Healthy Cookie Recipes: Butter Substitutes & Baking Tips

Baking perfect cookies involves understanding rising agents and fat ratios. Discover healthy holiday recipes, the best butter substitutes for baking, and how to prevent cookies from spreading or burning on the bottom.

Smiling christmas gingerbread men on wooden background.

Easy Holiday Cookies That Are Actually Healthy

If you thought the words “cookie” and “healthy” didn’t belong in the same sentence, think again. Here are 10 cookie recipes that are healthier than the store-bought variety. From natural sweeteners to quality flours, you’ll be baking with good-for-you ingredients. So break out the rolling pin and preheat your oven.

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Cookies.

Baking Cookies With Butter Vs. Cream Cheese

Many low-fat cookie recipes substitute cream cheese for butter. If you aren't following a recipe, you can experiment on your own with substituting cream cheese for some or all of the butter.

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Cooling Cookies

Why Do My Chocolate Chip Cookies Go Flat When Baked?

Cookies are a microcosm of cooking chemistry and a few fixes can turn them into the puffed, mounds of goodness you crave. Chocolate chip cookies that have a high butter content and too much liquid tend to spread as they bake.

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Replacement For Baking Soda in Cookies

Since baking soda is a primary ingredient in a variety of cookies, it can be tough to replace in recipes. According to the University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension Service, there is no substitute for baking soda that will work as its precise equivalent.

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Girl with cookie dough on baking tray

Can a Cookie Sheet Affect the Baking of the Cookies?

According to experts at Better Homes and Gardens, your choice of cookie sheet can make or break your batch of cookies. In addition to replacing old or warped sheets, pay attention to the material from which your cookie sheets are made.

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Homemade cookies and milk

How to Moisten Hard Cookies

Cookies are such a treat when they are fresh and moist, chewy or crunchy, and just delicious. Conversely, stale cookies that have become hard may look great but are not as appealing to the taste buds.

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Cookies on baking tray, high angle view

How to Substitute Self Rising Flour Instead of All Purpose in Cookies

If you plan to make cookies and realize you don't have the all-purpose flour the recipe calls for, it might be worth a trip to the store to pick some up. Though you can substitute self-rising flour for all-purpose, depending on the recipe, the results are likely to differ from what you're used to.

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Chocolate Cookie in the Oven

How to Bake Cookies That Are Not Burnt on the Bottom

Baking cookies could be considered as much a science as an art. The smallest alteration in the ingredients or failure to follow directions may produce a product much different from the one intended. Read the recipe carefully before beginning, and make sure you have everything you need before you start mixing the dough.

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Uncooked Cookies with Seasame Seeds

Can You Bake Foods With Wax Paper on a Cookie Sheet?

Wax paper is a mainstay in many homes, and it serves numerous purposes in the kitchen. Invented by Thomas Edison, wax paper, or waxed paper, works well for wrapping food items for storing. It’s also handy for covering open plates or bowls of food in a microwave to prevent splattering.

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Child's hands holding cookies and milk

Baking Cookies: Butter Vs. Shortening Vs. Margarine

For some people, baking a perfect cookie is a difficult task that requires careful consideration and ample practice. While some people prefer cookies that are thin and crispy, others like them soft and chewy, while still others prefer a combination of the two.

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Freshly baked oatmeal raisin cookies

Substitutes for Butter When Baking Cookies

Savvy cooks don't have to skip out on cookies and other indulgent treats while trying to protect their heart health or their waistlines. You can learn tricks to transform recipes with gobs of butter into snacks with significantly less fat and more fiber, vitamins and minerals.

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Oatmeal cookies

How Healthy Are Oatmeal Cookies?

Oh, that sweet smell of soft, warm oatmeal cookies baking on a cool, fall afternoon. Or, perhaps you prefer dunking a crunchy one in a cold glass of milk on a hot summer day. Whatever your preference, you may wonder if that cookie you're devouring is nutritious.

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Girl with cookie dough on baking tray

The Effects of Eating Raw Cookie Dough

While some people crave raw cookie dough more than baked cookies, consuming raw cookie dough is associated with a number of health concerns. Raw food products can harbor bacteria that can cause you to become ill and experience intestinal distress, vomiting or kidney failure.

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