Who doesn’t love a chocolate chip cookie? These chewy, gooey cookies, however, are biscuits with benefits. For a start, they’ve been devised by Dr Tim Spector and the Zoe team, so you know they’re packed with nutrient-dense plants and blood sugar-stabilising fats.

“They’re a great alternative to UPF [ultra-processed] snacks, as they’re really easy to make and require minimal ingredients,” says Dr Spector. “The nuts and olive oil help moderate your blood sugar response, but you can also add other fillings such as spiced oats and raisins.”

Pecans are rich in copper and zinc – minerals that play key roles in immune health. They also contain a good amount of thiamine or vitamin B1, which helps to convert carbs into energy. Elsewhere, ground almonds provide nourishing vitamin E, dark chocolate ups the magnesium content and flaxseeds make these cookies far more fibrous than your standard eggy concoction.

Whip up at lunch if you’re WFH for a handy 3pm snack or batch cook ready to take a load into the office. Your concentration – and colleagues – will thank you.

• 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
• 3 tbsp light brown sugar
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 200g ground almonds
• 50g pecan nuts, roughly chopped
• 80g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids), roughly chopped
• Pinch of salt

(You can swap pecans for pumpkin or sunflower seeds)

Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas 4 and line a baking tray with baking parchment. 

To make the flax egg, mix the ground flaxseed with 4 tablespoons of water and set aside for 15 minutes.

Mix the brown sugar, olive oil and flax egg together. Add the ground almonds, pecan nuts, chocolate and salt and mix again.

Shape into 12 tight balls and flatten slightly into cookies about 1cm thick (it helps if you do this with damp hands).

Bake for 10–12 minutes until tinged golden brown at the edges, then leave to cool completely on the tray. Store in an airtight container.

Extracted from The Food for Life Cookbook by Tim Spector (Jonathan Cape, £28). All photography by Issy Croker.