Healthy Christmas Cookies!

Hey everyone! Its been a few days, hasn't it?? The weekend was wonderful, the short-lived snowfall was SOOO pretty! Riley and I smuggled in a real Christmas tree too (technically, we aren't supposed to have a real one...shhh), so now I spend any minute I'm at home dragging the cat out of the tree (see picture below)!

But with the apartment  decorated and the weather way colder, I'm totally in the Christmas mood!

Riley suggested we make Christmas cookies on Sunday, an idea to which I raised an eyebrow to. I don't make many baked goods/sweets, but I ventured online to find a recipe to healthify. Instead, I found one that had already been healthified! The only thing I changed was the oil part, and I noted that in the recipe. I found the recipe (and others!) on this lovely blog, and I love that her aspirations for cooking healthy include lowering the sugar in recipes! :) I made these for Riley yesterday so he could take them with him on his trip home (well, to Cedar Rapids for work)! I tried one before I sent them away, and they were really tasty! They are just the thing when you want some chocolatey goodness but realize taking down an entire Dove chocolate bar isn't the best idea ;) Plus, this is one of those recipes where you can't tell it is much healthier than the usual cookie! :) Without further ado...

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup cane sugar (coconut palm sugar should work too)
1/2 cup stevia for baking or 12-13 packets
1/8 cup vegetable oil + 1/8 cup applesauce (or 1/4 coconut oil, your choice)
1 egg
2 egg whites (or 1/4 cup carton egg whites)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup oat flour (you can make oat flour by grinding old fashioned or quick oats in your blender/food processor, make sure to measure after ground)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup icing sugar (but you’ll only actually use 1/4 cup)

* She doesn't recommend subbing any of the ingredients than suggested in this recipe. If you replace the cane sugar with additional stevia, the cookie will have a completely different texture.

Directions

In a large bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, cane sugar, stevia and coconut oil with a wooden spoon, or electric mixer (paddle attachment) until blended. It will become a dark brown paste. Add in the 1 egg, stir until blended. Add in 2 egg whites & vanilla, and blend again. At the end, it will resemble a chocolate cake batter.

Grind oats (if you don't have oat flour). In a separate bowl, mix together the oat flour, baking powder and salt.  Add this mixture to the chocolate batter, stirring until combined. Transfer dough to a smaller bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Roll dough into balls, then roll in icing sugar.  Place on non-stick cookie sheet, or one lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 11-13 minutes, until cookies are cracked on top. Cool and store in a plastic container.

Nutrition of each cookie with the applesauce/oil combo (mine made 20 cookies total): 

60 calories, 2.4 g fat, 4 g sugar, 1.7 g protein

Try them and let me know what you think! Do you have any favorite Christmas goodies you make every year?? Let me know and perhaps we can healthify them a bit! :) Have a fabulous Tuesday, I'll be back next time with a workout for you! 

--KQ