Chocolate Chip Monster Cookies

Having a little kiddo that LOVES sweets has forced me to find healthy ways to let him indulge. I would never eliminate sugar from his diet or deprive him of the fun of baking and enjoying cookies, but I DO believe in swapping out ingredients and throwing in some healthy additions to make sure he is getting SOMETHING beneficial from the treats he does have.

We are still milking the "Polar Vortex" that slammed Western New York yesterday and have stayed in our jammies all day. The power ended up shutting off for a few hours so in order to keep the house warm, I figured baking cookies was pretty much a necessity. I mean, clearly! Otherwise we would have froze.... ;)

Thank goodness for my gas oven because these cookies were not only warm, but they were delicious! Since we threw so many random ingredients in there we called them "Monster Cookies," and what 3 year old boy wouldn't love that?! These cookies are not low calorie, so treat yourself to one or two and throw the rest in the freezer!

Ingredients:

• 1 c Succinate sugar
• 1/2 c stevia baking sugar (or whatever the equivalent to 3/4 c of white sugar is for your brand...)
• 1/2 c applesauce
• 1/4 c coconut oil, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp chia seeds mixed with 2 tbsp water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 c natural peanut butter
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 3 c quick oats
• 1/2 c mix of nuts, chocolate chips, raisins, etc. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat together the sugars, applesauce and oil until smooth. Add eggs and chia seed mixture and beat until blended. Add vanilla and peanut butter and beat on low until incorporated. In a small bowl, whisk together the glower, salt and baking soda. Add this to the peanut butter mixture and beat until mixed. Now add oats and add-ins and with a very strong wooden spoon, stir together until well mixed (this takes some muscle!).  Place 1/3c sized dough balls on a parchment covered baking pan and cook for 11-13 minutes. This makes about 24 cookies, but we did eat a lot of the dough before we got a chance to bake it, so it might yield you more. ;)