5 Secrets for Baking Healthier Cookies
EatingWell Magazine – Online article:
http://www.eatingwell.com/healthy_cooking/healthy_cooking_101_basics_techniques/kitchen_tips_techniques/5_secrets_for_baking_ heal
thier_cookies?page=7
We love holiday cookies. That’s why every year we ask our
readers to enter their best recipes for healthier cookies in our
Annual Holiday Cookie Contest. How can you make your
favorite cookies healthier? Here are 5 secrets for baking
healthier cookies from “EatingWell” readers and our Test
Kitchen bakers. Happy baking!
Tip 1: Make them more heart healthy.
Swap out some of the butter, margarine or shortening for hearthealthy oils, such as canola oil or olive oil or pureed fruit or even
vegetables.
To replace fats with oil: For every tablespoon of butter you replace with heart-healthy
oil, you eliminate at least 5 grams of saturated fat from your batch of cookies. (A batch
of 2 dozen cookies made with 1 cup butter has almost 5 grams saturated fat per
cookie.) In the EatingWell Test Kitchen, we’ve had good luck replacing up to 50% of the
butter in a recipe. Keep in mind that when you reduce the butter in a recipe you may
lose some of its tenderizing and moisture-retaining properties. Cookies that use some
oil in place of butter may be a bit crisper and may dry out sooner. To preserve the best
cookie texture, be sure to store extra cookies in an airtight container.
To replace fats with pureed fruit or vegetables: Try using
pureed fruit or even vegetables in place of some of the butter,
margarine or shortening. Options include applesauce, pear
butter, prune puree or even pureed pumpkin. Pureed fruit
products, such as like Lighter Bake, are commercially made
pureed fruit fat-replacers. Look for them in the baking aisle.
Using a fruit fat-replacer will give you a cakier, chewier or softer
texture, so it works well in cookies that are naturally softer, such
as oatmeal cookies or ginger molasses cookies. Just like replacing some of the butter
with oil, it’s best to start with a small amount and experiment. Depending on the recipe,
you may be successful replacing as much as half the butter with a fruit-based fatreplacer.
Tip 2: Replace unhealthy fats.
Consider replacing some of the butter with nontraditional
cookie ingredients, such as nonfat plain yogurt, nonfat
buttermilk or even fruit juice.
When you reduce overall fat in a cookie recipe, the resulting cookies can be dry; adding
a “moist” ingredient helps keep the cookies satisfying. Try 1 to 4 tablespoons of a liquid
ingredient in place of up to 4 tablespoons butter. You can even experiment with
replacing some of the solid fat (i.e., butter, margarine or shortening) with some hearthealthy oil and replacing a little more of the solid fat with a nonfat liquid, such as yogurt,
buttermilk or juice.
Tip 3: Add fiber to your cookies.
Try replacing some (or all) of the all-purpose flour with whole-wheat flour, whole-wheat
pastry flour and/or oats. If you are used to the taste and texture of whole-wheat, some
cookies are just as satisfying when made with 100% whole-wheat flour. Using wholewheat flour in place of all-purpose flour gives your cookies about four times the amount
of fiber in every batch.
For more delicate-textured cookies or if you are still getting used to
the taste and texture of whole-wheat, try using more finely milled
whole-wheat pastry flour or mild-flavored white whole-wheat flour
in place of about half of the all-purpose flour—you’ll still get the
added benefit of extra fiber without much wheaty flavor.
Or try replacing 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the all-purpose flour with whole
rolled oats or oats that have been ground into a “flour.” Ground
flaxseeds or flaxmeal can help add fiber to baked goods.
Ground flaxseeds also contain alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an omega-3 fatty acid linked
to cardiovascular health. Try adding 2 to 4 tablespoons of ground flaxseeds (or
flaxmeal) to a batch of cookies. The flavor of flax complements oat-based cookies or
cookies that are highly spiced, such as ginger molasses cookies or snickerdoodles.
Tip 4: Keep sodium in check.
Some baked goods can be surprisingly high in sodium. Aim for no
more than 1/2 teaspoon salt per batch of cookies. If you’re on a
salt-restricted diet, try reducing the salt in a batch of cookies to
1/4 teaspoon.
Tip 5: Eliminate trans fat & other artificial ingredients.
Steer clear of ingredients that contain partially hydrogenated oil (or trans fats), such as
margarine and most vegetable shortenings. Consider limiting other artificial ingredients,
such as artificial food dyes.
One of the benefits of homemade baked goods is their simple list
of ingredients. By making your own cookies, you can use whole
ingredients and avoid most or all processed ingredients that are
found in many packaged cookies. Learn more about trans fats,
like the fat in margarine and some shortening.
We’re not Scrooges—we know holiday cookies look more festive
when decorated with sprinkles or colored frosting—but we like to
keep ingredients as “natural” as possible. A little food dye now and then probably isn’t
so bad, but if you’d like to avoid artificial ingredients, look for all-natural food dyes, such
as red dye made from beets, available in natural foods stores or online. Or try a drizzle
of chocolate or a sprinkle of finely chopped nuts to give cookies extra appeal.
BAKE HAPPY / BAKE HEALTHY!