Figure-Friendly Holiday Cookie Recipes (Part I)
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We love the holiday season – and especially all the cookies we get to eat during these weeks. 😉 And because we also want to take care of our health during this time, we have put together 10 special cookie recipes for you. Part I includes directions for 5 vegan, lactose-free, sugar-free and gluten-free cookies.
Vegan: Crispy chocolate peanut butter cookies
Ingredients:
- 45 g soft vegetable butter (or ordinary butter)
- 1 Tbsp flax seeds (soaked in 3 tbsp water)
- 70 g peanut butter
- 70 g brown sugar
- 40 g granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp baking powder
- a pinch of salt
- 140 g almonds (ground into flour)
- 100 g oat flakes (ground into flour)
- about 60 g dark chocolate (chopped)
- almond milk, if needed (or other plant milk)
Directions:
Combine the butter and the peanut butter and blend with a hand mixer until smooth. While blending, add the sugar, the soaked flax seeds and the vanilla extract.
Slowly mix in the dry ingredients and the pieces of chocolate. If the dough gets too dry, add a dash of unsweetened almond milk (or ordinary milk).
Shape the dough into little balls and place them in rows on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake them in a preheated oven in convection mode at 180°C for 10 – 15 minutes. When you take them out of the oven, they should be light golden brown. At first, they will be soft, but they will harden as they cool. If you prefer a stronger peanut butter taste, you can sprinkle a little salt on top and then enjoy.
Makes about 1 baking sheet
1 cookie contains 130 calories
Lactose-free: Traditional Linz cookies
Ingredients:
- 100 g almonds
- 60 g brown sugar
- 120 g wholemeal wheat, spelt or rye flour
- 80 g wheat flour
- 1 tsp backing powder
- a pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 110 g soft vegetable butter (or ordinary butter)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 50 g almond extract (optional)
- 3 Tbsp raspberry or red currant jam (75 % fruit content, low sugar content)
Directions:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven in convection mode to 180°C. Pulse the almonds with 2 tsp of brown sugar in a food processor or mixer until the almonds are finely ground. Add the flour, baking powder and salt.
Beat the butter in a mixing bowl with a hand mixer until creamy and mix in the remaining brown sugar. Then add the egg, the vanilla and almond extract and mix until smooth. Finally, fold in the flour mixture.
Shape the dough into about 28 little balls, roll them in brown sugar and spread them on the baking sheet. Using your thumb, make a small indentation in the cookie and fill it with some raspberry or red currant jam. Bake the Linz cookies until they are golden brown, or about 15 minutes.
Makes about 1 baking sheet
1 cookie contains 110 calories
Sugar-free: Light and fluffy energy cookies
Ingredients:
- 150 g applesauce (unsweetened)
- 300 g oat flakes
- 170 g almond butter
- 10 dates (pitted)
- 50 ml coconut oil
- a pinch of salt
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ½ lemon
- 5 apricots (dried)
- 60 ml maple syrup (or honey or agave nectar, if you prefer)
- 1 Tbsp chia seeds
- 40 g pumpkin seeds
- 40 g cranberries (dried)
Directions:
Preheat the oven in convection mode to 180°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix the chia seeds with 4 Tbsp of water and set them to the side to soak for a few minutes. Quarter the dried apricots and squeeze the lemon. Grind about ⅓ of the oat flakes into coarse flour using a food processor or a mixer. Combine the flour, the remaining oat flakes, the vanilla and the salt in a bowl.
Crush the dates with a fork. Melt the coconut oil in a pot, add the dates and the almond butter and let the mixture simmer at low heat. Be careful not to burn the almond butter!
Next, mix together well the dry ingredients with the almond-date paste, the lemon juice, the chia seeds, the maple syrup, the applesauce and the quartered apricots. If the dough gets too dry, you can add some vegetable oil. Finally, fold the pumpkin seeds and the cranberries into the dough.
Shape medium-sized balls from the dough and place them on the baking sheet. Press the balls flat with a teaspoon and bake them in the preheated oven for about 15 – 20 minutes. The cookies are perfect as quick “pick-me-ups” during a long day at work 😉
Makes around 1 baking sheet
1 cookie contains 130 calories
Lactose-free: Crunchy whole wheat gingerbread biscotti
Ingredients:
- 240 g wholemeal wheat, spelt or rye flour
- 2 Tbsp flax seeds (ground)
- ½ tsp baking powder
- a pinch of salt
- a pinch of pepper
- 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¾ tsp cloves (ground)
- ½ tsp allspice
- 1 tsp ginger (ground)
- 40 g brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 egg whites
- 50 g coconut oil (or another vegetable oil, if you prefer)
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 220 g dates (pitted and chopped)
Directions:
Preheat the oven in convection mode to 180°C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix the flour together with the flax seeds, baking powder, salt and spices.
Mix the sugar, the egg, the egg whites and the coconut oil on high in a food processor for about two minutes. Add the vanilla extract. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix in the dates at the end.
When the dough is mixed, wet your hands and divide the dough into two logs. Bake these for half an hour, take the baking sheet out of the oven and let the logs cool for 10 minutes.
Cut each log into finger-thick slices. Place these on the baking sheet and bake them for 10 minutes. Then turn them over and continue baking in the oven for another 10 minutes. Let the biscotti cool before eating.
Makes about 1 baking sheet
1 biscotti contains 70 calories
Gluten-free: Not your grandma’s madeleines
Ingredients:
- 150 g almonds (finely ground)
- 150 g applesauce (unsweetened)
- 2 eggs
- 25 g coconut oil (or another vegetable oil, if you prefer)
- 2 tsp coconut flower sugar (or brown sugar, if you prefer)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cloves (ground)
- 1 tsp ginger (ground)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- bittersweet chocolate (melted)
Directions:
Preheat the oven in convection mode to 180°C. Mix the eggs with the applesauce. Then combine the almond flour with the coconut flower sugar, the baking powder and the spices.
Melt the coconut oil on low heat. When it cools, mix it with the wet and dry ingredients.
Fill each madeleine shell with dough and bake them in the oven for about 30 minutes. Let the madeleines cool and then dip half the cookie in dark chocolate. Now they are ready to eat.
Makes about 1 baking sheet
1 madeleine contains 130 calories
Have fun trying out our recipes!
Originally published on December 08, 2015, updated on November 30, 2016.
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