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This list of healthy Christmas cookies has something for everyone, from soft gingerbread cookies to buckeyes—each with a lightened up spin!
Are you looking for healthy Christmas cookies for your cookie tray? If you know Alex and me, you know we’re into healthy cookie recipes—or should the term be healthier cookies? Here are our top healthy Christmas cookies that we think would be perfect for your cookie tray.
They all have a healthier spin…but they’re so delicious, you’d never know it! Don’t forget to serve with healthy hot chocolate or hot cider (or the slow cooker version).
What are healthy cookies?
The term “healthy cookies” is a bit of a misnomer, because cookies themselves are not really a health food! However, we know why you’re here: you want a lightened up, not-sickly-sweet treat to add to your cookie tray. Here’s how Alex and I define healthy cookies:
- Use nutrient-dense ingredients. We love incorporating nutrient dense ingredients to counteract the typical butter, white flour and refined sugar. Almond butter, peanut butter, oats, almond flour, and maple syrup all make appearances in these healthy Christmas cookie recipes.
- Have big flavors without relying on just sugar. These recipes use spices and natural flavors, like abundant chai spices in our snowball cookies, or bold gingerbread spices and molasses in our soft gingerbread cookies.
- Use just enough sugar. For every Christmas cookie recipe we make, we adjust the sugar content so that it tastes not too sweet, but just right.
And now, our best healthy Christmas cookies!
First up in our best healthy Christmas cookies are soft gingerbread cookies! In this healthier version of gingerbread, almond butter stands in for much of the butter, wheat flour adds heartiness, and a bit of applesauce helps keep them soft. This gingerbread cookie recipe is finished with turbinado sugar instead of icing, which is a more natural sugar (plus, it’s much easier than icing!).
Here's a healthy spin on the classic that’s so good, we know you'll love it! These almond thumbprint cookies are made with almond flour, homemade berry jam, and sweetened with maple syrup. If you’d like, add our easy powdered sugar glaze, which takes them from good to amazing! With just the right chewy texture from the almond flour, these cookies are one of our top healthy Christmas cookies.
These stunning meringues are healthy Christmas cookies to the max: they’re filled almost entirely with air! A mix of sugar, egg whites, and air, they’re a great treat when you’re looking for a little sweet. When adding the red stripe, look for natural food coloring if you can find it.
Here’s our one of our favorite easy healthy Christmas cookies: peanut butter balls. They’re simple to make, requiring no special equipment and under 30 minutes of your time. Whip up a batch and enjoy that crunchy chocolate coating covering an irresistibly creamy and chewy peanut butter interior.
Hello and welcome to our new favorite cookie recipe: spiced Applesauce Cookies! These are so moist and irresistible, you’ll forget about everything else and you savory each chewy bite. The applesauce makes them ultra moist, and they’ve got a little oatmeal to balance the sweet. They taste like a lighter version of an oatmeal cream pie!
One of our top healthy Christmas cookies for a tray is chocolate bark! This one is sweet and salty, with a confetti of colorful ingredients that are all whole foods. It’s the best fun treat that makes a great gift. We used cranberries, pistachios, coconut and sea salt for the toppings, but it’s totally customizable based on your preferences.
These almond snowball cookies are healthy Christmas cookies with a twist: they’re naturally gluten free, made with almond flour and cozy chai spices! The cardamom is the star of the show here; it’s what gives chai spice its familiar zing. Even though they’re made entirely of almonds, these cookies are light and fluffy.
This date snickers recipe is a delicious, homemade healthy treat made simply from Medjool dates, peanut butter, and chocolate! They’re great to keep on hand for snacking or a Christmas cookie tray, and fit many diets (including gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan).
These vegan peanut butter cookies are where it’s at for us! They’re soft but perfectly crumbly, and salty sweet. Decorated with the classic criss-cross pattern, they’ve got a sparkle of sugar. And a chocolate icing drizzle makes them look even more fun. How are they a healthy Christmas cookie? They're made with just enough coconut oil and sugar so they're just rich enough.
These peanut butter cups are delicious and perfect on a Christmas cookie tray! How to make perfect homemade peanut butter cups? Basically, take tempered chocolate and let it harden around a peanut butter filling in a mini muffin tin. The filling has maple syrup and a hint of powdered sugar. Then to bring in a complexity, we added some allspice and vanilla extract.
These pecan butter millionaire bars have 3 layers: shortbread, caramelized maple pecans, and chocolate! This vegan dessert recipe couldn’t be tastier. The shortbread layer is simply flour, coconut oil, and maple syrup. Instead of a caramel layer, nutrient rich pecans are caramelized with a bit of maple syrup, then blended into a pecan butter. It’s a crowd pleasing dessert that's one of our best healthy Christmas cookies.
Healthy Gingerbread Cookies (& More Recipes!)
These soft gingerbread cookies use almond butter to replace most of the butter, wheat flour for a few extra nutrients, and applesauce to keep them soft.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 33 minutes
- Yield: 25 to 35 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup molasses
- ¼ cup almond butter
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons applesauce
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons allspice
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup wheat flour
- Turbinado sugar (for garnish)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add 1 egg, ½ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup molasses, ¼ cup almond butter, 2 tablespoons melted butter, and 2 tablespoons applesauce; vigorously whisk to thoroughly combine.
- To the wet ingredients, stir in 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 2 teaspoons allspice, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour, and ½ cup wheat flour until well combined. Turn out onto plastic wrap and form into a rough ball; cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 1 hour, or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Flour a flat surface and a rolling pin, then roll out the dough ¼-inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out gingerbread men, about 25-35 total. Place gingerbread men on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
- Bake about 8 minutes, until puffed and slightly firmed. Let rest on the pan for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Store covered at room temperature for several days or freeze for several months.
More Christmas recipes
We hope you enjoy our best Christmas cookie recipes! Here are a few more resources from around the web:
