There’s just something so comforting about baking up a storm this time of year, and I’ve been making a lot of cookie batches lately. In a few days, a couple of the ladies in my family will do some holiday baking together, and I can’t wait to start the holiday cookie baking tradition with my little one. So today, it seems fitting to talk cookies!
Just because I love to bake, it doesn’t mean that I am constantly whipping up treats with loads of butter, sugar, and simple carbs. I enjoy making baked goods that I can feel good about eating, and I often don’t even think that those oil-laden treats taste any better than my better-for-you creations.
If you’re looking to lighten up your favorite cookie recipes, 5 healthy baking swaps that I routinely use are:
- Apple sauce for oil or butter
- Whole wheat flour for white flour
- Maple syrup or honey for refined sugar
- Oats for white flour
- Flax egg for a regular egg or oil
- Dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate
Here are some healthier cookie recipes to get your holiday baking on with:
Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.
These vegan cookies are made with a base of oats, almond flour, and whole wheat flour, and use a flax egg and mashed banana to make them moist.
5-ingredient peanut butter crisscross cookies.
Made with peanut butter, almond meal, and maple syrup, this easy cookie recipe is a healthier take on the traditional pb crisscross cookie. [vegan + gluten free]
>> Get my cookie recipe at Shape.
Mint chocolate chip cookies.
I simply had to include these cookies from Cook Nourish Bliss, as I’ve made them a bunch of times and they’re always a hit.
The recipe calls for coconut sugar and 1/2 cup coconut oil, and I often will use 1/4 cup vegetable oil + 1/4 cup coconut oil instead. I don’t love a coconutty cookie taste, but you wouldn’t even know that there’s coconut oil in the recipe when you halve it.
Dark chocolate peanut butter banana oatmeal cookies.
How’s that for a mouthful? I’ve made these cookies countless times! [vegan + gluten free]
Cinnamon brown sugar banana bread cookies.
If you’re a cinnamon lover, these cookies are for you! They’re like banana bread in cookie form. [vegan]
>> Get the recipe here.
Low-cal snickerdoodle cookies.
These pillowy snickerdoodle cookies have 100 calories a pop and feature an unconventional ingredient – Greek yogurt!
>> Get my recipe for them at Shape.
Dark chocolate cherry cookies.
Made with whole wheat + almond flours, almond butter in lieu of oil, apple sauce instead of butter, and dried cherries, these babies also call for maple syrup in lieu of refined sugar.
>> Get the recipe here.
These are all great swap ideas. I love to make oatmeal based treats so I figure they are healthyish. Happy holidays and happy baking