Cookie baking with a difference: Healthy recipes

Healthy into the Advent season

Our cookie recipes are not only healthy, but also contain ingredients that have a positive effect on our health and even affect concentration, well-being and mood. We use natural sweeteners such as dates, maple syrup or coconut blossom sugar. What are you waiting for? Turn on the oven and start baking cookies.

Health facts

Dates

The dried fruits are a real miracle of health. Dates have almost no fat, but plenty of vitamin C, B, iron, calcium and potassium. Natural date syrup inhibits bacterial growth and acts like an antibiotic. Date puree or syrup can be easily made with dates and some water in a blender.

Raspberries

Raspberries not only taste particularly good, they also have an anti-inflammatory effect and help with diarrhea or intestinal inflammation. The high vitamin C content strengthens the immune system and ensures a healthy complexion.

Ginger

Miracle root and superfood at the same time – ginger supports our body in fighting colds, prevents diseases and has an antibacterial effect. Ginger also helps against nausea, warms from the inside, supports our intestines and stimulates the metabolism.

Healthy ingredients for Christmas cookies

Vanillekipferl (Vanilla crescent-shaped biscuits), the Classic

Ingredients:

200g ground hazelnuts, 250g gluten-free oatmeal flour, 70g coconut blossom sugar, 2EL date puree using 6 to 8 Medjool dates, 3 tbsp white almond butter, some almond milk (unsweetended), 1 tsp ground Bourbon-vanilla powder, a pinch of cinnamon powder

Preparation:

Preheat the over to 180 degrees (top and bottom heat and please note the resting time of the dough) and line the baking tray with baking paper. For the date puree, blend 6 to 8 Medjool dates with a little water in a blender to a puree. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl and then mix in the almond butter, almond milk and date puree. Cover the dough in a bowl with a tea towel and place in the fridge for 45 minutes. Then form small crescent shaped biscuits with wet hands and bake for about 12 to 13 minutes until golden brown. Sprinkle with some coconut blossom sugar and enjoy!

Raspberry-almond biscuits

Ingredients (for approx. 10 biscuits):

1 tsp ground Bourbon-vanilla powder, a pinch of cinnamon powder, a pinch of cardamom powder, 1 tsp maple syrup, 3 tbsp date puree from 8 to 10 dates, 100g gluten-free oatmeal, 100g almond flour, 2.5 tbsp brown almond butter, raspberry jam

Raspberry jam: For the raspberry jam filling, you can either use homemade jam you already have at home, or you can make it yourself very quickly and easily in a slightly different way. For this, let 1 tbsp of chia seeds soak in 3 tbsp of water for about 15 minutes, add 1 tbsp of maple syrup or coconut blossom sugar and 100g of frozen raspberries and process in a blender.

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (top and bottom heat) and line the baking tray with baking paper. For the date puree, blend 8 to 10 large Medjool dates with a little water in a blender to a puree. In a bowl, mix the oatmeal and almond flower, vanilla powder, cinnamon and cardamom powder with the date puree, maple syrup and almond butter. Form about 10 balls from the mixture and place on the baking sheet. Press each in the middle with your thumb and fill with raspberry jam, Remove from the oven after about 15 minutes and allow to cool. These cookies are gluten free and vegan.

Warming ginger biscuits

Ingredients (for about 16 biscuits):

120g ground almonds, 120g whole pecan nuts, 180g wholemeal flour (Alternative: brown rice- or buckwheat flour for a gluten free option), 80ml maple syrup, 2 tbsp ginger powder, 1 tbsp chia seeds, 1 tbsp coconut oil, a pinch of cinnamon, 100ml water, biscuit cutter

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (top and bottom heat). Crush the pecans in a food processor. Then add all other ingredients. Work into a dough by adding the water. Thinly roll out the dough on a floured work surface. Cut out the biscuits and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown and let them cool on the baking sheet. The ginger biscuits are vegan and also gluten-free by using gluten-free flour.

Vegan Almond-Peanut Bars, the healthy Twix-Alternative

Ingredients (for approx. 25 cookies; a cup with about 300 ml capacity):

For the bottom layer: 1 ½ cups of almond flour, 3 tbsp coconut oil, 2 tbsp maple syrup, vanilla essence/extract and a bit of salt

For the peanut layer: 2/3 cup peanut butter, 1/3 cup maple syrup, ¼ cup coconut oil, vanilla essence/extract and a bit of salt

For the chocolate layer: 1 bar of your favourite (vegan) chocolate (we recommend dark chocolate), 1 tsp coconut oil

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (circulating air) and line a medium-sized casserole dish with baking paper. Mix all ingredients for the almond base in a bowl. Then this mixture is flattened in the casserole dish (bottom layer), creating a base about 0.5 cm thick, which is baked for 10 minutes and then chilled in the fridge. In the meantime, put all the ingredients for the peanut layer in a saucepan and bring to a boil, so that everything mixes well. Spread the peanut layer on the chilled base and let it cool again for about 30 minutes. Finally, melt the chocolate together with the coconut oil and spread evenly over the peanut layer. After about an hour in the fridge, the bars can be cut as desired and kept cool. Note: Other liquid sweeteners such as rice syrup can be used as and alternative to maple syrup.

Healthy Twix alternative: vegan almond and peanut bars

More cookie recipes

Are you a real pumpkin fan? Then these healthy pumpkin cookies from Hokkaido are perfect for you.

You can find all the ingredients and the recipe on our HikingBlog: The best that October cuisine has to offer.