Reduce Cholesterol and Lose Weight with This Oatmeal Cookie Recipe
You can learn to make cookies that are good to eat and very good for you. These recommendations will not only show you how to reduce fat and calories in your cookies, with specific measurements, but will also tell you how to do it. And you’ll have a valuable source of nutrition in a low calorie, low fat yummy cookie.
How can you make cookies that are good for you and nutritious? Consider the type of diet that you need to live by, and substitute the ingredients accordingly.
Butter replacement. Low cholesterol is a great trick for cookie production. A secret that works is replacing butter with a Plant Stanol Ester product, such as Benecol or Take Control. You’ll be adding no trans fats and only 1 gram of saturated fat per teaspoon. But the big impact of this is that it works to reduce cholesterol. Do not let the product soften too much before using. Add it right from the tub, tablespoon for tablespoon for butter. Replace all but 2 tablespoons of the butter with the replacement product to make the cookies less crumbly. There won’t be much impact to the taste when using these margarines, but the health benefit is big. They are also more costly than margarine, but the health benefit is worth the price, which is a bit higher than butter.
Sugar replacement. Next, replace the sugar with one half to three quarters of Splenda. You’ll need to use some real sugar in order to have a sweet cookie. The Splenda does not give the cookie as sweet a taste as sugar does, and adding more Splenda won’t do it either. Instead stick to a minimum of half sugar half Splenda, or add half of a ripened, softened, mashed banana for every half-cup of sugar.
Egg Substitute. When using an egg substitute in cookies, use 1/4 cup of egg substitute such as egg beaters http://www.eggbeaters.com/products/index.jsp for each egg the recipe calls for. In cookies, I’ve noticed no difference in texture or taste from using the egg substitute. If you use them in cake, I use 1 real egg with every cup of egg substitute to make sure the texture is not affected.
White Flour. Replace half of the white flour with whole-wheat flour. To combat the dryness the whole-wheat flour will cause, you’ll need to add about an eight cup of additional liquid. Using an additional Ã?½ cup of egg substitute or any liquid will add moisture to counteract the whole wheat. Don’t replace all the white flour with whole-wheat flour or the cookies will be too hard.
Adding nutritional value. Raisins can be added to most cookies successfully. �¼ cup of raisins is only 130 calories, and if you use �½ cup in a batch of cookies it comes to only 5.7 additional calories per cookie. http://www.sunmaid.com/healthyliving.html Be sure to use fresh, moist raisins or they will draw moisture from the dough and make the cookies dry. Dried plums or prunes can also be chopped and substituted at only 110 calories per �¼ cup. Any of these choices add fiber and protein.
Add fiber. Add oatmeal to most cookie recipes to add fiber and lower cholesterol. Quick cooking is best, but old-fashioned rolled oats can be used as long as you don’t mind a very dense, and possibly dry cookie.
Baking instructions. Be very careful not to overcook cookies made with these substitutions or they will dry out. The simple recipe below provides cookies that you can eat for breakfast and feel good about it, instead of guilty. You’ll be giving yourself a breakfast or snack of cholesterol reducing, low fat, low calorie treats. Any of the above adaptations can be made to any cookie recipe.
Oatmeal Yummy Treats
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Beat together until light and fluffy:
�¾ cup Splenda
�½ cup brown sugar
6 tablespoons Benacol or Take Control
2 tablespoons butter (not margarine)
1 �¼ tsp vanilla extract
3. Add and mix thoroughly:
�¾ cup all purpose flour
�¾ cup whole-wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch of sea salt
4. Stir in:
2 1/2-3 cups instant oatmeal
�½ cup raisins
5. Bake. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets, flatten slightly and tuck in the edges. Keep the cookies on the small side. Bake for 8 minutes – no longer, Do not let the cookies brown or they will dry out. Remove to cooling racks after a few minutes. Serve with milk or coffee. Enjoy your unguilty cookies!
