It’s no secret that I am a huge cookie dough fan. As a child, I loved nothing more than eating cookie dough straight from the bowl. My best friend Allison and I used to buy those pre-made Pillsbury cookie dough packages and split the package for a snack. Totally normal. If you asked me what my favourite dessert was as a child, I probably would’ve told you cookie dough!
I also have the odd suspicion that I have told this exact story on the blog before. I may be senile…don’t hate.
Here are some of my favourite cookie dough inspired recipes:
- Cookie Dough Freezer Fudge
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Glazed Steel Cut Oatmeal
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Glazed Doughnuts
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sandwiches
Given this obsession, I’m not quite sure why it took me so long to make chocolate chip cookie dough dip. As I’m sure many of you have seen, cookie dough dip has gone viral around the blogosphere (I hate myself for typing blogosphere…) thanks in large part to Jessica and Katie’s versions. I thought I would put my own spin on things by making a vegan, gluten-free, bean-free, and soy-free chocolate cookie dough dip. That means no tofu, no chickpeas, no navy beans, no vegan cream cheeze, etc.
In my typical fashion, I decided to use a vegetable. Potatoes to be exact.
Why not, right?
It all started when I got lazy and used my food processor because I didn’t want to manually mash potatoes. Nothing unusual here. The processor worked so well at whipping my potatoes, I ended up making a cheezy fondue dip (see my instagram account for the pic). I thought to myself, “Potatoes would also make a killer base for a cookie dough dip.” Weird, I know, but the texture just screamed silky, sweet dip. With just 5 ingredients I was able to make a dip that gives cookie dough a run for its money.
My best tip for recipe success is to use hot, cooked potatoes (not cold), as the heat will literally melt the potato as it whips in the processor, creating a super silky texture. I tried one version using leftover cold potatoes and the result was fluffy mashed potatoes. Not what we’re shooting for here! Make sure you use steaming hot potatoes and you will be fine. Just be sure to chill the dip before adding in the chocolate chips. The dip tastes best chilled, although I had no problem shoving it into my mouth warm either.
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Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Pota'Dough Dip
Yield
1 and 1/2 cups
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
At first glance, you’d never guess that potatoes make up the base of this healthy, yet extremely decadent tasting, cookie dough dip! Cooked potatoes are pureed to create a silky, creamy, and luxurious dip, naturally sweetened with maple syrup. Cashew nut butter, vanilla, and fine grain sea salt enhance the cookie dough flavour, all topped off with dark chocolate chips. Make sure you use piping hot, freshly cooked potatoes for the silkiest dip texture. Cold, leftover potatoes result in a fluffy mashed potato texture which I did not care for in the slightest. Keep in mind that you will be able to detect the potato flavour slightly (less so when chilled), but we didn’t seem to mind one bit. Inspired by: Jessica and Katie.
Ingredients
- 240 grams yellow-skinned cooked potatoes, peeled (approx. 1 & 1/3 cups cooked potato)
- 6 - 7 tbsp pure maple syrup*, or to taste
- 3 tbsp cashew nut butter*
- 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt, or to taste
- 1/4 - 1/3 cups dark chocolate chips
Directions
- Peel and roughly chop the potatoes. Cook the potatoes in a pot of water on the stove-top until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain.
- In a food processor, immediately add the cooked potatoes (still hot), nut butter, vanilla, and maple syrup. Do not use cold potatoes or the texture will be like mashed potatoes instead of a silky dip. Process until smooth for at least a couple minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl as necessary. Make sure no clumps remain. You want it super smooth. Adjust sweetness if necessary and add salt to taste.
- Place mixture in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes (preferably an hour) to chill and then stir in the chocolate chips just before serving. Serve the dip with graham crackers, fresh fruit, cookies, cinnamon sugar pita chips, or my favourite way, a spoon.
Tip:
Tips and Substitution questions: This recipe tastes best without any ingredient subs. Changing the ingredients may result in a reduced cookie dough flavour or strange texture. 1) I used yellow-skinned potatoes, however white skinned potatoes might also work. I’ve been told sweet potatoes result in a “sweet potato pie” taste and strange texture. I also don’t suggest using red or baking potatoes. 2) You may want more or less sweetener than I used depending on your taste buds. Adjust to taste. I don’t suggest swapping out the sweetener with honey as a reader said it didn’t produce a great flavour. 3) For gluten-free, be sure to check all your labels to ensure they are certified GF.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)Nutritional info (per tablespoon, makes 25 tbsp, using 1/3 cup chips): 32 cals, 1 gram fat (0 sat fat), 45 grams sodium, 6 grams carbs, 0 grams fibre, 3 grams sugar, 1 gram protein.
I can’t emphasize enough that you need to use hot, freshly-cooked potatoes in this recipe for the best texture. When my potatoes were finished cooking, I drained them and then immediately placed the potatoes along with the cashew butter, maple syrup, and vanilla into the processor. I really didn’t think this idea was going to work.
I processed it for a couple minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl a few times. You want to make sure you get all the clumps out!
Well, I’ll be darned. It worked.
I placed the dip into a bowl and chilled it in the fridge for 30-60 minutes (remember the potatoes make the dip warm). When the dip is cold, stir in the chocolate chips just before serving.
Creamy, silky goodness.
After making this dip, I proceeded to make a few other versions…and I already have plans to try this with some of my favourite savoury dips. It’s so fun to play around with!
Here’s another idea…you can stuff strawberries with the dip and sprinkle them with crushed graham crackers. Easy finger food.
Who knew potatoes could look and taste so good?
Question … the title says “optionally nut-free”, but I can’t find any information or suggestions for what to substitute for the cashew butter. The recipe sounds great and I would love to try it, but we do have nut allergies. Thanks :)
Hey Sherry, Sorry about that – I am not sure why I didn’t catch that! :) I think I meant to say that you might be able to sub sunflower seed butter in place of the cashew butter. I haven’t tried this yet though so I can’t say for sure how it would taste. Maybe add a small amount to start off with. Goodluck & enjoy!
How is this “healthy”? It’s very high on the glycemic index. In what universe is something made of simple starches and sugars like potatoes, sugar, and chocolate “healthy”? It will spike your blood sugar and is no different than eating regular cookie dough, except it probably doesn’t satisfy the craving and tastes worse. It’s sad that people are so misinformed about nutrition
Little Blue Dress: it’s meant to be a treat, not a daily staple. As a reader, I respect your opinions and appreciate your input, but I think it would be better received if you offered some further explanation or alternatives. I would guess most on this site are willing to learn, if the information is sound and objective.
As a newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetic who is concerned about blood glucose levels, I thought it important to respond to Little Blue Dress. While I will acknowledge that potatoes do indeed have carbohydrate which will affect blood glucose levels in a traditional omnivore diet, it is worth pointing out that comparing the nutritional content of this recipe to a common cookie dough brand, you will find that this recipe is considerably healthier (common brand for same serving size: 120 cal, 5g fat, 5mg cholesterol, 17g carbohydrate, 10g sugar, and 1g protein). So your glycemic index is much, much lower than traditional cookie dough and the other important difference with a vegan recipe- NO CHOLESTEROL (which will impact vascular disease which is the main adverse impact of type 2 diabetes).
As counter-intuitive as it may seem to a diabetic who has had to count carbohydrates, several, high-quality and rigorous research clinical trials have demonstrated that a low fat vegan diet (with unlimited carbohydrate) is more effective than any other diet at reducing glycemic indicators. Furthermore, this type of diet has been shown to put the diabetes into remission for 66% of individuals, Here is a link to one of hundreds of papers that you can locate in Google Scholar (http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/29/8/1777.short).
Clearly, I am a scientist and value evidenced- based information. So it is important for readers to get well-balanced information.
Made this yesterday and it was sooooo good. Snacked on it while watching the Saints/Texans football game. Would have never thought I would be eating cookie dough made with yellow potatoes and cashew butter!
After an AWESOME first batch the suggested way – yes, this recipe is ingenious! – I experimented with the following subs:
– Sweet potato for yellow. I LOVE sweet potato, and with a little cinnamon added the taste turned out great. No evident issues with texture.
– Vanilla protein powder for vanilla extract. When I put the potatoes in the food processor, I let a little of the water run in, then added 1/3-1/2 scoop of powder. Turned out really testy – and it’s an extra health kick, to boot!
Whoops – meant TASTY not testy!
Can I use almond butter or peanut butter instead of cashew butter?
This looks amazing! I am very excited to try it out. I was wondering if you had a another idea instead of the cashew nut butter? My husband is allergic to nuts but he is a cookie dough lover. I would love to be able to make this for him.
Thanks!
How do you even come up with these amazing recipes?! I would never have imagined such a combination. But I guess that’s what makes you the expert.
My 13 yr old son is considering taking this for his health class healthy food demo. Its a toss up for this or spicy roast chickpeas.
We have made this cookie dough love it but we didn’t have enough 1/3 maple syrup so used 2/3 honey 1/2 tsp molasses. We also 1/2 cashew, 1/2 to tahina seed butter.
Oh my god, I recognise I’m late to this party but this dip is ridiculous! I subbed peanut butter for the cashew butter and it is so so delicious, even before putting the chocolate in!!! I can’t believe potatoes do this!
Hello
Wow awesome!! Huge cookie dough fan here!
I’m allergic to nuts though, I did see the * however didn’t see that you recommended a substitute??? Am I being blind? Or any ideas??
Hi Jack,
Sorry about that! You might be able to try sunflower seed butter instead of cashew butter. I would opt for the lightly sweetened kind by SUn butter as it’s fairly bitter. You might want to try adding a tablespoon at a time because 3T might be too much. Another option would be to swap the cashew butter for a bit of vegan butter (again I wouldnt use the full 3 tbsp). Hope this helps and happy experimenting!
Perfect!! I will bash them out this weekend, thank you for you detailed response and awesome website! You Rock!
No problem, hope it goes well!
I can’t wait to try this! Where is the nut free option? I’m missing it. My son is severely allergic so I don’t keep them in the house. Thanks!
Thank you so much for this delicious desert :) I’m a vegan and this tastes the best and out of potato!
One question:
Is there an alternative for maple syrup? It’s hard to find here where I live.
Oh I don’t have agave and brown sugar either :( gonna go ask the market seller herself for an alternative, see if it works. Something syrup-like with sugar.
Angela,
What kind of food processor fo you have/use?
have been struggling using my vitamix (both wet and dry containers) and regular chopper to make many recipes. Not cutting it (literally) – finally realized I need to get a FP pronto. My husband just bought me the cuisinart 11-cup for our 1 year anniversary (how romantic…lol – but actually a really practical and much appreciated gift)….but i’ve been really debating between the cuisinart and the kitchenaid (and a couple others but not as much)…
could you weigh in on food processors, please? Others too please! I haven’t used mine yet and it could still be returned/exchanged…but not for long :)
Michelle
OMG – I just made this, and it is SO delicious! I’m thrilled!! My boyfriend even liked it, and he’s picky. Yay!
Will vouch that baking potatoes, PB, and honey as a sub do not produce great result… haven’t tried with the other potatoes but I’m assuming it will be less starchy feel in the mouth. Ah well, that is what I get for not following directions!
Just three words: Oh. My. God!! Thanks so much for this, I just made it and it’s still warm but it tastes so much like cookie dough. Unbelievable!
Looks great!
you’re gorgeous.