Makeover Monday: Skinny Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sandwiches

Is there a better guilty food pleasure than cookie dough?  I think not.  It is so delicious!  Most people would even probably agree with me that the cookie dough is actually better than the finished cookie product.  But it is taboo to eat cookie dough, or at least more than simply licking the spoon.  Maybe that's part of what makes it so delicious.  Don't we love things we're not supposed to have?

But with this recipe, eating cookie dough doesn't have to be taboo.  Because it doesn't contain raw eggs, it is perfectly safe for anyone to eat.  And you definitely won't be able to stop yourself at just a lick of the spoon with this stuff!  Fortunately, these chocolate chip cookie dough bars aren't just safer to eat with the absence of eggs.  They are also healthier to eat.  I made a few tweaks to this recipe to cut some serious calories.  And even though they are now less of a guilty pleasure, they are definitely still a pleasure!

How did I cut calories in this recipe?  Allow me to break it down for you:
margarine for butter-400 calories
sugar free pancake syrup for light brown sugar- 500 calories
whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour - 12 grams of fiber
fat free sweetened condensed milk for full fat - 200 calories
1 cup fewer chocolate chips - 1100 calories
That's a reduction of 2,200 calories, and these are still seriously delicious!

As you can see, these changes saved us a pretty hefty chunk of calories, which can help you enjoy dessert without getting too hefty or chunky!  I decided to use margarine for butter since this was a no-bake recipe.  And I had used pancake syrup successfully in my delicious peanut butter oatmeal butterscotch dough bites, so I thought I would give them a shot in this cookie dough recipe as well.  You can see that I cut out a cup of chocolate chips in this recipe.  This leaves a whole cup of chocolate chips, which I thought was still plenty!  And I used dark chocolate chips because dark chocolate is higher in antioxidants and fiber.  But feel free to use regular semi-sweet chocolate chips if that's what floats your boat.

The original version of this recipe was chocolate chip cookie dough bars, and it had a layer of melted chocolate on the top.  But because of the calorie-saving swaps I made, my chocolate chip cookie dough mixture was pretty sticky at room temperature, and really even when refrigerated.  So I tried putting my pan in the freezer.  But when I put it in the freezer to firm up the cookie dough, the chocolate topping was almost impossible to cut.  And even if I could cut it, eating this stuff was kind of a mess.  Now I was faced with a situation where either my dough was too soft or my topping was too hard.  What's a girl to do?

Well, I happened to be rummaging around in my pantry when I came across a box of chocolate graham crackers.  It dawned on me that I could just scrap the topping and put my chocolate chip cookie dough in between two layers of chocolate graham crackers and eat it as a chocolate chip cookie dough sandwich.  I tried it out, and wouldn't you know it worked great, and tasted even better!  

The sandwich version was much simpler and was easier to eat, while still including a nice dose of chocolate deliciousness.  And this way you can either make all of your sandwiches upfront and store them in the freezer, or you can just put the cookie dough in the refrigerator (it will be easier to spread that way) and make yourself individual sandwiches when the mood strikes you.  Which it will--frequently!  I may have made cookie dough less taboo with this recipe, but it is definitely still desirable! 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sandwiches
Cookie Dough:
1/2 cup margarine
3/4 cup sugar free pancake syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 (14 oz) can fat free sweetened condensed milk
1 cup dark chocolate chips
10 chocolate graham crackers (depending on how much dough you put in each sandwich)
Directions:
In a large bowl of stand mixer, or with hand mixer, beat together margarine and pancake syrup.  Add vanilla extract and until combined.
With the mixer on low speed, add whole wheat flour until combined.  Alternately add half of sweetened condensed milk, all-purpose flour, and remainder of sweetened condensed milk until combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.  
Spread chocolate chip mixture in between chocolate graham crackers and store in freezer.  Or transfer to airtight container and store in refrigerator to make sandwiches individually.

Recipe adapted from lifessimplemeasures.blogspot.com