I don't crave sweets too often, but when I do - look out! All I have wanted lately has been sweets, and I attribute this mostly to the fact that my sweet of choice for the past few weeks has been frozen yogurt and since I have had problems with breathing and a persistent cough I have had to reduce my "creamy food" intake significantly. You always want what you can't have... So it was time to come up with a "healthy-ish" non-creamy treat, but my lack of breathing has significantly limited my cooking explorations so I decided to do some research.
I found some cookie recipes that used egg beaters, or another egg substitute, to reduce fat and calories and thought - well, it's a start. There were also many that used alternative artificial sweeteners, but I'm not really on board for that, so those were out. There were then a number that utilized honey, both as a flavor enhancer and as a natural sweetener to cut back on sugar - ok, I thought, that's not so bad. Add in the fact that I've mostly switched to a light butter (containing about half the fat of regular) whenever possible and I had a great place to start. I had no idea what would happen to the texture of a cookie when I took that much fat out of the recipe, but I figured it was worth a shot.
Turns out - it worked great! Cooking time is more sensitive because the chewyness factor of under-cooked cookies with less fat seems to be higher, but when they are cooked long enough - hot out of the oven - you'd never know they lacked that extra fat. I was sure to taste test these later in the evening as well, just to make sure they were still good when room temperature of course, and I can assure you they are just as delicious once cooled. I think the only addition I may make next time is to include a little lemon zest for a bit more punch of flavor. Check it out:
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 ½ tbsp honey
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp light butter
¼ cup egg beaters
2 cups flour
½ tsp cream of tartar
½ tsp baking soda
Granulated sugar for topping
1. Cream together sugar and butter until blended and slightly fluffy. Add in egg beaters, lemon juice, and honey and blend to combine.
2. In a separate container combine flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda.
3. Stir dry ingredients into the wet until well combined. Cover and refrigerate for 30 min.
4. Roll into balls about 1-2 tsp in size. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet, add the cookie balls, cover with a second sheet of parchment and flatten each cookie only about halfway with the bottom of a cup.
5. Remove the top layer of parchment, lightly dust with granulated sugar, and bake at 375 F for 8-9 min
Nutritional information below is based on making 30 cookies from the batter (the amount that I made), but it could vary depending on how many cookies you get depending on size.
The nutritional information is from the recipe calculator on the Live Strong website in the My Plate area. I love this website and use it on a regular basis for monitoring my meals, if you enter the ingredients and portions for a recipe it gives you a nifty readout like the one below and allows you to use it to track on your My Plate page very easily.
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 3 cookies
Amount per Serving
Calories 193
Calories from Fat 18.0
% Daily Value *
- Total Fat 2g
- 3%
- Saturated Fat 0.6g
- 3%
- Cholesterol 0mg
- 0%
- Sodium 47.12mg
- 1%
- Total Carbohydrate 39.61g
- 13%
- Dietary Fiber 0g
- 0%
- Sugars 21.65g
- Protein 3.8g
- 7%
Est. Percent of Calories from:
- Fat
- 10%
- Carbs
- 82%
- Protein
- 7%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs.
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/recipes/honey-lemon-cookies/#ixzz1TmTmJLPJ
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