By Jeannette Moninger
WebMD Feature
Holiday cookies come around only once a year. They're nearly impossible to resist. But you could be nibbling your way to something worse than coal in your stocking.
When faced with a tray full of temptation, reach for cookies with oats, nuts, or fruit. "You'll at least get some fiber," says registered dietitian nutritionist Libby Mills, spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Avoid anything smeared with frosting or coated with sugary sprinkles.
At home, don't be afraid to tinker with a beloved family recipe. "Your ancestors didn't know a lot about the dangers of trans fats or the need for fiber," she says. Give your loved ones the gift of a new and improved family recipe.
When done right, you can enjoy these delicious holiday treats and stay off the naughty list.
An easy place to start is the granulated sugar. You can use 1/4 cup less in many drop cookies, such as these cinnamon-sugar cookies, and they'll still taste as sweet. Often, you could cut up to a third of the sugar and not notice a difference. Or add dried fruit to make up for the sugar you're leaving out.
If you want to bake with a sugar substitute product, stick to recipes from the manufacturer. Used in your recipes, these products could throw off the flavor, texture, and appearance of your cookie. "Some artificial sweeteners become bitter when exposed to heat," Mills says. Aspartame won't do well in the oven, but saccharin and sucralose should taste OK.
Baking tip: Because sugar helps dough spread while baking, using less sugar can lead to puffier, rounder cookies. If you want cookies that look more like you're used to, Mills suggests coating the palm of your hand with nonstick cooking spray and flattening out the dough balls before putting them in the oven.
Butter, shortening, and some kinds of margarine have a lot of unhealthy fats. Fortunately, you can replace up to half of a recipe's fat content with healthier options.
Fruit purees. Try unsweetened applesauce, pumpkin puree, or prune butter.
Vegetable purees. Cauliflower adds the lightest flavoring. Pureed fennel will add extra flavor to anise cookies.
Oils. Canola and sunflower oils raise good cholesterol, too. Canola oil also gives you healthy omega-3 fats.
The substitution is simple: 1 cup of butter = 1/2 cup of butter plus 1/2 cup of oil or pureed fruits or vegetables. For example, "In this chocolate chip cookie recipe, 3 tablespoons of butter could be replaced with an equal amount of canola oil," Mills says.
However, "Lower-fat cookies will have a denser texture," she says. "They won't be as crisp."
If you use margarine, avoid the hard sticks. Choose soft margarine in a tub with no trans fat and less than 2 grams of saturated fat per serving.
Baking tip: Reduced-fat substitutions will make cookies lose moisture during baking. Lower the oven temperature by 25 degrees, and shorten the baking time. Keep an eye on the first batch to get the timing right.
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