My mom and I do this little thing every year around the Holidays…

We sort of bake a zillion Christmas cookies and distribute them to the masses/ eat copious amounts of them while drinking hot chocolate and watching classic holiday films. This cookie-baking event is marked with loud Christmas music, obnoxiously festive aprons, and a heck of a lot of butter, sugar, and sprinkles. Oy.

When I decided to clean up my health-act, however, the cookies had a very questionable moment. To make or not to make? Should we just eat apples instead? – They’re crunchy like a cookie, right?!? These were the debates that troubled our holidays. But for tradition’s sake, the annual Christmas bake-a-palooza still continues with vigor to this day.

The cookies in question just needed a bit of shaping up. By tweaking ingredients here and there and adding in as many whole foods, plant based ingredients as possible we still make oodles of cookies – just without any unnecessary gunk and heaps of sugar in them.

The primary ingredients in the cookies are no longer butter or sugar, but instead something heartier and more substantial– like rolled oats, almond butter, or cacao powder. In place of chemically derived food coloring and sprinkles, we love experimenting with the beautiful colors of whole foods – like the gorgeous pomegranate seeds used in this recipe. Most importantly, we’ve cut out loads of sugar, a bunch of animal products, and even made some gluten free to fit a variety of dietary choices. Oh – also, instead of making a zillion cookies, we tone it down to a billion.

Progress!

Whether your looking for a healthier Christmas cookie option to share with loved ones, or you just want to scarf down on some chocolate this holiday season without feeling guilty – these Pomegranate Chocolate Chip Cookies are calling your name. I hope you enjoy them!

Pomegranate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 12-14 medium sized cookies

1 cup rolled oats, ground into coarse flour
¼ cup buckwheat flour
2 tablespoons ground flax seed + 6 tablespoons of hot water
1 big tablespoon cacao or unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup coconut sugar
¼ cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
½ cup dark chocolate chips, or roughly chopped dark chocolate
½ cup pomegranate seeds

Preheat oven to 350° F. and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Place 2 tablespoons ground flax seed in a small bowl or cup and cover with 6 tablespoons hot water. Stir to combine then set aside to allow mixture to thicken.

Using a food processor or blender, grind up rolled oats until they resemble coarse flour.

In a large bowl mix in oat flour, buckwheat flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and coconut sugar. Add in the remainder of the wet ingredients – melted coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and flax mixture. Stir to combine and gently fold in chocolate chips/chocolate chunks and pomegranate seeds.

Place dough in the refrigerator to chill for about 20-30 minutes. Once dough is chilled, roll about a tablespoon of dough into a ball and place on lined baking tray.

Bake cookies for 12-14 minutes. Allow cookies to cool down on a cookie rack or on lined wax paper before storing in an airtight container. Enjoy!

P.S. Because I’m an oddball, I like to keep my cookies in the refrigerator. When cold, they yield a firmer texture and taste delicious. If you like your cookies soft (and still uber delicious), store them on the counter!