Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Oatball vs. Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie

August 4^th is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, and we couldn’t think of a better reason to make cookies! In the second part of this series of Oatballs vs. desserts, we put our Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Oatball up against the classic chocolate chip cookie. We think that most people would agree that the Original Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip recipe is one of the most popular recipes of all time.

As with all of our comparisons, we weighed out the cookie dough to match an oatball, which is 45 grams. Side by side, the nutrition label of the Oatball and the cookie appear to be quite similar. Here’s the breakdown:

	Oatball	Cookie
Calories	208	204
Carbs	26	29
Fat	9	8
Protein	5	4
Sugar	12	15
Fiber	4	2
Sodium	29	325
Cholesterol	0	19

 

Is the cookie just as good as the Oatball? 

Let’s take a deeper look and find out. If we’re comparing calories, the Oatball and the cookie seem relatively equal. But calories alone don’t tell the full story. If you look closely at the nutrition label, you can see that the cookie is higher in cholesterol and sodium, but contains half the amount of fiber as the Oatball.

What about the quality of the ingredients? 

Cookies are made with refined carbohydrates like flour and simple sugars like granulated and brown sugar. While carbs are a necessary component of your diet to provide you energy, the quality of the carb determines how long that energy lasts. Simple carbs provide a quick spike of energy, typically followed by a crash (think of a child who has just eaten a high-sugar candy). Complex carbs give you longer lasting energy as they are digested slower. Oats are a great complex carb that helps you sustain your energy longer. Oats are also loaded with fiber, which is good for your digestive system and also helps you feel full longer.

And, the Winner is...

On the surface, the cookie appeared to provide good competition for the Oatball, but the Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Oatball wins hands-down with lower sodium, higher fiber, and longer-lasting energy.