Merry Christmas Everyone!

I know that Christmas just isn’t complete without something sweet, and cookies are too good to pass up! But, if you need a nutritionist’s blessing over your Holiday table to feel less guilty about indulging, here it is. While you can make healthier cookies using anything from vegan butter, to finely ground nuts, gluten-free flour, and agave nectar – even if you make your Christmas cookies with white sugar and shortening, the spices in them still have very healthy qualities. 

Why Christmas Cookies Are Healthy For You (kinda)

Gingerbread Cookies

Ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg combine to make gingerbread cookies rich, spicy, delicious – and healthy. A true superfood, ginger improves blood flow, prevents colon cancer, reduces inflammation, strengthens the immune system and fights respiratory problems brought on by winter colds. Cinnamon helps reduce bad cholesterol; cloves are packed with antioxidants and manganese (which helps you control your weight and improve your mood); and nutmeg contains trace minerals that strengthen the immune system, and antibacterial properties that help protect teeth and gums. You can even find nutmeg oil in some toothpastes.

Find a healthy Gingerbread Cookie recipe using spelt flour here.

Snickerdoodles

The main ingredient flavoring delicious, soft and chewy Snickerdoodles is cinnamon. Cinnamon reduces LDL cholesterol levels (which, in turn, reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease), fights ulcer-causing bacteria and pathogens, is anti-inflammatory, and helps balance hormones in women.

Find a vegan Snickerdoodle recipe here.

Lebkuchen

This German Christmas cookie is made with a number of spices, candied citrus peels, hazelnuts and almonds. The combination of cinnamon, ginger and cloves is powerful enough to make them healthier than the average cookie, but when you add ingredients like flavanoid-rich orange and lemon peels, constipation-reducing dates, and protein and good fat-packed nuts, this cookie starts looking more like a breakfast bar you’d find in a health food store! If, that is, it weren’t for all the sugar.

Martha Stewart’s Lebkuchen recipe here.

Enjoy everything on your holiday table this year, and we at Intelligent Gourmet wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Find these recipes and more on the Intelligent Gourmet Holidays Pinterest Board!