Delicious, healthy cookies that you will worship

If you have a sweet tooth we bet you’re extra excited about Christmas. Sweets, tarts, chocolate, desserts! It’s everything your heart could desire. 

But wouldn’t it be nice to be able to quench your sugar cravings without feeling guilty? Because despite how tasty they might be, Christmas treats are full of sugar, butter and eggs which isn’t very healthy. That’s why we’ve come up with a delicious recipe for our health-conscious USC community.

So make every day a cheat day this Christmas with these healthy and delicious treat recipes:

Low carb cinnamon stars

It’s an oldie but a goldie! Nothing says Christmas like a sprinkling of cinnamon but we’ve found a sugar-free alternative that you can enjoy guilt-free.

To make 60 stars you’ll need:

• 3 medium-sized eggs
• 350g ground almond
• 150g Erythritol icing sugar (Sukrin Melis)
• 2 drops of bitter almond oil
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• A star shaped cookie cutter

Preparation

Beat the egg whites until stiff and use a sieve to add the Sukrin Melis. Put approximately 5 tablespoons of the egg mixture aside for topping the cinnamon stars.

Mix the ground almonds with the cinnamon and the bitter almond oil and carefully fold into the egg mixture.

Place the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes and then roll out to a thickness of approx. 0.5 cm on a baking mat or on a work surface sprinkled with ground almonds.

Cut out the stars and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Spread the rest of the egg mixture on the stars and bake in a preheated oven at 120 degrees Celsius for 20-25 minutes.

Protein vanilla croissant

We already enjoy protein ice cream and protein yoghurt – so why not protein croissants? 

These croissants are a perfect post-workout snack for you and your buddies:

For 25 you’ll need:

• 60g ground almonds
• 40g almond flour (de-oiled)
• 40g reduced-fat butter or margarine
• 50g vanilla protein powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg

Preparation

Knead all ingredients well together and place in the fridge for 30 minutes wrapped in plastic.

Form approx. 25 croissants from the dough, making sure to moisten the fingers well with water beforehand.

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius and bake in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes until golden brown on the outside.

Allow to cool and top with either protein powder or icing sugar.

Light banana coconut macaroons

Christmas markets are the perfect place to pick up coconut macaroons. They’re usually calorific, but not with this recipe!

For 15 pieces you’ll need:

• 1 1/2 ripe bananas
• 80g icing sugar
• 160g grated coconut
• 15 wafers

Preparation

Puree your bananas

Mix in coconut flakes

Sift the icing sugar over the banana-coconut mixture and mix thoroughly

Use tablespoons to spoon onto the wafers

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and bake for 15 minutes.

Healthy Scoundrels

Another classic, here’s our healthy yet delicious version of Scoundrels:

For 50 pieces you’ll need:

• 400g spelt flour
• 40g coconut blossom sugar
• 80g birch sugar (xylitol)
• 60g ground hazelnuts
• 1/4 tsp ground vanilla
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest dried or fresh
• 200g soft vegetable margarine or butter
• 4 tbsp vegetable milk

For filling:

• 200g sour jam 
• Coconut flour or icing sugar to dust as desired
• 1 large and 1 small round or star-shaped cookie cutter

Preparation

Mix the flour, sugar, ground hazelnuts, lemon peel and vanilla together. Add the soft margarine and soy milk and knead into a dough. Wrap the dough in cling film and leave in the fridge for an hour.

Dust the working surface with a little flour and roll out the dough in portions of approx. 3 – 4 mm and cut out the biscuits. Use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out half of the biscuits, stars or circles. 

Place the biscuits on the tray lined with baking paper and bake in the preheated oven for 10 – 12 minutes at 150° C, depending on size, then allow to cool completely on a cake rack.

Before filling the biscuits, heat the jam slightly and stir until smooth. Place 1/2 teaspoon of jam on the underside of each biscuit, missing out the hole, and spread, then place the lid on the hole and press down carefully.

Sprinkle the scoundrels with icing sugar (or coconut flour for the sugar-free version) as desired.

Vegan chocolate balls

All the chocolate-craving vegans out there will love this Christmas treat!

For 25 balls you need:

• 200g light spelt flour (Type 630)
• 40g Linette (linseed oil)
• ¼ TL ground vanilla
• 30g baked cocoa
• 80g coconut oil
• 60g coconut blossom sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 60g banana (very ripe)
• 50g dark chocolate (min. 70% cocoa content)

Preparation

Mix the flour, flax flour, vanilla, salt and cocoa in a bowl. In a second bowl beat the coconut oil with the sugar for a few minutes until foamy.

Melt the chocolate in hot water or microwave. Crush the banana with a fork and add both to the coconut oil-sugar mixture together with the dry ingredients. Knead until doughy.

Wrap the dough in cling film and leave to cool for approx. 60 minutes. 

Form small balls from the dough and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Bake the balls in a preheated oven for approx. 12 minutes at 175 degrees Celsius and allow to cool.

With these tempting yet healthy Christmas treat alternatives you’ll be able to enjoy a guilt-free Christmas period! Do something good for your tastebuds and your body.  So what are you waiting for? Ready, set, bake!