HELP! need healthy cookie recipes

[mickeyluv'r]

My FIL has a heart condition, so I always feel guilty serving buttery Christmas cookies, but I also would feel sad to totally eliminate this tradition from our family as well. I hate to tempt him with something he can't have. I'd love if someone had a recipe out there for cookies (or something cookie-like) that are low fat - maybe don't use margarine (yuck!) or butter at all? ...or is "healthy cookie" an oxymoron? DISers are such a great resource I'm hoping someone has a yummy treat idea!

 

[allyphoe]

Do you know (either from his or his doctor) exactly what constitutes "healthy" for his condition? Is low-fat the only guideline, or is it something more specific like low in saturated fat, or high in Omega-3s? My uncle with a heart condition is on a very low-sodium diet - is that an issue for your FIL?

 

[smacky1]

Check this site out. Lots to choose from and ratings as well. i havent made any of them so I cant say if they are good, but the reviews should help you decide:


http://www.3fatchicks.com/diet-recipes/low-calorie/desserts/cookies/

Cocoa Meringue Drops

(32 votes) Move your mouse over the stars then click to vote.
recipe ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
3 large egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 tablespoon powdered sugar
recipe directions
Preheat oven to 300°F. Line 2 heavy large baking sheets with foil or parchment paper. Sift 1/4 cup sugar, cocoa and salt into small bowl. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in large bowl until soft peaks begin to form. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 tablespoon at a time and beat until medium-firm peaks form. Add cocoa mixture 1 tablespoon at a time and beat until meringue is stiff and glossy.
Drop meringue onto prepared baking sheets by rounded teaspoonfuls, spacing 1 inch apart. For chewy soft cookies, bake meringues 25 minutes. For drier, crisper cookies, bake meringues 40 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets. Sift powdered sugar over cookies.
Serves: 40 - Nutrition Information Per Serving: 14 calories each

 

[NHWX]

Is he also diabetic which would limit sugar? There's a meringue recipe on the Splenda site which I've made and it isn't too bad.

Note: Because the meringues need to sit in the oven (turned off) overnight, you need to plan when you make them.

Biscotti can be made to be very low fat also. And then they're pretty good when dunked in coffee. Obviously, the biscotti recipes which include nuts, chocolate coverings, etc. won't work. We've made lemon/ginger, lemon/dried blueberry, cinnamon and nutmeg, and chocolate/dried cranberry.

I'll try to dig up the biscotti recipe if you want.

Oh, yes, the Betty Crocker gingerbread cookie recipe is very low fat but it's huge. It takes 7 cups of flour to start!

Why does it seem that the low fat ones are time consuming and the butter or cream cheese cookies just fly together? Anyone tried to make cream cheese cookies with the non-fat cream cheese?

NHWX

 

[KTSMOM]

I second a meringue recipe. There is one in Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook that is low fat/calorie and is wonderful. We add peppermint extract and choc chips to it to make it bit more yummy. I tried to find a link on line but wasn't able to.

Also, this Cooking Light choolate chip cookie is wonderful

Yield
4 dozen (serving size: 1 cookie)

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 10 ounces)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large egg whites
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Cooking spray
Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

Combine sugars and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add vanilla and egg whites; beat 1 minute. Add flour mixture and chips; beat until blended.

Drop dough by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on pans for 2 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.


Nutritional Information
Calories:88 (31% from fat)
Fat:3g (sat 1.8g,mono 0.5g,poly 0.1g)

 

[Trena]

1) box brownie mix
1) 15 oz can black beans

Rinse beans, put back into can. Add just enough water to cover beans. Put into blender and mix into a paste. Add paste to brownie mix and cook according to mix directions. Leave out eggs, oil, or anything else called for on the box.



These are dense and moist, a little chewy. Somewhere between fudge and brownie. My kids can not tell there are beans in these.

 

[worm761]

I have peanut butter cookie that isn't so bad.

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg

mix all ingredients in a bowl. form 1 inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on baking sheet. press down with a fork to make cookies. bake for about 8 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

 

[englishteacha]

Check out the American Heart Association webpage. They have recipes there. Your local library probably has their cookbooks, too.

 

[perriwinkleblue]

Do a search for low-fat oatmeal cookies and you will find so many recipes. I won't give you a particular one because I haven't made them yet but I found tons to choose from.

One quick thing I'd like to pass along, although not a cookie, is an easy recipe for pumpkin muffins with no egg or oil. You just mix a yellow or spice cake mix with a can of pumpkin and 2/3 cup water. Add cinnamon and a little nutmeg and pour into 12 muffin cups. It seems too easy, but it does work and they are yummy - more cupcake than muffin (you could FROST them with cream cheese frosting but now that would not be very good for you ) I know there's only so healthy something can be when you start with a boxed cake mix, but at least these have no oil or eggs and do have a veggie .

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Luckily my FIL is not diabetic. I don't think sugar is much of an issue. I also don't think he's on a very low sodium diet. I think in general he avoids things that are high in sodium, but I don't think he's on a super low sodium diet. At least it's never been mentioned to me.

I know my MIL once made chocolate chip cookies with olive oil though, which just sounds like it wouldn't work well to me, though I never tried them.

The pumpkin cake recipe sounds interesting. I have made pumpkin breads before. I'll have to relook at my recipe. As I recall, even skipping the cake mix, making the pumpkin bread from scratch was pretty easy.

Keep 'em coming!!!!!

 

[minnie1928]

Not a recipe, but more of a hint....I use unsweetened applesauce whenever a baking recipe calls for oil. It works out great and no one can tell the difference. Just a fat free substitute.

 

[lovemred]

Woolaroc Cookies

2 c. flour
2 c. oatmeal
1 c. coconut
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
1 c. almonds, chopped
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1 c. oil
2 tsp. vanilla

Mix with hands all ingredients, but eggs, oil and vanilla. Add eggs, oil and vanilla. Form flat cookies. Place on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 9-12 minutes.
Optional additions: dried cranberries, sunflower seed, dried apricots pieces, etc., if desired.

Our favorite variation is to omit the almonds, add cranberries, sunflower seeds and WIDE flake coconut

We use safflower, sunflower or canola oil. Using whole wheat flour would improve the nutrition, too.

About Woolaroc (where I got the recipe)

Hidden away in the rugged Osage Hills of Northeastern Oklahoma, Woolaroc was established in 1925 as the ranch retreat of oilman Frank Phillips.
The name WOOLAROC is derived from three words—the woods, lakes and rocks that make up the beautiful Osage Hills of northeast Oklahoma where Woolaroc is located. The name was originally intended for the rustic Lodge ranch house, but it was so unique that it soon became the name for the entire Frank Phillips ranch.
Will Rogers, a frequent guest at Woolaroc along with a host of other folk that included movie stars, wealthy Eastern businessmen and presidents Hoover and Truman, is once quoted as saying that "Of all the places in the United States, Woolaroc is the most unique."

So this cookie may have been served to presidents!!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

My FIL is from Oklahoma! I think this recipe will be great! I wonder if they are a cookie he's had before....

 

[Crystal0608]

I made some cookies using a recipe posted on here somewhere that was awesome. It was one box of spice cake mix and one 15 oz can of pumpkin puree (not pie filling) mixed together, drop small spoonfuls on greased or Pam sprayed cookie sheet, and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. These will not brown like reg cookies so watch them and they are very fluffy the 1st day, more dense and moist the 2nd. I added chopped pecans & dried cranberries to mine, you could use a reduced sugar cake mix to make it more diabetic friendly.

 

[burberryplaid]

This is a recipe for mini chocoalte chip cookies that uses very little butter and a little canola oil. It's a Weight Watchers recipe.


Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies - Makes 48 cookies total

2 tbsp butter, softened
2 tsp canola oil
1/2 cup(s) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup(s) dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp table salt
1 large egg white(s)
3/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, about 1/2 cup

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375ºF.

In a medium bowl, cream together butter, oil and sugar. Add vanilla, salt and egg white; mix thoroughly to combine.

In a small bowl, mix together flour and baking soda; stir into batter. Add chocolate chips to batter; stir to distribute evenly throughout.

Drop rounded half-teaspoons of dough onto one or two large nonstick baking sheets, leaving a small amount of space between each cookie. Bake cookies until golden around edges, about 4 to 6 minutes; cool on a wire rack. Yields 2 cookies per serving.

And I haven't tried these but they are from Healthy Appetite by Ellie Krieger and have 66 awesome reviews on the Food Network site, mostly saying you'd never think they were healthy:

Cook Time12 min
Level
Easy
Yield
about 2 dozen cookies - serving is 1 cookie
Prep15 min Inactive Prep 20 min Cook 12 min Total:47

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
1/4 teaspoon salt, optional
1/3 cup dark chocolate (2 ounces) coarsely chopped
1/3 cup milk chocolate (2 ounces) coarsely chopped
2/3 cup chopped pecans, optional

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mash together the butter and sugars with a fork until well combined. Add the oil and egg and beat until creamy. Mix in the vanilla.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well. Stir in the dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and the pecans and mix well. Using a tablespoon, scoop the batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool.

Nutritional Analysisper Cookie Calories:108 Total Fat:6 grams Saturated Fat:2.5 grams Protein:1 gram Carbohydrates:13 grams Fiber:1 gram