10 Secrets to Making Healthy Cookies from Nutritionists

Make cookies healthier

Cookies are a favorite treat for both children and adults. They're the perfect dessert to bake for guests or bring to a party. However, most traditional recipes call for overly sweet and calorie-dense cookies, loaded with butter, granulated sugar, or chocolate. Is it possible to make cookies any healthier? Absolutely! Here are 10 secrets certified dietitians and nutritionists use when mixing cookie dough.

Secret 1: Replace baking flour with whole wheat flour

Certified registered dietitian and nutritionist and food blogger Kayleigh McMordie always substitutes all-purpose flour for cake flour in her cookies. "It has more fiber than cake flour, and most of the time, no one notices a difference in taste!" explains Kayleigh.

Secret 2: Add ground flax, chia, or hemp seeds

Vickie Shanta Retelny, a registered dietitian nutritionist and author of "The Whole Body Diet for Dummies," adds ground flax, chia, or hemp seeds to her cookie dough. "These seeds provide a nutritional boost of energy thanks to omega-3 fatty acids, which are beneficial for overall body health. These fatty acids prevent inflammation and contribute to the health of your cells, muscles, joints, brain, and heart," explains Retelny.

Secret 3: Make the cookies smaller

"It might sound funny, but I make mini cookies," says Sarah Haas, a registered dietitian and consulting nutritionist and the author of "Taco! Taco! Taco!" from Chicago. Haas makes amazingly delicious traditional cookies, but in mini versions—one or two bites each. "Mini cookies are a more appropriate serving size for sweets. They're lower in calories and taste the same. Plus, they look super cute!"

Secret 4: Replace eggs with mashed ripe bananas

If you're looking to make a recipe vegan or simply add more plant-based ingredients, Jessica Spiro, a registered dietitian, has a solution for you. "In most cookie recipes, you can replace each egg with the mashed potatoes of one medium ripe banana," says Spiro. "This not only creates a lighter, chewier texture, but also sweetens the cookies. Plus, the bananas add fiber, vitamins, and minerals like potassium."

Secret 5: Replace sugar with prune puree in a 1:1 ratio

"By substituting prune puree for sugar, you'll increase the fiber and nutrient content of the recipe while reducing the sugar content, which in turn reduces calories and carbs," notes Erin Palinski-Wade, RD, CDN, CDD, and author of The 2-Day Diabetes Diet. "The sweetness and moist texture of the prune puree make this a healthier alternative without significantly altering the flavor or texture."

Secret 6: Cut the amount of added sugar by a third

Maggie Moon, MS, RD, RD, and author of The MIND Diet, says, "I cut the sugar in every recipe by a third. The cookies definitely become a little less sweet, but they're still delicious. I started by cutting the sugar by a quarter and didn't notice any difference in taste, so I recommend starting there." Moon explains that less sugar means less heartburn and fewer calories; and since the difference in taste is negligible, it's an easy win.

Secret 7: Replace half the butter with Greek yogurt

Philadelphia-based registered dietitian Julie Lichtman says, "I replace about half the butter in my cookie recipe with full-fat Greek yogurt." Lichtman explains that this substitution significantly reduces the saturated fat content while maintaining a creamy texture!

Secret 8: Add nuts to the dough

A simple addition to any cookie recipe is chopped nuts. "Pecans, almonds, peanuts, cashews, or pistachios—whatever nuts you have in the pantry," says Toby Amidor, MS, RD, a nutrition advocate and best-selling cookbook author. She adds 0.5-1 cup of chopped nuts to cookie dough. "Nuts boost the healthy fats, fiber, and protein content, as well as vitamin E, an antioxidant."

Secret 9: Replace a few ingredients

Katie Morford, MS, a registered dietitian, regularly swaps out several ingredients in her cookie recipe to make it healthier. "I start by replacing at least half of the cake flour with all-purpose flour, using dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate, and replacing some of the butter with canola or olive oil," says Morford. This boosts the fiber, nutrients, antioxidants, and healthy fats in the cookies.

Secret 10: Homemade dough without eggs and flour

Angie Ashe, MS, RD, RD, sports nutritionist, and owner of Eleat Sports Nutrition, takes a food safety approach when making cookies. "The two sources of toxicity from raw cookie dough are eggs and flour. So for a healthier option with the same flavor and consistency, I blend soaked cashews, almond butter, rolled oats, and a little 100% maple syrup for sweetness in a food processor," says Ashe. The result should be a delicious cookie dough alternative with the same consistency that you can safely eat raw or bake. "By choosing these ingredients, you're consuming 'good' fats, protein, and iron—definitely healthier than traditional cookie dough," Ashe notes.