Would you try these chewy chocolate chip kale cookies? Defying all logic, the recipe is surprisingly great!
Chocolate chip cookies with kale
Sometimes you do things for the shock value.
After all, how often is it that you come across a recipe idea that not a single other person on the internet has tried before??
So you make the cookies.
But then you are the one who is shocked… because they actually taste really good!
I made chocolate chip kale cookies solely because I wanted to see what would happen (and kind of because I thought it would be funny), NOT because I ever dreamed they’d turn out well.
I had extra kale on hand and figured, “Why not?”
Sometimes I get bored of just making the same old things time and time again, and nothing gives my creative mind more excitement than experimenting in the kitchen and eating the ridiculous results.
And yet, these kale cookies turned out so well that if you didn’t know the kale was in there – i.e. if you closed your eyes and tried one – you would have absolutely no idea!
Plus, the green makes them perfect for Christmas without the use of any artificial colors or sprinkles.
I’m not sure you’ll take my word for it.
You will probably roll your eyes at me and think, “Ugh. There goes another basic influencer taking the kale trend way too far…”
And normally, I would agree with you.
As I wrote in my post for Cauliflower Pizza Crust, I tend to rebel against anything that’s trendy, especially where food is concerned.
Kale is already delicious in its own right, sautéed with garlic and oil or tossed into a salad with ginger-sesame dressing and roasted vegetables.
So why go crazy and put it into ice cream, chocolate cake, soda (yes, kale soda is a thing), or chocolate chip cookies?
Seriously, though, these cookies just taste really good, kale or not!
Sometimes, a recipe can really surprise you.
So try them if you dare!
Chocolate Chip Kale Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup spelt, white, or oat flour, loosely packed (125g)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup sugar (or coconut sugar or xylitol)
- 1/3 cup chocolate chips
- 2 tbsp milk of choice
- 2 tbsp oil or melted butter
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup raw kale or spinach (stems removed)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 F. Process kale or dice it extremely fine. Combine all dry ingredients except kale in a medium bowl, then stir in remaining ingredients to form a dough. It will be dry at first, so keep stirring until a cookie-dough texture is achieved. (Add 1 additional tbsp milk of choice only if needed – I didn't need it.) Roll into balls. Place on a cookie tray, and bake 11 minutes. They will look underdone. Remove from the oven anyway, and let them cool 10 minutes, during which time they will firm up. You can also make extra cookie dough balls and freeze them to bake at a later date.View Nutrition Facts
Notes
Now I’m thinking it would be super fun to do a REALLY christmas-y version, with the kale plus some cranberries and subbing white choc chips for the dark so you end up with red, green and white! 😀
Made these with silk unsweetened coconut milk, coconut oil, unbleached all-purpose flour, and a mix of light brown & regular cane sugar (ran out of coconut sugar yesterday). They’re delicious!! Super duper soft cookies, almost fluffy but not cakey. I love them. However, that being said, I chopped the kale in the vitamix instead of by hand. It wasn’t liquidy at all, definitely still defined pieces, so I assumed that they’d look like hers. Nope! These cookies are super green — think avocado green!! Also, wouldn’t recommend eating them before they’ve cooled because while you can’t taste the kale, you can still smell it at that point. Overall great cookie regardless.
What is unrefined sugar?
Hi Miss Katie! I just made these chocolate chip kale cookies and they are oh-so-good. My parents and my healthy-skeptic brother all tried them and they said they were very good! Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day.
Only thing though… My batter was runny. Also, after baking and cooling, they were still soft and underdone. I used the amount of kale (even less actually) and squeezed out the water. I think maybe it is because instead of using sugar, I used a mix of maple syrup and honey? Is there a way to avoid runny batter without putting in sugar? Maybe add more flour?
Thank you so much for another tasty recipe.
I decided to make cookies today and saw that you put kale in these and thought, why not! I subbed almond flour, honey & added in 1 tablespoon more almond milk, more vanilla, cinnamon & a plant-based protein powder and they are so good! Would never have thought to put kale in cookies before but OMG! Thanks for the inspiration 🙂 the texture came out a bit differently as they were more fluffed up looking, but the end result is delicious, Definitely will make again and again.
Dear Katie,
I just made these Kale chocolate chip cookies yesterday and they were delicious! Haha for sure not the taste I was expecting. I used Oat flour and followed the rest of the recipe. My Dad and Brother ( who are not into healthy foods like I am) came by and tried one and with shocked expressions said they were good! They proceeded to help me eat the rest of the batch. 😀
Thanks for this recipe! It was fun to try something unexpected.
How might you adjust the recipe for using dry kale powder?
I made these today for a friend’s birthday because she asked me to. I thought they smelled and tasted awful. I took one bite and spit it out. My friend thought they were good though she said you could tell there was kale in them. She makes smoothies with kale, so she’s used to the taste.
There are only a few vegetables I don’t like. Kale can now be added to the list. I guess if you like kale, you might like these cookies. Me, I’ll stick to the Toll House recipe.
I’d try some of her other healthy chocolate chip cookie recipes that don’t have any strange ingredients! (I can’t vouch for her chocolate chip cookies, but her gooey chocolate chip pumpkin bars, crazy ingredient chocolate cake, and chocolate chip peanut butter bars are DIVINE.) Probably because any unusual ingredients serve a specific purpose in the texture of the goodie, rather than these where the kale is just added in. Have served these on multiple occasions & they are devoured. Literally no one has guessed that the pumpkin bars have kidney beans & the crazy ingredient cake has cauliflower (makes it SO soft!).
One of the best cookies I have ever eaten. Holy cow! Thank you for this recipe.
These are SO YUMMY and super easy to make (like, incredibly easy). I did slightly less than a half cup of sugar and added some brown sugar just cuz. I also used a vanilla flavored coconut oil in addition to the vanilla, which, I think, complemented the brown sugar nicely. I also did hefty shakes of cinnamon and nutmeg. I did end up using about 1 ½ tbsp extra of almond milk. The only thing odd about the cookies was that they didn’t flatten out at all and they also didn’t really harden up, but I loved them and they reminded me of a breakfast cookie. We sprinkled coarse sea salt for added yum after taking them out of the oven!