Dessert Makeover: Cookies

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Fresh baked cookies are a treat that hardly anyone can resist, though many people try! Sugary and laden with fat, cookies are not the most nutritious snacks around. But with these 5 healthy cookie recipes, you won’t have to say no!

The reasons why cookies are so bad for you are not really a secret. High-fat ingredients like butter, chocolate, and peanut butter are often found in your favorite cookie recipes, making them delightfully unhealthy.

Cookies are also loaded with sugar. Most recipes call for several cups of the stuff, not including the sugar found in additional ingredients like chocolate chips, candies, or sprinkles. And we should all know by now that white flour does nothing for our bodies, but it tends to make up the base for most cookie recipes.

So how can you make your dessert a little bit healthier? Substitute other ingredients for butter. Applesauce is a great substitute and it’s infinitely lower in fat. Also, replace your white flour with whole wheat flour or oatmeal. You can even combine white flour and whole wheat flour if you’re squeamish about changing your recipe. Something is better than nothing!

Applesauce Cookies

Why They’re Healthy: This recipe is 100% butter-free. Vegetable oil and applesauce are used, instead, making for a lower-fat cookie. These cookies are also full of oats, nuts, and raisins for extra heart-healthy fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Key Lime Yogurt Bars

Why They’re Healthy: These cookie bars combine low-fat ingredients like yogurt and whipped topping with sugar-free sweeteners. The result is a light, sweet dessert that’s loaded with flavor, not fat or sugar.

Easy and Soft Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Why They’re Healthy: Replacing the majority of the white flour with oats infuses these cookies with important whole grains. And the addition of raisins means that these cookies are loaded with even more fiber!

Light and Luscious Orange Bars

Why They’re Healthy: This recipe uses no butter, no eggs, and hardly any sugar. Instead, the recipe calls for gelatin and fruit juice. These ingredients make this a low-fat and diabetic-friendly recipe that requires no baking at all!

Double Chocolate Chip Fudge Brownies

Why They’re Healthy: Who ever thought double chocolate brownies could be healthy? These brownies are better for you than your average brownies because they use applesauce instead of butter to reduce the calories, mini chocolate chips to reduce the sugar, and egg whites to reduce the fat.