Puffed-Up Chocolate-Chip Cookies

 For some reason this recipe ranks up high on Google's SEO list. But there are many other much better chocolate-recipes with applesauce (or other low-calorie variants). Here are just a few of the odd things about this recipe: * The taste of the final cookie is only mediocre. * Mine all melted together into one thin griddle-cake in the tray. * It only uses 1 cup of chocolate chips, not the whole bag. * It uses too much vanilla -- 1 TBSP is too much. (And I like vanilla.) * Too much salt, 1/2 t would do (especially if the butter is salted). * The texture is weird, not chewy like real chocolate-chip cookies, more like a thin cake. * Draining the apple-sauce is weird and just adds to the prep time -- "let it stand for 15 minutes"?? * Bake time is longer than 10 minutes, mine took 14 minutes. I don't know who gave all the "5 star" reviews, especially those who didn't leave any comment, just a blank "N/A," but I suspect they are fake reviews. I would give this Zero Stars if that were an option. Keep looking for a different recipe. 

I re made the recipe cutting back to 1 TBSP molasses. It helped the flavor a lot. Now I just need a way to make these cookies crisper on the outside. I added some flour ad others suggested and it helped with the stickiness but my enough. Any suggestions for a crispier cookie?

What does N/A mean? Don't go near this recipe if you plan to use real butter, the apple sauce will curdle it - I think it might have worked if I'd used margarine, should have been suspicious when the butter was measured per cup and not grams (I'm from NZ and had a limited amount of real ingredients to turn out some biscuits for school tomorrow). Really disappointed, sorry.

I recently searched for this recipe after originally making them in 2001, straight out of the magazine! They were super good then and I'm looking forward to making them again now. I'm super happy I managed to find this recipe again.

With 3/4 tsp. vanilla, 1 1/2 cups of flour and semi-sweet chocolate chips, this recipe is fantastic! Didn't work as well with dark chocolate for me. I also think 1 tbsp. of vanilla is way too much. Gave the cookies a funny taste.

YUM! These cookies are delicious! I only used 3/4 Tbsp. of vanilla because I think it was a little too much with the entire Tbsp. I also used dark chocolate chips which were great. These are the first cookies I've made that actually taste totally bad for you but you don't have to feel guilty.

Maybe I'm missing it, but why would anyone place cookies in a nasty work glove to make them look appleaing. I was so shocked, I had to comment. Off with the gloves and wash your hands!

Love these! To cut down on stickiness, add a quarter cup of flour as others suggested.

The cookie dough was sticky...even after putting in the frig to firm for an hour. Difficult to work with. These are more like choc chip cake....no standard choc chip cookie flavor except the chips. Would not make these again, as I have had better light chocolate chip cookies.

These are very easy to make and they taste amazing! I have made them 2 times since i've found this recipe and the second time i did a variation with cookies with and without chocolate chips. They taste amazing either way! I would recommend making these when family is coming over but to have plenty extras because you will need them 5 minutes into the visit. I will make this again definitely.

This is an easy low-fat version of a traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe. I followed other reviewers' suggestions and increased the flour, but only by an additional 1/4 cup. The flavor and texture are excellent- particularly for 25% of the fat found in a traditional Toll House cookie. My husband, the cookie "expert" (eater) in our house, said the recipe was "awesome" and "a keeper."

it sounds real good to me I like mine like that

This is my "go-to" low-cal chocolate chip cookie recipe. It's so good!

These were great. Followed the other reviewers and added the extra one half cup flour. My family ate the entire batch in five minutes. I didn't 't tell them this was a healthy recipe and no one noticed! Will definitely make again.

These were much too cake like

I just made these and they did not turn out puffy, but flat and gooey. They tasted really good, but they just fell apart. I did substitute half of the flour with whole wheat flour, but I didn't think it would affect it that much. Probably won't try this recipe again.

This is one of my absolute favorite Chocolate Chip cookie recipes. The taste cannot be beat. The fact that they are made with brown sugar and applesauce does not diminish the taste at all. I must admit, though, that I do tend to add more chocolate chips than the recipe calls for. While the "low-fat" substitutions do not affect the taste, they do affect the consistency vs. regular chocolate chip cookies. For one thing, these come out a bit more cake-like than cookie-like (airier and, yes, more puffed, as opposed to chewier). Also, the applesauce makes the batter more liquidy than tradition. Therefore, draining the applesauce is a key step (and even so, that does not completely correct the problem). The cookies will spread when they cook and will come out thinner than you may want. Bottom line: Outstanding taste, but slight problems in consistency.

I just made these for the first time tonight and after reading the reviews I was a little apprehensive of what to expect. I don't have an electric mixer so I mixed everything by hand, the cookies came out great! They are a little on the cake-y side...but are great if you are watching calories! My cookies definitely came out puffed-up they were not flat looking like the picture...they were beautifully puffed up and nicely browned and crispy around the edges. Only down side is that they are lacking some flavor; but I would definitely make these again with a few tweaks to add more flavor. All-in-all they are a great alternative to full fat and high calorie cookies.

I have made these cookies 3 or 4 times now and they are my absolute favorite CL chocolate chip cookies. I do like my cookies soft and cake-like though, so if that is not what you prefer you should look for a different recipe. The only modification I made was to use 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour and 3/4 cups white flour. The dough appears wet and sticky but everything turns out wonderfully!

I've never given any cooking light recipe a one star. I guess this is mostly just personal preference but when I make cookies, I want a cookie. If I want a cake, then I'll make a cake, not some faux-cake cookie. One side note: my husband thought these were great for dipping in milk as it soaked up milk very nicely, but he still prefers regular chocolate chip cookies.

I'm in the minority here, but the resulting cookies were hard to get off the pan, and didn't come together for me very well. I let the butter sit out for about 30 min, and had the little chunk issues others indicated. I didn't like how they turned out, so i would not make them again.

Very good; cake-like texture. Kids loved them. I strained the apple sauce ahead of time. Fast and simple - mixed and baked in about 30 minutes. At first batter seemed too thin, but it thickened up before putting on baking sheets.

I made these and followed the directions exactly, but my cookies came out thin and really well done....any help out there?

I have made this recipe 5 times in the last month after finding it on line. It is loved by all. I have used dark chocolate chips and mini morsels, both very good. Also toasted pecans and added for a nice flavor.

These cookies were pretty good. You should know, I've never made cookies from scratch and I used margarine instead of butter, cinnamon applesauce instead of regular & regular foil (due to no non-stick cookie sheet). They turned out good. I'm usually a Pillsbury kind of girl but I was pleasantly surprised. They were a little cake-like or fluffy, but they are titled “puffed-up.” I'm especially happy I found these now that I'm watching what I eat. Give them a try.

these cookies were more soft and cake-like than chewy. they were a little too sweet for my taste, but with the lowered fat count, it is a nice recipe to have on hand for people not exactly on a strict diet, but trying to watch their calories.

The calorie count in these make me very happy. They have a texture that's very cake or brownie like. I'll definetly repeat this recipe in the near future.

These cookies are light, moist and cakey, not rubbery like some other applesauce cookies I've tried making. Good flavor and texture, though it lacks the crunch one associates with chocolate chip cookies. I used 1/2 c. whole wheat flour and 3/4 c. white flour and cut calories a little by using only 1/2 c. brown sugar and 1/2 c. granulated stevia. To ensure that your batter doesn't come up thin and give you flat and lifeless cookies, make sure that your butter is SOFTENED and not MELTED. My butter was still a bit too cold and stayed in little chunks when I tried creaming the sugar, but I took a hair dryer to the mixture while the mixer was going and it turned out fine. Excellent lower-calorie cookie for anyone watching their weight.

We liked these cookies. Very different. They are quite sweet and the texture is a bit cake like. The dough is amazingly sticky, but everything turned out OK. I liked the applesauce concept and will definitely make again.

Mine wouldn't take form very well. After I transferred them to the wire racks, a lot of the chocolate chips fell out! Still ISO a good, light chocolate chip cookie recipe.

This recipe is amazing - I usually don't like like puffy cookies because they tend to be dry...but these are far from dry. I used Carob chips instead of chocolate & substituted the sugar for brown sugar Splenda & it worked out fabulously!

I thought these were very tasty, and they certainly fill any cravings for sweets that you may have. They are very cakey, so don't expect your traditional choc. chip cookie, however they are delicious and light. I did only bake for nine minutes at 375, and they were perfect. I also added some chopped pecans to the batter. The cakies are sticky on top, so next time I will separate the layers with parchment paper when storing. I would definitely make these again!

These are sorta addictive =) I also added an additional 1/2C. of flour, and only baked for about 9 min. They turned out very soft and chewy at the same time. For extra chocolate variety I also added white chocolate chips. Overall, I will probably make again-although there is another recipe on here that uses apple sauce+whole wheat flour,I may try that one, for an even healthier cookie

I didn't like the applesauce substitution. My cookies had a cake like texture. I baked low-fat chocolate chip cookies the week before that just cut out fat, no substitutions, and it was much better than this one! I'd never make this one again.

I have made these for years and just ran across this recipe again while looking for something to cook tonight. These are my husband's favorite "healthy" cookie ever. I don't really like sweets and like these as well. Give them a try. They are easy and so good. Glad I found this again!

I used all natural applesauce, no sugar added, and added 1/4 cup more of flour...also, bake for 8 minutes and they will come out fluffy and thick, and will be light.

When I took the first batch out I thought I had burned them. They were flat as can be and dark brown, I watched the next batch much closer and cut way back on the time with the same results. They tasted good but definately didn't look like the picture.

I thought these cookies were fabulous, just made them tonight. Although I didn't measure as exactly as I should have...only got 2 dozen instead of three :). These will be a staple for sure.