With all the unhealthy food options around during the holiday season, it's easy to overdo it on treats or go for snacks that are loaded with fat and calories. Christmas cookies are a much-loved holiday tradition, but many are not healthy, and they can quickly work to reverse the effects that weeks of diet and exercise have built. Since deprivation is no fun and a little indulgence is better than a lot, try some healthy Christmas cookie makeovers this holiday season.
"Low" Recipes
When you're searching for cookie recipes, pull aside those that are low-fat, low-sugar or low-calorie. Not all of them taste as good as the traditional versions do, but many are indistinguishable from the full-fat and full-calorie editions. Plus, these cookies are designed for people who are watching their weight or health, so they make it easier to stick to a specific diet and maintain a healthy lifestyle. "Good Housekeeping" publishes lists of healthy Christmas cookie recipes and generally healthy cookie recipes that include whole-wheat sugar cookies, whole-grain gingersnaps and figgy bars. These cookies include bigger portions of healthier ingredients, such as whole-wheat flour, dried fruit or nuts, and smaller portions of butter and sugar.
Substitutions
When making Christmas cookies, ask yourself if you can substitute any new, healthier ingredients. Substitutions work especially well in recipes that have a lot of fat and calories because almost any substitutions will yield a healthier cookie than the original. "Cooking Light" performs a recipe makeover in every issue that involves ingredient reductions or substitutions. Their molasses-spice crackle recipe yields 40 cookies from, among other ingredients, only 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 stick margarine and one egg white.
Common healthy substitutions and reductions include eliminating egg yolks, replacing a portion of butter, margarine or oil with low-fat yogurt or applesauce, and substituting some wheat flour or whole-wheat pastry flour for all-purpose flour.
Balance and Control
When making over traditional Christmas cookies to be healthier, remember portion control and balance in your diet. Think about what you want to accomplish when you're substituting ingredients and baking cookies. If you want to sample a variety of holiday treats, make mini cookies so that you can try a few different kinds. If you prefer to eat just one or two larger cookies, try dropping bigger spoonfuls of batter on your cookie sheets so that you won't be tempted to eat a lot of small cookies later. It's possible to go overboard even on Christmas cookies that are "healthy," so always balance what you eat with whole grains, protein, fruits and vegetables.
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