Do you put your healthy eating habits on hold during the holiday season? Will you think of the “12 pounds of Christmas,” when you hear the “12 days of Christmas?”
This is, without any doubt, the most difficult time of the year for people seeking to eat healthy meals. Yet that doesn’t mean that we have to give up!
Below are seven tips that will help you with one part of the enticing rituals of the season-baking holiday cookies.
1. Reduce the fat in your favorite recipes.
Believe it or not, cookie recipes also have some quick substitutions that can popular the fat but retain the flavor. Yet for all the dishes, such substitutions can not fit. Many low-fat and fat-free ingredients do not stand up to heat very well; others contain varying quantities of water which can influence the cookies’ texture. Using cake flour instead of the all-purpose meal will also help with cookie tenderness.
To get the best performance, you’ll need to try a little-but it’ll be worth it!
Below are few substitutions in your favorite cookie recipes to reduce the volume of fat (or saturated 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: Using butter or soft oil, or margarine.
Instead of an egg: Using an egg substitute (the quantity shown on the label) or 2 egg whites.
Instead of chocolate chips: Using chips made of mini-chocolate.
Instead of chocolate: Using unsweetened cocoa powder (3 spoons per 1 oz. of chocolate) and 1 spoonful of canola oil.
Instead of nuts: Using cereal and crispy rice.
Instead of peanut butter: Using the peanut butter, reduced in calories.
Instead of whole milk: Add skim milk.
2. Reduce by approximately one-third the amount of sugar needed in your recipe. Sometimes, this can be achieved without changing the flavor or feel.
3. Use alternatives to sugar which is granulated. Below are a few recommendations:
Honey. Using 3/4 cup plus 1 spoonful of honey instead of 1 cup of sugar; minimize other liquid ingredients by around 2 spoons. Cookies made with honey seem to get brown more easily.
Fruit juice concentrates. For each cup of white sugar, use 3/4 cups of fruit juice concentrate (good apple juice and orange juice concentrate); decrease other liquid ingredients by 3 tablespoons.
Molasses. Using 1-1/3 cup molasses for 1 cup of sugar; minimize by around 5 tablespoons of all liquid ingredients. Your cookies look softer and do not taste as good as they do.
Maple syrup. Using 3/4 cup maple syrup for 1 cup white sugar; decrease other sugars
3 Tablespoons of liquid ingredients.
4. Using sugar-free substitutes. Many common items come in sugar-free varieties. For starters, if a recipe calls for jam or candy, consider using sugar-free versions.
5. Using sugar-treated artificial sweeteners. Notice I didn’t say using sugar But artificial sweeteners. You do not want to absolutely remove sugar, as it plays a crucial role in keeping the cookies warm and moist. But you can use artificial sweeteners Like sugar to reduce the calorie level. For best results, try half-and-half (for example, if your recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar, use ½ cup of sugar and ½ cup of an artificial sweetener).
Artificial pastry sweeteners include saccharin (Sweet and Low ®); acesulfame potassium (Sunette ® or Sweet One ®); and sucrolose (Splenda ®).
Aspartame (Equal ® and Nutrasweet ®) is not ideal for baking but can be used in recipes for no-bake cookies.
Make sure to read the label for tips on swapping sugar with other sweeteners.
Remember that certain artificial sweeteners can continue to bake the 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 summary, those recommendations on your part will take some trial and error. But you can make your holiday cookie baking a healthy and tasty tradition with a touch of imagination and ingenuity!