Christmas cookies big part of holiday season

Christmas time is so much fun!

The presents, the decorations, the sights, the smells, It's magical. All the memories we have. All the good times we enjoy. We spend the season smelling all kinds of great things.

One of the great smells are the cookies. They are so hard to resist. Well, make your own and save the carbs. Just remember that a healthy lifestyle takes planning and moderation.

 

Low Carb Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup organic unsweetened peanut butter, room temperature

1 1⁄8 cup Swerve

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, combine peanut butter, 1 cup swerve, egg, and vanilla, stir well with a spoon. Roll the dough into 1″ balls. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet. With a fork, dipped in sugar replacement to prevent sticking, press a crisscross design on each cookie. Bake for 12 minutes, turning the cookie sheet halfway through baking, remove from the oven, and sprinkle the cookies with some of the remaining sugar replacement. Cool slightly before removing from the pan to a wire cooling rack.

 

Low Carb

Chocolate Chip Cookies

 1/2 cups almond flour

1/4 cup chopped walnuts shelled

1/2 cup butter unsalted

2 large eggs

1/2 cup powdered swerve

1/2 cup Dark chocolate chips

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tbs vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F

In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt, baking soda, and swerve.

In another bowl, melt butter and mix in vanilla, chocolate chips, eggs, and walnuts Mix wet ingredients into the dry until a dough forms. Scoop out 1 tbsp of dough per cookie and place onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges have turned golden brown. Remove from oven and transfer to a stable cooling rack to avoid crumbling. They firm as they cool. Let cool for 10-15 minutes, then enjoy!

 

LOW CARB

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

3 oz. butter at room temperature

1 tbsp cream cheese

6 tbsp coconut flour

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

¼ tsp ground cloves

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Mix butter and cream cheese until smooth using a handheld or stand mixer. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Shape the dough into a flat disk, cover it in plastic wrap, and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes or more. Cold dough is easier to handle. Place the chilled dough between two sheets of non-stick parchment paper on a baking sheet and roll it thin, about ⅙ of an inch (4-5 mm). Remove the upper paper and use a cookie cutter of your choice to shape your cookies. Allow some space between each one.

Remove the dough between your cookie shapes with a small spatula or knife, being careful to leave the cookies in place on the parchment paper. (The dough is soft and difficult to lift off the bottom parchment paper, so leave the cookies on the paper.) Form the dough you removed into a ball and chill if necessary. Repeat until all of the dough is formed into cookie shapes on parchment paper. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 10 minutes, until golden brown. Be careful not to burn the edges. Take the cookies out of the oven and let them cool completely on a rack before you remove them from the parchment. Store in a container with a lid.

 

ICING FOR COOKIES:

3 c. sifted sugar free confectioner's sugar

1/4 c. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Dash of salt

Combine sugar, milk, vanilla and salt; mix well. Add food coloring. Frost cookies.

 

HOW TO MAKE SUGAR FREE POWDERED SUGAR

Use a food processor or blender to combine together the following: Sugar free (read the label) nonfat dry milk powder --2 cups Cornstarch-- 2 cups Granular Splenda--1 cup. Blend these together until you achieve that powdered sugar consistency

 

LOW CARB

SUGAR COOKIES

1 cup butter, softened

2 1/4 cups Carb Solutions Vanilla Shake Mix or other protein shake mix

1/2 cup Splenda sweetener, divided

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a nonstick baking sheet.

Combine the butter, shake mix, half of the sweetener, and vanilla extract. Mix well. Add the egg and mix until the egg is completely incorporated and the mixture forms a soft dough.

Shape the cookie dough into 1-inch balls and place on the baking sheet about 2-inches apart.

Place the remaining sweetener in a shallow dish. Grease the bottom of a glass then dip the glass in the sweetener. Flatten the cookies with the glass, re-sugaring after each.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake at 375 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies are done (do not let them brown).

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before removing the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.