Healthy Cookie Recipes

Cookies are one of the most fun foods you can make. The dough is delicious, and if there's any left once you've tasted it, they'll make yummy biscuits too! You can add chocolate chips, nuts, sweeties or dried fruit; be creative with flavours and textures.

So here are a couple of healthy cookie recipes that not only taste scrumptious but are much better for you and your kids to eat.

♥ Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are delicious, and perfect for lunchboxes, after dinner snacks or a mid morning pick-me-up. Feel free to vary the ingredients according to your personal preferences.

1. Preheat the oven to 180c, and grease/line 2 large baking sheets.
2. Combine 125g gluten free flour, 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 50g soft brown sugar, 50g fructose sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract and 70g margarine. Mix together until combined.
3. Blend in 1 large beaten egg, 50g chopped brazil nuts, and 100g roughly chopped dark chocolate.
4. Spoon a small amount of cookie mixture onto the baking trays. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool.

* These will keep in an airtight container for a couple of days.
* Instead of brazil nuts, you could use macadamia, pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, or some seeds. You could also add some peanut butter, to make a yummy chocolate chip, peanut butter cookie!

♥ Oatmeal and Raisin Cookies

A classic at any time of day, time of the week or time of the year. Dip them in milk for a delicious bedtime snack. Or have them with a cup of tea in the afternoon. This is one cookie where the cooked cookie is better than the batter!

1. Cream together 50g butter/margarine with 125g fructose sugar (or other alternative sugar).
2. Add 1 beaten egg, until well combined. This will take some time, so be patient!
3. Sieve in 50g wholemeal flour, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp baking powder. Mix.
4. Add 175g porridge oats, 100g raisins and 2 tbsp sesame seeds. Mix well.
5. Place spoonfuls of the mix on greased baking trays, and flatten them slightly with a fork.
6. Bake for 15 minutes at 180c.7. Remove when golden and cool slightly on the baking tray. Then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Then serve.

* You could use chopped apricots, dates or sultanas instead of raisins, should you prefer.
* You may want to use gluten free, wheat free flour instead of wholemeal, which is a delicious variation!

Try adding all sorts of different things to a basic cookie recipe:

• Dried blueberries - a delicious superfood, and a beautiful fruity addition to any cookie recipe
• Pine nuts - these have a distinct flavour, a true asset to any biscuit
• Cinnamon - apparently a great spice for diabetics, with many other health benefits
• Nutmeg - delicious for making a warming winter cookie
• Smarties - now these sweeties have no additives, preservatives and only natural colorings, they make any cookie look much more exciting and delicious
• Honey - A great alternative sweetener, along with maple syrup. For a gorgeous sticky, sweet cookie without so many calories, trade the golden syrup for honey!
• Banana - Mash up a banana and add this to your basic recipe along with your other wet ingredients!
• Lemon - Fancy a little bit of a kick, a dash of intrigue, and a continental taste. Add lemon to your next recipe.
• Jam - There are so many varieties of delicious 'no added sugar' jams, just pop a couple of teaspoons in your next batter, for another interesting batch.

Other delicious baked desserts can be found on Enjoy Healthy Eating, from fruit muffins to birthday cakes. Browse through our recipes for lots of inspirational baking ideas.