You may have found yourself locked in a staring contest with a plate of cookies and wondered if there was a world where cookies were considered healthy. The good news is that, yes, cookies can be healthy! And you don’t even have to teleport to another world. Cookies can be healthy right here on planet Earth.
But before you go and eat the whole plate, there is a caveat – cookies can be healthy when eaten in moderation, with modifications, and with the right mindset. We are going to talk about several ways that cookies can be healthy today.
(Pixabay / mccartyv)
Breakfast Cookies
Cookies for breakfast?? The very idea might make your Great Aunt Gertrude (not to mention your gym instructor) shudder at the thought, but eating cookies for breakfast actually has a lot of merit… if they’re the right type of cookie, that is.
Sure, most cookies have eggs, butter, maybe a little milk – three things that are part of a healthy breakfast, but they also generally have a lot of sugar. Eating that much sugar in the morning can feel good in the moment, but around 10 am, you’ll probably find yourself struggling (and starving!) at your desk.
Breakfast cookies, on the other hand, are hearty and health(ier) than their cousin, the regular cookie. Breakfast cookies are easy to make, freeze, and grab and go when you’re on the run on a busy morning. They thaw quickly so you can eat them during your commute, and your kids can eat them while they wait for the bus.
A good breakfast cookie will be dense and full of fiber. Oatmeal, flaxseed, grated carrots or zucchini, nuts, dried fruit, coconut – these are the ingredients that will keep your tummy full, and your mind focused until lunch. They also generally swap out at least some of the sugar and butter for healthier alternatives like honey, applesauce, and bananas.
Cookies for Lactating Mothers
Lactation cookies have taken the internet by storm, and recipes are a dime a dozen. There isn’t enough concrete, scientific evidence to prove that lactation cookies boost milk production, but there is enough anecdotal evidence to suggest that eating one or two lactation cookies a day can help keep a mother’s milk supply up – something that is especially important in the first few months of breastfeeding. Even though every recipe is a little different, they generally share these ingredients:
- Oatmeal: full of iron, which can help increase milk supply
- Flaxseed: full of many nutrients and essential fatty acids (the good fats!), also a good source of phytoestrogen, which can help boost milk supply
- Brewer’s yeast: a nasty tasting supplement that is packed with vitamins though to boost milk supply
- Butter or coconut oil: these ingredients help replenish the mother so that her caloric intake is enough to produce milk continuously
- Chocolate: because it’s delicious (and also to mask the taste of the brewer’s yeast)
You might also find recipes with chia seeds, dried fruit, or coconut because those ingredients contain additional fiber and supplement taste and texture.
Help Your Mental Health
We recently put out an article about how baking and eating cookies can benefit your mental health. You can check it out here. The jist is that making cookies can help you remember positive childhood memories, and the creation process can help lift your mood. Additionally, sweet cookies taste delicious, and they’re easy to make! If you can’t (or shouldn’t) eat all of the cookies yourself, you can always deliver cookies to someone who could use a little cheering up. Providing that service opportunity can help you feel better and take your mind off the things that are troubling you.
Easy Modifications
If you want to modify your cookies to make them a little healthier, it’s relatively easy to do. That’s not to say that replacing some of the sugar or butter with a healthy alternative means that you can eat the whole dozen. Remember, everything in moderation! It does mean, however, that you are taking small steps in the right direction.
If you choose to modify your favorite cookie recipe, it’s best to make only one change each time you whip up a batch. If replacing the sugar worked last time, maybe try replacing the sugar and swapping out a little bit of the flour. Next time substitute a banana for the egg. Don’t ever try replacing the sugar, flour, and egg all at once because you’ll likely end up with a dense, yucky mess. That said, here are some easy modifications:
Sugar
- Honey: Contrary to popular belief, honey isn’t actually healthier than sugar, but it does have some different health benefits. You can generally use less honey than sugar because it’s sweeter, but it has more calories per teaspoon than white sugar. Honey also has some anti-inflammatory and microbial benefits.
- Use less: Most cookie recipes can do with ¼ cup to 1/3 cup less sugar without anyone knowing the difference.
Butter
- Full-fat Greek yogurt: Greek yogurt has less saturated fats than butter plus more healthy fats and protein. Unfortunately, however, the probiotics are killed during the cooking process.
- 1:1 substitutions: You can substitute avocados, oil, or prune puree (you can buy it in the baby food aisle) using a 1:1 ratio. It may change the appearance or texture a little bit, but not necessarily in a bad way.
Eggs
- Bananas: Replace one egg with one medium, ripe, mashed banana. Bananas add fiber, vitamins, and sweetness (so you can cut out a little sugar)
- Applesauce: Replace one egg with ¼ cup applesauce.
White Flour: Substituting using whole wheat flour gives you more fiber, calcium, folate, vitamins, and iron than you can get from all-purpose flour. You can replace all-purpose flour with white whole wheat flour using a 1:1 ratio. If you only have brown whole wheat flour, you will need to add two teaspoons of water for every cup of whole wheat flour because the wheat absorbs more moisture than all-purpose flour, and your cookies will be crumbly otherwise. You could also go half-sies and use half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour.
Other Changes: You can also include healthier add-ins. Substituting dark chocolate for milk chocolate adds antioxidants, and stirring in some nuts increases the healthy fats. You can also add in chia seeds, ground flax seeds, dried fruit, and protein powder for added health benefits.
Cookies are good for the soul, and they can be even better for the body if you eat them in moderation or make a few healthy tweaks to your favorite recipes.