Low Sugar Christmas Cookie Recipe

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I had 3 things in mind when I was putting together this Low Sugar Christmas Cookie Recipe.

One was to keep expanding my Low Sugar recipe collection, and two was to continue growing my allergy friendly recipe collection (recipes that are free of the 8 most common food allergies) both of which you guys, ie the people who read my blog tell me are useful.

Then for the third and final thing. I wanted to come up with a great Christmas post for the Kiwi Mummy Bloggers 12 Days of Christmas series.

I think these Low Sugar Christmas Cookies are just perfect for this! I’m joining 12 fabulous bloggers in sharing Christmas posts, and I’m last on the list!  Yes, you might have picked up that the maths seems a bit wrong on this, ie me plus 12 others equals 13, and you would be correct! The 12 days of Christmas became 13 days of Christmas and I am lucky last at number 13!

You can find out more about this series, and links to the other posts, at the end of this post. Do check it out, as honestly one of the biggest gifts you can give a blogger is to check them out and visit their sites all of which are fabulous!

Is This Low Sugar Christmas Cookie Recipe actually Low in Sugar?

Well, it depends on the definition of sugar that you use. This recipe is low in added sugar as defined by the World Health Organisation and it contains no refined sugar but it is not super low in actual sugar.

These cookies are sweetened with fruit (apple and dates, both of which contain sugar so these could not be described as sugar-free cookie) Total sugars works out to approximately 4.1g of total sugar per cookie which is just shy of one teaspoon of sugar. In contrast to many cookies, this is pretty low.

Obviously, a way to lower sugar intake is to make smaller cookies. My family don’t lead a no-sugar life just a lower sugar life so I am comfortable with the sugar content of this low sugar Christmas cookie recipe for my kids, but everyone will have a different comfort level.

In saying that when it comes to special occasions I have no issues with sugar, my kids no doubt will be on huge sugar highs on Christmas Day and I’m totally fine with that.

Are these low sugar Christmas cookies delicious?

Well, my kids really do think they are. Obviously, if I served them on a platter next to fancy chocolate biscuits then these ones probably wouldn’t get a look in until all the choccie biscuits were gone, but my kids have been happily snacking on these (and sneakily stealing them from the container when they think I’m not looking).

They also probably think they are extra delicious as they helped make them! The recipe uses Chia Seed as an egg replacer so it is a raw cookie dough your kids can munch away on while they are baking. 

These cookies are not super super crunchy, so they are a good texture for baby-led weaning as well.

This is the perfect image of the low sugar Christmas Cookies to pin hint hint!

Low Sugar Christmas Cookie

Yield: 40 Cookies

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Print

Ingredients

• 1 cup applesauce or apple purée 265g
• 1 Tbsp chia seeds
• 6 dates
• 60g melted butter or coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 Cups flour (can use gluten-free)
• 1 Cup ground almonds
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1-2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 - 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp mixed spice

Instructions

1. Add the chia seeds to the applesauce and leave to sit for 20 mins. I just pop them into the food processor and make sure all the chia seeds are covered by the apple 
2. After the chia seeds have sat in the apple for approx 20 mins and have begun to gel, add the dates, melted butter and vanilla to the food processor, blitz well until a smooth paste is formed
3. In a bowl place all the remaining dry ingredients, use a fork to mix them to gether so everytything is well combined and semi-sifted
4. Add the wet ingredients from the food processor to the dry ingredients
5. Bring the dough together by mixing with a wooden spoon
6. Turn out onto a floured board and need until the dough becomes smooth
7. Roll out to 5mm thick and cut into any shapes you want
8. Place cookies on to a baking paper lined baking tray
9. Bake in a Fan Forced Oven  at 160 degrees Celsius (320 F) for 15-25 mins. If you are using a non fan forced oven up the temperature to 180 C or 360 F
10. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the cutters used 

Notes

For this recipe to be Gluten Free use a gluten-free flour. I have tested this recipe with Edmonds Gluten Free Plain Four which is a combination of maize, tapioca, rice flours and xantham gum and it worked very well

For this recipe to be dairy-free substitute butter for coconut oil or a dairy free margarine

Spice levels depending on your child's tastes, I preferred the cookies with the higher spice quantities as did 1 of my kids, 2 of my children preferred them less spiced.

Nutrition Information

Yield 40 Serving Size 1 Cookie
Amount Per Serving Calories 69Total Fat 4gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 3mgSodium 39mgCarbohydrates 8gFiber 1gSugar 2gProtein 1g

Please know this nutrition analysis is based on the ingredients only, this recipe has not been sent to a laboratory for independent testing

Looking for other low sugar and or healthy and allergy friendly Christmas food ideas?

These could be just the ticket Healthy Strawberry Santas, Reindeer Food- Carrot Oat Energy Bites,  Layered Christmas Smoothies, Christmas Wreath Salad, or my ultimate favourite at the moment Coconut Snowballs.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

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