Do you put your healthy eating habits on hold during the holiday season? When you hear the “12 days of Christmas” do you think about the “12 pounds of Christmas?”
This is, undoubtedly, the most challenging time of year for people who are trying to eat healthy meals. But it doesn’t mean we have to give up!
Here are seven tips that can help you with one aspect the season’s tempting traditions – holiday cookie baking.
1. Reduce the fat in your favorite recipes.
Believe it or not, cookie recipes also have a few quick substitutions that can reduce the fat but retain the flavour. Yet such substitutes can not fit with all recipes. Many low-fat and fat-free foods don’t hold up to heat as well; others contain varying levels of water that can influence the cookie shape. Using cake flour instead of all-purpose meal will also assist with cookie tenderness.
To get the best performance you’ll have to practise a little – but it’ll be worth it!
Here are several substitutions in your favourite cookie recipes to reduce the fat (or the saturated amount of fat):
Instead of butter or margarine: use light butter, fat-free cream cheese, or even applesauce (you may need to reduce the amount of liquid elsewhere in the recipe).
Instead of shortening: use butter or margarine or light butter.
Instead of an egg: use an egg substitute (amount as indicated on label) or 2 egg whites.
Instead of chocolate chips: use mini-chocolate chips.
Instead of butter or margarine: substitute soft butter, fat-free cream cheese, or even applesauce (the amount of liquid elsewhere in the recipe may have to be reduced).
Instead of shortening: use butter or soft oil, or margarine.
Using an egg substitute (amount as specified on the label) or 2 egg whites instead of an egg.
Instead of chocolate chips: using chips made of mini-chocolate.
Instead of chocolate: use unsweetened cocoa powder (3 tablespoons for 1 oz. chocolate) and 1 tablespoon canola oil.
Instead of nuts: use crispy rice cereal.
Instead of peanut butter: use a reduced-fat peanut butter.
Instead of whole milk: use skim milk.
2.Reduce by approximately one-third the amount of sugar needed in your recipe. Mostly, this can be achieved without changing the flavour or texture.
3. Use alternatives to sugar which is granulated. Here are few suggestions:
Honey. Use 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon honey in place of 1 cup sugar; reduce other liquid ingredients by about 2 tablespoons. Cookies made with honey will tend to brown faster.
Fruit juice concentrates. Use 3/4 cup of fruit juice concentrate (apple juice and orange juice concentrates are good) for every cup of white sugar; reduce other liquid ingredients by 3 tablespoons.
Molasses. Use 1-1/3 cups molasses for 1 cup sugar; reduce other liquid ingredients by about 5 tablespoons. Your cookies will look darker and may not taste as sweet.
Maple syrup. Use 3/4 cup maple syrup for 1 cup of white sugar; reduce other
liquid ingredients by 3 tablespoons.
4. Using substitutes which are sugar free. Most common items come in sugar-free varieties. For starters, if a recipe calls for jam or candy, consider using sugar-free versions.
5. Use sugar-bearing artificial sweeteners. Notice I did not say I use sugar INSTEAD of artificial sweeteners. You don’t want to completely eliminate sugar, as it plays a vital role in keeping your cookies tender and moist. But to reduce calories you can use artificial sweeteners WITH sugar. Use half-and-a-half (for example, when the recipe contains 1 cup of sugar, use 1⁄2 cup of sugar and 1⁄2 cup of an artificial sweetener) for better results.
Artificial sweeteners that are suitable for baking include saccharine (Sweet and Low®); acesulfame potassium (Sunette® or Sweet One®); and sucrolose (Splenda®).
Aspartame (Equal® and Nutrasweet®) is not good for baking, but can be used in no-bake cookie recipes.
For all artificial sweeteners, be sure to read the label for sugar substitution tips.
Remember that certain artificial sweeteners can continue to bake your cookies faster so keep an eye on them.
6. Sprinkle the cookie / baking sheets loosely with vegetable cooking spray instead of greasing them with butter or shortening.
In short, those recommendations on your part will take some trial and error. But you can make your holiday cookie baking a healthier yet delicious tradition with a bit of experimentation and creativity!
