For some of us it is part of the holiday tradition to bake. Fudge and sugar cookies and pies – which can easily add up to a LOT of calories if the baking is for just you and your family.
I have two rules when it comes to making my holiday treats:
- I give my baking treats away as gifts, in small amounts (about 5 cookies per person).
- I use mostly Cooking Light recipes for my cookies, bars, pies and cakes.
There are two exceptions to this rule: a family fudge recipe (which I have switched to non-fat evaporated milk) and sugar cookies. My family insists on them, and I love them too.
Using the Cooking Light recipes doesn’t mean we can get away with eating more cookies and treats, but it helps me ensure that the cookies are at least a bit healthier than their original counterparts, by being either lower in calories or lower in saturated fat from what the “traditional” recipe would be.
When it comes to making the recipes, another thing we must remember is the serving sizes! One (new) recipe I made yesterday was Chocolate, Cherry and Hazelnut Biscotti. The recipe made 2-dozen cookies/biscotto. When it can to cutting the dough into the 24 pieces the cookies come out smaller than what we are used to. Once they were all finished, I could tell why they needed to come out that size: they are rich and the small size is just right.
This years baking day I made four different cookies and a batch of bars! The above mentioned biscotti (94 calories), Chocolate Shortbread, Lemon Shortbread, Brown Sugar Shortbread (each of which are ~75 calories per cookie), and some Cranberry-Oatmeal Bars (135 calories). Each of these recipes made 24 pieces, and if I give my 10 friends/co-workers two pieces of each item (to share with her family), then really, there is very little left in my home!
This is how the baking at my house works – I bake it to go!
Eat Well, Live Well, Be Well and share!
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