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.

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.

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.