12 Days of Christmas Cookies- Day 5: Raspberry-Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

This holiday season, we can give ourselves the gift of being healthy, and reaching our weight loss goals, while still enjoying our holiday baking! We can have our Christmas cookies, AND look good for Santa ;) For the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies, I will make healthy cookies, during each of the 12 days of Christmas!

On the 5th day of Christmas cookies, your true love made for you, Raspberry-Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies.

Healthy goodness.Get the recipe HERE.

On the 5th day of Christmas cookies, your true love made for you, Raspberry-Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies, Gingerbread Cookies, Cocoa-Nutmeg Snickerdoodles, Almond Meringue Kisses, and Swirled Mint Cookies.

This was a busy Saturday. But I finally have all my Christmas shopping done for my hubby!
Have you gotten all of your Christmas shopping done?

12 Days of Christmas Cookies- Day 4: Gingerbread Cookies

This holiday season, we can give ourselves the gift of being healthy, and reaching our weight loss goals, while still enjoying our holiday baking! We can have our Christmas cookies, AND look good for Santa ;) For the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies, I will make healthy cookies, during each of the 12 days of Christmas!

On the 4th day of Christmas cookies, your true love made for you, Gingerbread cookies.

Why have I never made gingerbread cookies?
These were easy, and SO much fun to make!(You see that? Only 15 days left until Christmas!)
Plus they were scrumptious. My husband LOVED them. He said he didn't even like gingerbread cookies, but that these were "divine"! But these aren't any old gingerbread cookies. They're Deliciously healthy gingerbread cookies. These little men (and women) are only 73 calories, where as
typical gingerbread cookies are 120! Get the recipe HERE.

I had fun decorating them with the hubs.
I made one of him.
And he made one of me.
Aren't I pretty?
And here we are holding hands. Cause we love each other.

These would be perfect to make with family, friends, kids, or your loved one, as a fun (and healthy) holiday activity.

How do you eat your gingerbread man?
I bite off the legs first, then work my way up.
On the 4th day of Christmas cookies, your true love made for you, Gingerbread Cookies, Cocoa-Nutmeg Snickerdoodles, Almond meringue Kisses, and Swirled Mint Cookies.

12 Days of Christmas Cookies- Day 3: Cocoa-Nutmeg Snickerdoodles

This holiday season, we can give ourselves the gift of being healthy, and reaching our weight loss goals, while still enjoying our holiday baking! We can have our Christmas cookies, AND look good for Santa ;) For the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies, I will make healthy cookies, during each of the 12 days of Christmas!

On the 3rd day of Christmas cookies, your true love made for you, Cocoa-Nutmeg Snickerdoodles.

Tonight, I fell in love.
Yes, I've fallen in-love with a cookie.I want you to imagine a sugar cookie, with a hint of cocoa and nutmeg.
Got it? Now you can see why I've fallen in-love, right?And for only 49 calories, this is a healthy relationship.
Which is good, because I've had my fair share of bad relationships with cookies.
Yes, I'm talking to Oreo's.

Get the recipe HERE.

My little elf.
Psst... I'm VERY excited about tomorrow, the 4th day of Christmas cookies!

On the 3rd day of Christmas cookies, your true love made for you, Cocoa-Nutmeg Snickerdoodles, Almond Meringue Kisses,
and Swirled Mint Cookies.

12 Days of Christmas Cookies-Day 2: Almond Meringue Kisses

This holiday season, we can give ourselves the gift of being healthy, and reaching our weight loss goals, while still enjoying our holiday baking! We can have our Christmas cookies, AND look good for Santa ;) For the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies, I will make healthy cookies, during each of the 12 days of Christmas!

On the 2nd day of Christmas, your true love made for you, Almond Meringue Kisses.

I was both eager, and nervous to make these, for the 2nd day of Christmas cookies. I had never made meringue before, and it was one of those things that just seemed way out of my league. I swear my heart was racing the entire time. But I survived, and ended up with melt in your mouth goodness.


Before you start anything, you have to let 2 egg whites sit for 30 minutes, while they get to room temperature. Then you add the almond extract (which smells divine), cream of tarter, salt, and beat with an electric mixer, until soft peaks form. Then you slowly add sugar and cornstarch, while beating on high. You do this until stiff peaks form. These were my stiff peaks. I've heard that if you beat meringue too much, it will lose it's volume, and it goes back to being flat. I was scared of doing that. Like horrified. I whipped my mixture on medium high, instead of on high like I was supposed to. For some reason I was scared to go all the way to high. I mixed it for about 2-3 minutes. That was when I started getting nervous that I had been doing it for too long, so I stopped. I definitely don't think it ended up as stiff as it was supposed to, because the kisses didn't hold up their shape perfectly. But hey, I'm not looking for perfection with my first time making meringue. The point is, they turned out, and they were delish!

Once the meringue is done, transfer it into a disposable piping bag fitted with a large closed star tip. Then pipe 1 inch "kisses" onto baking sheets, lined with parchment paper. Bake, and viola! Almond Meringue Kisses!
All in all, these were very easy to make.
They remind me of little snowballs, and they just melt right in your mouth. Mmm.
and for only 13 calories, you can't go wrong.
Get the recipe HERE.

I think they'd be perfect to bring to a holiday party.
Cause they're adorable, and delish.

On the 2nd day of Christmas, your true love made for you, Almond Meringue Kisses,
and Swirled Mint Cookies.

12 Days of Christmas Cookies- Day 1: Swirled Mint Cookies

This holiday season, we can give ourselves the gift of being healthy, and reaching our weight loss goals, while still enjoying our holiday baking! We can have our Christmas cookies, AND look good for Santa ;) For the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies, I will make healthy cookies, during each of the 12 days of Christmas!

On the first day of Christmas, your true love made for you, Swirled Mint Christmas Cookies.

I was so excited to make these cookies, because of their colorful Christmas colors.
And I got to play with food coloring. Which is always awesome.

So I blasted Josh Groban's Christmas CD, and got started.

first, you make the cookie dough, which was very simple.
Then you divide your dough into thirds. With food coloring, die one third red, one third green, and leave the last third white (plain). Let the dough chill out in the fridge for an hour.
Then the real fun begins! Divide each portion of dough into four equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 12-in. rope. Place a red, green, and white rope next to each other. Cut through all three ropes at 1-in. intervals, forming sets of three differently colored doughs. And repeat. Next roll each set into a ball. Place on a baking sheet, and flatten. Pop them in the oven, and bam! You've got perfect, minty, Christmas cookies!Each cookie is only 59 calories! So I had 2.
Get the recipe HERE.

These were so much fun to make. They definitely helped spread Christmas cheer throughout our home. I think kids would have a blast making these.

Want a healthy Christmas cookie tip?
Freeze your cookie batter, and only pull a few cookies out at a time to bake. This helps to limit your Christmas cookie intake :D
I'm excited for the 2nd day of Christmas!

What's your favorite Christmas CD?

12 Days of Christmas Cookies

(flickr)

I'm putting "Brittany's Kitchen Adventures" on hold this week (and next), to make room for
"12 Days of Christmas Cookies"!!

It's the season to be in the kitchen, baking up yummy, whimsical, Christmas cookies. Baking Christmas cookies always gets me
giddy with Christmas cheer. This year I've been taken over by the Christmas spirit yet again, but I've been trying to live without my traditional Christmas baking. Why? Cause I'm on a diet! And because of this, I felt like I couldn't take part in one of my favorite holiday traditions.

Well, that's proving to be no fun. Just because I'm on a diet, doesn't mean I need to sit out, and deprive myself from the joy I get from baking, and all the yummy Christmas goodness. All it means is, I have to find Deliciously Healthy Christmas cookies to make, and exercise moderation.

This Holiday season, we can give ourselves the gift of being healthy and reaching our goals, while still enjoying our holiday baking! We can have our Christmas cookies, and still look good for Santa ;D

I present to you,
12 Days of Christmas Cookies.
Everyday, for 12 days, I'm going to make lower calorie Christmas cookies.

The fun starts tomorrow, 12/07, and goes to Sunday 12/19

Tonight I'm working like Santa's little elves on Christmas Eve.
I'm finding lots of healthy and adorable Christmas cookies. It's been hard to narrow it down to just 12, but I think I have them picked out!

I'm so excited!

I can have one.

It's not the holidays, without
Queen Anne chocolate covered cherries.

It was practically a tradition at our house to eat a box (or two) of these every night, in the month of December.

This year, I can't eat an entire box of these, like years past.
But I can have one.

And I made sure to savour every bite of that one, delicious, chocolate covered cherry.

Here's how I eat my Queen Annes:

First, I bite off the top.
Then the cherry, and that delicious juice.
And last, but certainly not least, I eat the chocolaty shell.
And it makes me really happy.
You can still enjoy all your favorite seasonal treats.
Everything in moderation.

Happy holidays!