Christmas cookies are a tradition this time of year. The only thing more satisfying than spending cozy days baking up a storm are the cozy nights spent nibbling on the fruits of our labor with family and friends.
There’s nothing wrong with a baking sheet full of traditional sugar cookies, but these healthy Christmas cookie recipes deserve a try too! This collection of 12 of our all-time favorite healthy-ish cookie recipes will give you all the satisfaction of holiday baking with nutrient-rich, superfood ingredients in place of some of the more common, and less gut-friendly ones.
Our 12 Favorite Healthy Christmas Cookies of All Time
From gluten-free thumbprint cookies to ashwagandha shortbread, channel your inner Julia Child and dive deep into this lineup of healthy holiday cookies…
Loria Stern’s Hazelnut Cookies Dipped in Salted Ganache | These cacao ganache dipped hazelnut cookies are made all the more magical with these sugared sage leaves – absolutely stunning on the table and surprisingly easy to make. The cookies are as adaptable as they are adorable. From the queen of botanical cookies herself. Get The Recipe
martha stewart’s botanical cookies | Learn to embellish frosted cookies wtih these 3 beautiful botanical decorations from Martha herself. Get the recipe + instructions
Chocolate-Dipped Almond Cookies | (Shown at top) These coffee cream-filled cookies are vegan and gluten-free from Solla Eiríksdóttir’s new Vegan at Home: Recipes for a Modern Plant-Based Lifestyle. So indulgent! Get the recipe
Cannelle et Vanille’s Gluten-free Crinkle Cookies | We’re in love with all things Cannelle et Vanille. See our recipe with the gluten-free baker in the link below. Originally, the recipe is made with fennel, which we love, but we asked the baker and, if necessary, it can be skipped! Get The Recipe
Cafe Gratitude Spiced Shortbread Cookies | These clean, gluten-free holiday cookies come from California’s ultimate (and original?) healthy restaurant chain, Cafe Gratitude. Packed with pecans and spices they manage to avoid wheat altogether. Get The Recipe
Molasses Oatmeal Whoopie Pies | Veggie-blogger Jessica Murnane of One Part Plant surveyed the vegetarian food scene to collect all the best tips and recipes for plant-based cookies she could find, including these plant-based beauties. Get The Recipe
Clean Cookie Dough Truffles | These lovely little cookie dough bites from plant-based food blogger Laura Wright of The First Mess capture the flavor and texture of classic cookie dough, but with clean, real ingredients that give us every excuse to enjoy with abandon. Get The Recipe
Turmeric Ashwagandha Shortbread Cookies | We were blown away by these superfood-infused shortbread cookies while on the farm with Gaia Herbs. The enormous organic farm’s chef whipped them up for us using a secret ingredient – Gaia’s Golden Milk – including ashwagandha grown right there on the property. Get The Recipe
Oreo-esque Raw Sandwich Cookies | In this classic cookie re-boot, almonds and hazelnuts offer protein and healthy fats, and our fave almond milk cream cheese makes a luscious dairy-free filling. Best of all, there’s no refined sugar or dubious baking process to hold us back from snack perfection… Get The Recipe
keto sugar cookies | I know, it’s the last food group we expected to see go keto, but Vibrant & Pure made it happen! Get the recipe, make the peppermint frosting and be amazed! Get The Recipe
Raw Cookie balls Made In The Dehydrator | This protein-rich cookie recipe is adapted from Raw: The Uncook Book. Try them raw as cookie dough balls (they’re totally safe) or dehydrate them for a more traditional cookie – the cookies are rich in nutrients that don’t get diluted through the baking process. Get The Recipe
Not-So-Naughty Thumbprint Cookies | These thumbprint cookies from Laurel Gallucci of Sweet Laurel Bakery capture all the cuteness and crave-ability of the classic version, but without any naughty ingredients. Holiday miracle or just the kitchen wizardry of our fave grain-free, dairy-free baking babe, Laurel? We’d guess it’s a bit of both. Get The Recipe
Paleo Raspberry Cookie Crumb Bars | These paleo raspberry crumble bars deliver everything you may be missing on a paleo diet. (Hello, crumbling crust!) These bars come from British ballerina and wellness blogger, Saskia Gregson-Williams of Naturally Sassy whose ballet-inspired online workouts we’ve been loving. Get The Recipe
Pink Peppercorn Shortbread with Pressed Herbs | For a chic and natural twist on decorated cookies, Lori Stern taught us to press fresh herbs from rosemary to pink peppercorns right into the peppercorn shortbread (the cookies can easily be made gluten-free). Get The Recipe
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