Healthy Food | In the Christmas bakery

Christmas cookies and sports - is that possible? A resounding YES! There are many incredibly delicious alternatives to the classic cookie cutter butter cookies. However, you have to be a little careful about what all goes into the bowl. Baking sugar-free cookies only to spread sweetened jam on them afterwards is rather suboptimal. We'll show you how you too can get into the spirit in the run-up to Christmas with delicious cookies. There are an incredible number of articles online about healthy Christmas baking. We would like to compress this topic here for you.

One reads, it is meaningful to bake a sample cookie, in order to adjust if necessary the quantity of the respective ingredients again. I'm sorry, what? Test cookies? Don't the authors of such texts have better things to do? We'll do it properly right away. Agreed? And with ingredients that (almost) everyone always has at home. There are thousands of "healthy" recipes on the Internet, which often contain ingredients you've never heard of or don't know where to get them. We have consciously refrained from this. Simple, low in sugar as well as carbohydrates and really a treat. Are you in?

And to all the sporty parents out there: these cookies also go down wonderfully with kids. They've even been subjected to this endurance test ;) Nice alternatives for the whole family.

A few useful tips in advance:

1. Toast nuts: If your recipe includes nuts on the ingredient list, toast them briefly in a pan without oil. This intensifies the flavor and you can reduce the amount a bit. In this way, you save calories in the end and the final result is still convincing with its intense flavor.
2. The right choice of flour is essential. Preferably use spelt flour or coconut flour instead of wheat flour. The ultimate would be whole wheat flour. Be careful with coconut flour! Because you only need a fifth to. Maximum a quarter of the (wheat or spelt) flour specification in the recipe But now honestly, the cookies should also still taste.
3. And now for the last and at the same time completely logical tip. Avoid granulated and powdered sugar as much as possible.
4. Coconut flakes, dried fruit, sesame seeds, poppy seeds and toasted oatmeal are lower-calorie alternatives to the classic sugar sprinkles and chocolate icing.
5. Use real vanilla pulp instead of vanilla sugar. This will also help you intensify the flavor and snack healthier.

Vanilla Spelt Cookie Cutter

Recipe for about 1 tray

Ingredients

• 150 g spelt flour (type 630)
• 80 g butter
• 3 tbsp agave syrup
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 vanilla pod
• 1 pinch of salt
• some flour for the dough

Preparation

Mix flour, butter, agave syrup, egg yolks, vanilla pod pulp and salt together and knead until a smooth dough is formed. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees top/bottom heat (convection oven: 160 degrees). Now roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface and your favorite cookie cutters finally come into use.

Place the cut cookies on a baking tray covered with baking paper and bake in the preheated oven for about 8-10 minutes. Note that the longer the oven, the shorter the baking time. Let them cool completely afterwards and store them in an airtight tin.

This is the healthier option for the classic cookies. But, of course, there's more. Namely, chocolate chip cookies. Yes of course, we can't get through the pre-Christmas season without chocolate, can we? Wash out the baking bowl and let's go!

Vanilla chocolate cookies

Recipe for about 1 tray

Ingredients

• 30 g baking cocoa
• 2 eggs
• 30 g soft butter (or coconut oil)
• 110 g erythritol or 90 g cane sugar
• 170 g spelt flour
• 1 tsp baking powder Mark of a vanilla pod
• optional: 10 g agave syrup for more sweetness
• Cashew nuts as decoration

Preparation

Mix the cocoa powder with about 30 ml of hot water to a thick paste. Then mix the soft butter with the cane sugar or erythritol, add the eggs and the vanilla pulp and mix everything together until a creamy mass is formed. Optionally add agave syrup to achieve more sweetness. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees.

Now add spelt flour and baking powder and mix until all ingredients are well combined. The dough should have a moist, smooth consistency. If it is not, add a spoonful of flour or a small sip of oat drink.

Finally, it's time to make them into real cookies. Either use an ice cream scoop with a small diameter (30 mm would be ideal) or use two spoons and form 3 to 4 cm large dumplings. Portion them directly onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. As an eye-catcher and color contrast, place a cashew nut on each ball/cam.

Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes. They will harden a bit while cooling. You now have only one task: give them as a gift or enjoy them yourself.

Oatmeal Cookies

Recipe for about 1.5 trays

Ingredients

• 120 g soft butter
• 38 g agave syrup
• 60 g cane sugar
• 1 egg
• 120 g spelt flour
• 140 g tender oat flakes
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• 70 g baking-safe chocolate drops

Preparation

Stir the agave syrup with the cane sugar and butter until fluffy. Then mix the egg into it and add all the other ingredients as you go along, leaving only the chocolate drops aside for now. Now, in the last step, add the chocolate drops. Cover the mixing bowl and put the dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190° top and bottom heat. Form small balls of the chilled dough with your hands and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Press them flat to hold them in place. Leave a few inches of space between the cookies for baking. Baking time is about 10-13 minutes. A soft consistency is desired for now when they are taken out of the oven. Just let the finished cookies cool at room temperature. We really don't want to spoil you. But you'll love them and want to bake a second tray of these right away. Enjoy it!