The Healthiest Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever

The perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe for anyone who is diabetic, gluten intolerant — or both. (Photo: Getty Images)

For people living with diabetes, finding a way to eat well – dutifully monitoring sugar and carbs — while still enjoying your meals is a daily battle. Throw gluten intolerance into the mix and — bam! —  a slew of foods like bread, pasta, and baked goods are instantly eliminated from the menu.

Now, imagine you are 7 years old — carefully maneuvering the complicated dietary restrictions of both diabetes and celiac disease and snack time in your first-grade class.

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(Photo: Courtesy of the Ellis family)

Related: 6 Diabetes Food Swaps That Can Help Lower Your Blood Sugar

Meet Ava Ellis, from Boise, Idaho. The pint-sized Recipe Rehab fan and aspiring chef reached out to us with this exact dilemma. Is it possible to make a chocolate chip cookie that I — and all of my friends — can enjoy, she asked? Chef Vikki to the rescue! The resourceful chef employed her smartest swaps to build a chocolate chip cookie recipe that passed Ava’s dietary test, while also being delicious enough that her whole class gobbled them up.

The verdict? We’ll let Ava answer that one.

Related: For Our Family, Gluten-Free Isn’t a Fad, It’s a Lifesaver

Whether you’re living with diabetes, have celiac, or are simply looking for a better-for-you cookie recipe, look no further!

Ava’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yields: 20 cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup unsalted organic almond butter (homemade or Living Tree Community Foods Organic Roasted Almond Butter)

  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1 tablespoons honey

  • 1/3 cup almond flour

  • 1/2 cup cooked quinoa

  • 1 tablespoons hemp seeds

  • 1/3 cup bittersweet mini chocolate chips

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Place all of the ingredients in a large bowl, mix and scoop out with a spoon onto a prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes. Let cool.

  3. Enjoy with a big glass of unsweetened almond milk!

Nutritional information (Per Serving: 1 cookie): Calories: 80, Total Sugars: 3 g, Total Fat: 5 g, Saturated Fat: 1 g, Cholesterol: 0 mg, Protein: 2 g, Carbohydrate: 8 g, Dietary Fiber: 1 g, Sodium: 0 mg

By Everyday Health Staff

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This article originally appeared on EverydayHealth.com: The Healthiest Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever