I don’t care what race, religion, age or gender you are. It doesn’t matter if you are paleo, vegan, a “clean-eater,” or someone who frequents donut shops. We all have the same thing in common. Sometimes we just need a warm chocolate chip cookie dipped in milk. It really does solve a lot of problems.

Because I try to avoid processed sugars and flours, eating your typical chocolate chip cookie isn’t going to work for me. So I began a quest to find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. I found five of the most commonly-accessed online, healthy chocolate chip cookie recipes and made them all. Hey, I’m willing to do the research for you. Below are the recipies and their ratings. I rated each cookie in 4 areas: Ease of making, dough taste (because we’re all going to eat some dough. It’s human nature), Looks, and most importantly, taste.

5.  “Unbelieviebly Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies” from Deliciously Yum

Score: 18/40

Sadly, I was very disappointed in this cookie. Since it’s my only cookie that uses flour, I thought it would be closest to a regular chocolate chip cookie. I was not impressed at all with this cookie. Dunking it in milk helped quite a bit, but it still isn’t a cookie I’d make again.

Ease of Making – 5/10: The honey, water and oil were hard to combine. The dough was very dry and I finally had to mi it with my hands. I also couldn’t scoop it out with a mini scoop without the dough crumbling.

Dough Taste – 4/10: It was sweet with chocolate which always makes for a tasty bite, but the dough was too dry and very wheaty.

Looks – 5/10: The cookies looked the same coming out of the oven as they did going in. After my first pan of ugly, ball-shaped cookies, I flattened the others with my hand and they came out much nicer.

Taste – 4/10 – As I said before, these cookies were too dry and wheaty and needed to be dunked.

4. “Grain-free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites” by Texanerin Baking

Score: 23/40

These cookies were delicious but didn’t give that same feeling of a chocolate chip cookie. Rather than a crunchy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside cookies, these are more like a fudge or soft candy. I’ll definitely make them again, but not if I’m craving a chocolate chip cookie. I also loved the added protein from the chickpeas.

Ease of Making – 6/10: This dough was a bit hard to mix because it was very sticky. It took a lot of mixing and scraping of the side of the food processor to get this mixed.

Dough Taste – 7/10: The dough was quite gritty but it tasted mostly of peanut butter and honey. Since those are both delicious, the dough was delicious as well. It only got 7 points though because it wasn’t a classic chocolate chip cookie dough taste.

Looks – 3/10: Sadly, this was an ugly little cookie. They looked really bumpy and raw even after they were cooked. In fact, after I pulled the pan out of the oven, my husband asked if he could have one after they were cooked. Luckily, looks are not the most important thing when it comes to food.

Taste – 7/10: As I said before, this just didn’t have the same texture of a chocolate chip cookie but was still very good. Because there is so much peanut butter, this is the predominant flavor in these cookies.

3. “Flourless Cashew Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies” by Whole and Heavenly Oven

Score: 29/40

This cookie was very good. This is a cookie I would definitely make again. Changing up the nut butter would change the flavor of the cookie completely, since there is a full cup in this recipe. So be warned, the main flavor in this cookie is whatever flavor nut butter you use.

Ease of Making – 8/10: These were very easy to mix. There are only a few ingredients which helped them come together quickly. Because of the cashew butter, these were too greasy to scoop out and had to be rolled by hand.

Dough Taste – 5/10: This dough was too greasy to be very tasty. And because there are only a few ingredients, the dough just tasted like cashew butter with chocolate chips.

Looks – 8/10: These were puffier than a normal chocolate chip cookie but they did spread enough to not just be a blob. They were gooey on the inside like a chocolate chip cookie should be.

Taste – 8/10: Again, the cashew butter was the strongest flavor but the cookies were sweet, gooey and soft. They were more grainy than a typical chocolate chip cookie, but close to the authentic texture.

2. “Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies” by The Bite Sized Baker

Score: 30/40

These cookies were fabulous. No one ingredient had an overpowering flavor, so the cookies had the sweet, mild taste a chocolate chip cookie should.

Ease of Making – 8/10: Everything combined well. They lost a point here because the commentary in the blog suggests chilling the dough for two hours, but this sin’t listed in the actual recipe. I did chill the dough which made them very easy to scoop.

Dough Taste – 6/10: The dough was good but was too mild to be categorized as comfort food.

Looks – 7/10: These didn’t spread much and stayed lighter than a typical chocolate chip cookie. They looked more bready than I expected but still looked delicious.

Taste – 9/10: These were chewy like a chocolate chip cookie should be. They had an authentic flavor and the perfect amount of sweetness. The almond flavor added a little more flavor than your average cookie but they were still delicious.

And the winner is…

1. “The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies I’ve Ever Made” by Livin Paleo

Score: 31/40

These cookies are rightly named. They are delicious, easy to make and look light a chocolate chip cookie should. The ingredients are very similar to the second place cookie. Though if you’re going 100% for end taste, the second place cookie scored one point higher on overall taste. Either way, you’re sure to be pleased with either cookie.

Ease of Making – 9/10: These cookies had few ingredients  and I was thrilled to not have to melt the coconut oil. Plus since the same amount of coconut oil is called for as honey, using the same 1/4 cup to measure the honey after the coconut oil made getting the honey out extremely easy. These were a little hard to tell when the cookies were done baking, but that was my only complaint.

Looks – 8/10: These weren’t puffy cookies, but they looked like genuine chocolate chip cookies.

Taste – 8/10: These had a chewy texture just like a regular chocolate chip cookie but were a but greasy and had a strong coconut flavor.

So there you have it. Hopefully I’ve convinced you that it is possible to indulge in treats without going to the dark side of processed sugars and flours.