Low Fat Cookie Recipes
Applesauce Brownies, Chocolate Amaretti, Apricot Oatmeal…
These low fat cookie recipes use fruit purees, healthy nut oils or unsaturated vegetable oil to substitute for up to 75% of the required fats.
After all, our body does need some fat to optimally function. Fortunately, when it comes to baking homemade cookies, a little fat can really make a big difference in flavor and texture.
Acceptable substitutes for saturated fats include fruit purees, mashed bananas, applesauce, canned pumpkin. Prune puree, especially, has a high amount of pectin, a dietary fiber. Pectin is helpful for two reasons:
- It shortens long strands of gluten similar to fat does
- It assists in leavening cookie dough by trapping air when creamed with sugar
You can easily make your own prune puree by processing 1½ cups of prunes with ½ cup of hot water. Refrigerate it in an airtight container.
The following low fat cookie recipes are great additions to any collection.
- Almond Chocolate Macaroons
- Applesauce Cookies
- Apricot Oatmeal Cookies 1
- Chocolate Amaretti 2
- Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies
- Chocolate Clove Cookies 1
- Cookie Cakes
- Granola Bars with Apricots and Walnuts
- Crunchy Oat Bran Cookies
- Oatmeal Fruit Squares
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Peanut Meringue Cookies
- Pistachio Lime or Lemon Drops
- Sweet Popovers
- Whole Wheat Snickerdoodles 2
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Cream vegetable shortening and brown sugar until light in color.
- Mix in egg whites and applesauce until well blended.
- Add flour, baking soda, salt and combine until just moistened. Stir in rolled oats and apricots.
- Drop dough by teaspoonful onto parchment-lined cookie sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart.
- Bake 12 – 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks, and store in air tight containers.
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Beat egg whites until foamy, then add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form.
- Slowly mix in sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
- Gently fold in almond flour, cocoa powder, vanilla and almond extract.
- Spoon cookie mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a ½ inch round or star tip.
- Pipe 1½ inch domes onto parchment-lined cookie sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Alternatively, you could also drop dough onto cookie sheets using two tablespoons.
- Bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until firm to touch. Move parchment paper with cookies on it to wire racks to cool completely.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and cloves.
- Mix in corn syrup and egg whites until just blended.
- Drop cookie dough by teaspoonful onto parchment-lined cookie sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart. Dough will be sticky.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until slightly firm to touch. Do not overbake.
- Move parchment paper with cookies on it to wire racks to cool completely.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Beat butter and brown sugar to a consistency of wet sand.
- Add egg, corn syrup, vanilla extract and beat until smooth.
- Slowly mix in flours, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt just until moistened.
- Roll dough into 1″ – 1½” balls and roll in cinnamon sugar to coat.
- Place cookie balls on prepared sheet, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes or until pale golden.
- Cool cookies completely on wire racks.
Most gluten free cookie recipes are also very low in saturated fats.
In this low fat cookie recipe, applesauce again contributes to the tasty, moist and chewy texture. Dried apricots and oatmeal add a healthy touch.
Vegetable shortening | ¼ lb. |
Brown sugar | ½ cup |
Egg whites | 2 whites |
Applesauce | ½ cup |
All purpose flour | 1½ cups |
Baking soda | 1 tsp |
Salt | ¼ tsp |
Rolled oats | 2½ cups |
Dried apricots, coarsely chopped | 1 cup |
This low fat cookie recipe yields about 50 cookies.
100% of fat in this low fat cookie recipe comes from almond flour. That is healthy, unsaturated fat. Almond is also very high in calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
Egg whites | 2 large whites |
Cream of tartar | A pinch |
Granulated sugar | ¼ cup |
Blanched almond flour | 2/3 cup |
Cocoa Powder | 2Tbsp |
Vanilla extract | ½ tsp |
Almond extract | ½ tsp |
This low fat cookie recipe yields about 18 delicious amaretti.
These cookies are spicy, light, and simple. But this low fat cookie recipe will certainly leave a long lasting impression.
All purpose flour | 1¼ cups |
Granulated sugar | ¼ cup |
Cocoa powder | ½ cup |
Baking soda | ½ tsp |
Salt | ½ tsp |
Cloves | ½ tsp |
Light corn syrup | ½ cup |
Egg whites | 3 whites |
This low fat cookie recipe yields about 30 cookies. Store them in air tight containers.
This low fat cookie recipe is a healthy way to enjoy these delicious cookies. Whole wheat flour adds fiber to your diet. Corn syrup makes the cookies chewy, and vanilla brings out their scrumptious flavor.
Unsalted butter, softened | ¼ cup |
Brown sugar, packed | ½ cup |
Egg | 1 large |
Corn syrup | 1 Tbsp |
Vanilla extract | 2 tsp |
Whole wheat flour | ½ cup |
All purpose flour | 1 cup |
Baking soda | 1 tsp |
Cinnamon | 1 tsp |
Salt | ¼ tsp |
For coating, combine ¼ cup of granulated sugar with 2 tsp of cinnamon.
This low fat cookie recipe makes about 2 dozen snickerdoodles.
1 Ideas for these cookie recipes come from Sweet maria’s Cookie Jar by Maria Bruscino Sanchez.
2 Ideas for these low fat cookie recipes come from One Smart Cookie by Julie Van Rosendaal.