Do you remember your Senior Prom?

This past Friday was my prom, and while Junior year I spent weeks obsessing over what dress I would where, where my friends and I would go for dinner, and how I would do my hair, this year I figured out my hairstyle the day of and didn’t even go out to buy my dress myself… I had my mom find a cute one for me then bring it home for me to try on while she was out!

Why did I care so little about prom this year? Two words: Prom. Sucks. At least, at my school it does. Usually, people arrive about 45 minutes after the dance technically begins, they stay about 30 minutes, then leave to go party it up with their friends. Well, I’m definitely not much of a partier, so really all I have going for me on prom day (other than the pictures) is the dinner beforehand.

This year we decided to go to this delicious seafood restaurant about 30 minutes away from our prom. While the dinner was yummy (swordfish is always a win), the dessert was actually divine!

They call it a “pizookie”. What it is is a slightly underbaked chocolate chip cookie the size of a large slice of pizza, topped with chocolate sauce and a scoop of ice cream. Sound familiar? That’s because when I got home from my friend’s house the next afternoon, I decided to make a healthy version for myself!

This deep dish dark chocolate chunk cookie is everything the pizookie I had before prom was – gooey, chocolatey, and dripping with half-melted ice cream – but healthy. It doesn’t contain any gluten, butter, or shortening, like classic cookies. Plus, instead of butter I chose to use coconut oil, instead of eggs I substituted the higher-protein egg whites, and for milk chocolate I added dark chocolate chunks! Dark chocolate contains antioxidants, meaning it protects against free radicals, and makes this recipe even more decadent than it otherwise would be!

So, even though prom wasn’t the best, at least I got the phenomenal idea for this deep dish dark chocolate chunk cookie out of it!

Deep Dish Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookie for One

• 3 tbs gluten free baking mix
• 1 tsp melted coconut oil
• 1 tbs egg whites
• 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 oz dark chocolate
• 1 tbs brown sugar (or coconut sugar)

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a small ramekin with cooking spray. Add gluten free baking mix, coconut oil egg whites, vanilla, and brown sugar to a small bowl and stir until combined. Add most of the chopped dark chocolate and stir together. Scoop into the ramekin and level off with a spoon, then sprinkle with remaining dark chocolate. Bake for 4-5 minutes, or until the top has set but the cookie is still a bit underdone. Scoop ice cream on top. Enjoy!

Nutrition Information (from myfitnesspal.com)

Calories: 265

Fat: 12g

Carbs: 35g

Protein: 5g

(Yields 1 serving)