolate chip cookies are a classic, but store bought chocolate chips add extra sugar, fat and calories. To cut the sugar, try using dark chocolate chips, or replace them altogether (I know this is hard sometimes) with raisins, dried cranberries, nuts or fresh fruit.

These tips can be applied to almost any baking recipe. I am constantly experimenting with my own recipes – a batch of my cookies never come out the same way twice. Check out my GUILT FREE COOKIE RECIPE: Chocolate Chip Chia Cookies! For more great recipe ideas, check out all of our recipes!