What if I told you that you could bake delicious chocolate cookies with only 25 ingredients AND 4 ingredients?
That’s right: not only are these cookies very low in calories, but they also only require 4 ingredients.
These are , free, , but far from flavor-free.
Whether or not you are counting your calories, these low calorie cookies are a must-bake for absolutely any diet!
Ingredients needed for
These have only 25 calories, and the secret lies in the ingredients we are using.
The four ingredients we need for these cookies are:
- Unsweetened
- Canned Pumpkin
- Creamy (or other )
- Substitute
Many recipes you’ll come across will require some kind of (often almond or ), but we are able to make these without any at all (also making them totally ). Most of my cookie recipes utilize oat flour for an authentic cookie flavor, but the cocoa powder here eliminates the need for that.
The canned pumpkin is the secret ingredient here, and it’s my go-to ingredient when I want to make baked goods soft without adding a ton of extra calories (like with my Low Calorie or Protein ).
Pumpkin is a magical ingredient that will stay soft when baked, and is very mild in flavor. In this , it replaces the need for that you’d find in most other recipes.
If you do not have access to canned pumpkin, there is not a great replacement for it. Unsweetened applesauce is a popular low-calorie ingredient, but it would not give these cookies the structure we need. You can check out my Nutella Cookies if you do not have canned pumpkin, since that one DOES use applesauce!
These are on the slightly bitter side, which makes them similar to a semi-sweet flavor. I don’t like , but I really enjoy these cookies! To me, they have the perfect sweetness.
If you wanted them to be sweeter, you can always add additional sweetener!
I use substitute to sweeten these cookies. If you only have regular , you can definitely use that, but these cookies will be much higher calorie in that case.
helps keep these cookies soft, and I think that using regular granular would result in a that is too gritty and fragile, so I don’t recommend that swap.
How to make
Since these cookies only require 4 ingredients, the process of making them is very simple!
Add the , pumpkin, (or other ), and to a large bowl. No need to separate the wet and dry ingredients in this one!
Okay, technically we need to add a fifth ingredient here, but it’s , which most people have in their pantry already, so we don’t count it as a main ingredient.
Mix everything up until forms, then use a small scoop to create your balls.
A small scoop is roughly equal to 2 teaspoons, so if you do not have a scoop, you can measure it that way. All in all, you should be able to create about 30 balls from your .
Space the out on a (or regular ), then use your hands to lightly press them down into discs.
You do not need to completely flatten the cookies, but they will not spread a ton once baked, so we do not want them to be completely round.
Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, then let the cookies cool for 10-15 minutes.
If you were to try to eat one of these directly out of the oven, it will likely fall apart on you. By letting the cookies cool completely, you are also allowing them time to set and firm up inside.
As you can see in the photo below, I also topped some of my cookies with sea salt, but that is optional!
If you have leftover cookies, these can be stored in an airtight container and enjoyed throughout the week! I kept mine in the fridge, although that isn’t necessary, and these cookies remained fresh for 5 full days.
More recipes to enjoy
Whether you’re in search of more , high protein cookies, or no-bake cookies, there’s a here on my blog for you. Here are some of my favorites:
- Keto-Friendly
- High-Protein
- 4 Ingredient Nutella
- No-Bake Protein Cookies
- Low-Calorie
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
25 Calorie Chocolate Cookies (with only 4 ingredients)
With only 4 ingredients, these chocolate cookies could not be any easier. But these cookies are made even better because each one contains only 25 calories!
Ingredients
- 210g Canned Pumpkin
- 90g Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 200g (1 Packed Cup) Brown Sugar Substitute
- 64g (1/4 Cup) Creamy Peanut Butter
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- Pinch of Salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients together until cookie dough forms. If you want extra chocolate flavor, you can mix in mini chocolate chips at this stage, but that is totally optional.
- Using a small cookie scoop (about 2 teaspoons if you do not have a cookie scoop) scoop out cookies onto a baking sheet. Using a small cookie scoop, I was able to create exactly 30 cookies, but it may vary slightly for you.
- Using your hands, gently press down each ball of cookie dough into a disc. You do not need to press them down completely flat, but these cookies do not spread too much, so we do not want them to be cookie dough balls. See the photos above this recipe card for reference.
- Optional: top with some coarse sea salt before baking if you enjoy the salty + sweet combo!
- Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes. These cookies will be delicate right out of the oven, but they will firm up as they cool. You can let them cool even longer if you feel the cookies are still too soft!
Notes
- Since this recipe makes 30 cookies, you may find yourself with leftovers. I stored my leftover cookies in the fridge and enjoyed them for up to 5 days after baking, but you should be able to keep them stored on the counter in a sealed container.
- If you do not have access to canned pumpkin, I cannot recommend a substitution. The canned pumpkin is the secret ingredient that keeps these cookies soft and is very low calorie, so there is not a great substitution! I'd recommend making my Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies as a simple cookie recipe if you do not have pumpkin.
- Note that I do not count the brown sugar substitute in my carb totals because it contains 0 calories. If you are very strict about carbs, be sure to take those into account.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 30 Serving Size 1 Small CookieAmount Per Serving Calories 25Total Fat 1.5gCarbohydrates 3gFiber 1.5gSugar 0.5gProtein 1g
Matt
Tuesday 3rd of May 2022
Made these last week, the taste and texture are great, very soft and delicious. I did a half batch and made them bigger which ended up with 8 normal sized cookies at about 50cals a piece. Now I did let mine cool for a long time on the pan and then put them in the fridge overnight but they were still extremely delicate. 1 fell apart a little while removing from the pan even after cooling for a couple hours. I packed them for a camping trip and only 3 made it wholly intact. I'm thinking I may have just made them too big and shaped them a little too thin to start with. I will definitely be making these again but I think I'll have to make them smaller and thicker. I also wonder if just a splash of egg whites might help them structurally, I think I'll try adding just a tablespoon or so.
I also agree with the other commenter, the dough is very sticky to work with. I'll be refrigerating before shaping next time.
Matt
Tuesday 3rd of May 2022
Thank you for the feedback! Indeed they are very delicate, so making them larger is tough in terms of having them hold up. Smaller definitely makes things easier, and you can just have more of 'em! If you do try the egg whites, let me know if it makes any kind of difference- I'd love to be able to provide a possible solution to anyone else experiencing that
Jett
Friday 29th of April 2022
This is the first time I'm actually ever commenting on a recipe I found on a blog! I am on a diet right now and I was craving chocolate so I googled a 'healthier' cookie and I came across this.
I know that sugar-substitute is technically not "healthy" according to people but in a CICO calorie counting diet that's fine with me.
Letting the cookies cool COMPLETELY is key to this. They WILL fall apart easily if you don't let them rest. I let them rest about an hour and they were able to be removed from the pan. Letting them rest overnight made them so they can be held without breaking apart.
The texture of the cookies is nice, to be honest. They're very soft. They remind me of like the center of a fudgy brownie. But these cookies are **very bitter** imo. It's like eating a 99% dark cocoa chocolate bar. There needs to be some kind of sweetness to offset that bitterness. I think next time I'll add a bit of splenda into the mixture too to give it a sweetness.
But for this batch I dusted a couple tablespoons of powdered sugar over the top of the 30 cookies and that gave it the PERFECT amount of sweetness and made the cookies pretty good! The powdered sugar only adds a few calories per cookie since it's a light dusting so it's worth it to me.
PS: This did make exactly 30 cookies and they all fit on one big cookie sheet of mine because they don't spread very much (if at all) when cooking.
The dough is VERY VERY STICKY! I don't know if maybe refrigerating the dough for a few hours before making the balls makes it easier to work with but yes, my hands were FILTHY when done but everything washed off easy enough.
Thank you! Going to be bookmarking this to make these again in the future. Bringing them to a family dinner tonight to see what the rest of the family thinks about them.
Matt
Friday 29th of April 2022
@Jett, Wow, thank you for the detailed review!! I really appreciate it. When something is super low calorie like this, expectations need to be tempered a bit (too many people compare them to the real thing) and your assessment is very fair. They are definitely not overly sweet, so your solution of adding powdered sugar was very smart.
Refrigerating the dough would definitely help with the stickiness if needed in the future! For a lot of my recipes I refrigerate dough for about an hour and it helps significantly.
Thank you again for the awesome feedback.