Cookies are coming out like dry pancakes. What can I do?

Question

I am trying to make healthier version of cookies. I was following a youtube recipe that was basically the following:

92g Egg Whites

30 Keto Wheat flour

30g Coconut Flour

6g Baking Soda

62g Whey Protein (2 Scoops)

32g Pbfit (Or whatever you have Pb2)

10g Zero calorie Sweetener

170g Low fat Greek Yoghurt

10g Vanilla Extract

30g Sugar free Chocolate Chips

Here is the video I was following: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA-L82HuRU8&list=FLLhZ4_3AHzDd_qPN_ZbfHDg&index=28&t=66s

I baked in the oven for about 8 minutes. The cookies are terrible. They aren't cookies they are just dry pancakes. I ended up throwing it away.

I did some research, and I'm finding some conflicting information. Some people say that sponginess is due to too much flour, some say its due to too much leavening agent. Some say refrigerate dough, some say do not because it causes the cookie to rise more. I'm not sure what produces a chewy, soft actual cookie. Intuitively I would think a chewy cookie implies less rising + more density. My plan is to try the following recipe based on my research:

15g Whey

15g Casein

30g All Purpose Flour

15g Coconut Flour

1 egg

Some amount of Peanut Butter or Melted Regular butter, just some fat for moisture

10 g of Zero Calorie Sweetener

1 teaspoon of Baking Soda

Salt (to slow down the decomposition of baking soda)

Chocolate Chips

I will also refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. And will bake in oven at 375 (effectively is 350) for 15 minutes or until cookie is golden brown.

Do you guys think this will result in the texture I want?

Answer 1

It looks like some other users have hinted at this, but I think it's worth highlighting as the primary source of your troubles: Cookies are typically heavy on some kind of shortening (butter, crisco, lard, etc). This is especially true for the kinds of cookies I'm assuming you're expecting to mimic.

My guess is that, unfortunately, you aren't going to find a "healthy" version of a cookie that has the same taste and texture as the "unhealthy" ones since it's the sugar and fat that helps create the texture you're expecting.

This article here gets into the role that shortening (fat) plays in baking: https://www.jessicagavin.com/butter-vs-shortening/

Answer 2

It is the eggs, and yogurt, ratio to the amount of flour.

In the original recipe, the mass of egg whites exceeds the mass of flour. The protein powder will add some to the quantity of flour, but even with a one to one ratio of flour to egg, the liquid and stickyness of the eggs will not become crunchy. Sneftl was correct, the flour needs to absorb fat from something like oil or butter for the cookie to become crumbly. I think the egg's liquid will make a crunchy cookie chewier as it increases.