Bake Healthy Cookies

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Cookies can be made for almost any palette, whether it’s sweet, salty, chocolaty or fruity. The healthfulness of your cookies depends upon the ingredients that you use. Most recipes use high amounts of butter, granulated sugar, milk chocolate and all-purpose flour, which have little nutritional value. If you learn to bake with ingredients that have anti-oxidants, whole grains or natural sugars and fats, you will have more healthy snacks. However, you must remember that calorie content may still be high, even in nutritional recipes. Read about how to bake healthy cookies.

[Edit]Steps

[Edit]Healthy Baking Tips

Eliminate saturated fat from your baked goods by replacing butter or margarine with other ingredients. Butter is considered healthier than margarine and most shortenings because it contains fewer trans fats than these other solid fats. You can try the following replacements for healthier cookies:
- If a cookie recipe calls for butter or margarine, replace up to half of it with the same number of tbsp. of olive oil, coconut oil or canola oil. Replacing the butter completely is likely to change the taste and texture too much for most palettes.
- If a cookie recipe calls for butter, margarine or shortening, replace it with a fruit puree. Applesauce and pureed pumpkin are popular choices. If it is a fruit cookie recipe, try replacing up to half of the butter with fruit puree. If it is another type, replace 1/4 to 1/3 of the amount of butter, margarine or shortening.
- Replace 1/4 to 1/3 of the fat with fruit juice, buttermilk or non-fat plain yogurt. Start with low amounts and work your way up, since these no-fat ingredients can make cookies less moist.
- Use a mix of different replacements. You will always use some butter in a recipe that calls for it, in order to give it the same taste; however, you may want to experiment with your favorite ingredients. Perhaps you will use 1/2 the quantity of butter and replace the other half with equal parts coconut oil and applesauce.
Replace your all-purpose flour. Bleached, refined white flour has almost no nutritional value, while adding a lot of calories. Consider using 1 or a few of the following high-fiber items instead:
- Replace a portion of your all-purpose flour with oats. If you like chewy oatmeal cookies and you don’t mind varying their texture, the added fiber will increase the nutritional value and benefit to your digestive system.
- Grind oats into flour and use them as a replacement. This method will allow you to replace the all-purpose flour with high-fiber oats, but it will not change the texture quite as much.
- Replace all or some of the flour with whole wheat flour. Make sure it is 100 percent whole wheat. If you don’t mind a slight change in flavor, consider replacing all-purpose flour completely with this healthier flour in your cookie recipes.
- Add 2 to 4 tbsp. (15 to 30 g) of ground flax seeds to your flour mixture. They contain omega-3 fatty acids and high fiber content, making your cookies more nutritional.
- Replace up to 1/2 cup (63 g) of flour with almond meal. This will increase the protein content, as well as the fiber content, of your cookies.
Reduce the salt in the recipe. You can still maintain the flavor of your cookies with no more than 1/2 tsp. (6 g) of salt in the recipe. Experiment with using 1/4 tsp. (3 g) for extra healthy cookies.
Add healthy ingredients to simple cookie recipes. Using seeds, nuts, dried fruit and unsweetened coconut in the place of chocolate chips or sprinkles will improve the healthfulness of the cookie. Keep in mind that it is may not decrease the calories, although it will add nutritional value.
Cut down on the granulated or brown sugar in your recipes. The best way to go about making cookie recipes better is to train your palette to eat something that is slightly less sweet. Yet, there are also some replacement options if you like your cookies sweet.
- Cut some sugar and add more spices. This is not a simple replacement; however, you can increase the flavor by adding cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger. Then, reduce your granulated sugar amount by a fourth.
- Replace granulated sugar with very ripe fruits. Try overripe apples and bananas, which become very sweet near the end of their shelf life. Try creating a puree and adding it to your wet ingredients.
- Replace the sugar with agave nectar or honey. Agave nectar is sweeter than honey, so you may want to reduce the amount you replace slightly when using this ingredient.
Use dark chocolate instead of semi-sweet or milk chocolate. Look for bars or chips with at least 70 percent cacao. This chocolate is filled with antioxidants and often contains fewer calories.
- You can also substitute carob chips in place of chocolate chips. This legume is often used because it has a mild chocolaty flavor. Using it will increase fiber and reduce calories. You can order these from natural food stores online, if you cannot find them in your town.
- If you cannot find dark chocolate chips at your supermarket, buy bars of chocolate and chop them up.

[Edit]Fig and Flax Cookies

Turn your oven on to preheat at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius). Line your baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place 1/2 cup (113 g) butter and 1/4 cup (47 g) of brown sugar in a bowl. Use a hand mixer on high speed until the mixture is creamy. Add 1 egg yolk and 1 tsp. (4.9 ml) vanilla extract, while continuing to beat the mixture.
Whisk your dry ingredients. Add 1/2 cup (60 g) of whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup (63 g) of all purpose flour, 2 tbsp. (15 g) of ground flax seeds, 1/4 tsp. (0.8 g) cream of tartar, 1/4 tsp. (0.7 g) of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp.(0.7 g) of nutmeg and 1/8 tsp. (1.5 g) of salt to the bowl. Whisk until well mixed.
Beat your wet ingredients on the low setting while slowly adding your dry ingredients to the bowl. Scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently. Stop when the mixture combines.
Mix an egg white, 1/4 cup (47 g) of brown sugar and 1/4 cup of ground flax seeds together in a shallow bowl.
Use a tsp. to make small balls of the cookie dough. Roll them in an even ball, then roll them in the flax and sugar mixture.
Set them on the cookie sheet 2 inches (5.1 cm) apart. Press your thumb down in the center of each one. Spoon 1/4 tsp. (1.2 ml) of fig preserves into the center of the cookie.
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes and let cool before serving. You may need to bake the cookies in more than 1 batch.

[Edit]Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius). Place your oven rack in the top portion of your oven. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place 3 large, overripe mashed bananas in a large bowl. Add 1 tsp. (4.9 ml) vanilla extract and 1/4 cup (59 ml) of slightly warmed coconut oil or olive oil. Stir to combine.
Take another bowl and add 2/3 cup (63 g) of almond meal, 1/3 cup (24 g) of shredded coconut, 2 cups (312 g) of oats, 1/2 tsp. (6 g) salt, 1/2 tsp. (1.3 g) cinnamon and 1 tsp. (3.5 g) baking powder. Combine with a large fork.
Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir slowly. When combined, add 7 oz. (198 g) of dark chocolate chips or carob chips.
Drop small balls of cookie dough onto the parchment paper. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. Allow them to cool before eating.