The Perfect Holiday Sugar Cookie Recipe

Sugar cookies are the ultimate in sweet tooth satisfaction. Such a versatile cookie, too. If it’s crispy you’re looking for, just bake them longer. And if you love a softer cookie, bake for a shorter time. This recipe has a light and buttery flavor that you’ll love. It’s no wonder they’ve been popular for years. What makes these cookies skinny is using a combination of reduced-fat butter and canola oil instead of full fat butter and using egg whites and eggs. Each mini cookie has 37 calories, under a gram of fat. and 1 Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS. They create a wonderful cookie jar of goodness, will keep in an airtight container for at least a month and they freeze great too!

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Chill Time: 1 hour before baking
Bake Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients for Cookies:

¼ cup canola oil

¼ cup reduced-fat butter

1 cup extra fine sugar, such as C&H Bakers Sugar or regular sugar, see shopping tip

1 cup sugar

2 egg whites

1 egg, I like Egg-Land’s Best eggs, see shopping tip

2 teaspoons vanilla

2¾ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar, make sure it’s fresh

1¾ teaspoons baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

Ingredients for Rolling:

⅓ cup white sugar or colored sugar of your choice such as blue and white for Hanukkah or red and green for Christmas

Instructions

1. In an electric mixer or large bowl using a hand mixer, beat together the oil, butter and sugar. Whip until smooth about 1 minute.

2. Mix in the eggs and vanilla. Add flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Mix until well blended.

3. Place the batter in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to firm up.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking pans (cooking sheets) with parchment paper, see shopping tip

5. In a small bowl, add the ⅓ cup sugar for rolling.

6. Scoop the batter into rounded 1-inch pieces and roll in sugar. Place each on prepared baking pans.

7. Bake the cookies for 11 minutes, then rotate pans and bake for about 12 more minutes. This will create a crispy cookie when cooled.  If you desire softer cookies, bake for the 7-8 minutes,  rotate pans and bake for another 7-8 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter.

8. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container. Crispy cookies will last for several weeks. Soft ones will last a few days, if you can keep them around that long!

Makes about 105 cookies

Prep Tip
Lining cookie sheets with parchment paper is a fabulous way to create perfectly baked cookies. It insures that the cookies don’t burn on the bottom before they’re baked through.

Shopping Tips
C&H Bakers Sugar (extra fine sugar) is a much finer grain of sugar.  Using it in cookies creates a much crispier, lighter dough. Most supermarkets carry it in the baking section where all the sugars are sold.  It comes in a carton. If you choose not to use it, substitute with regular sugar.

Egg-Lands Best eggs are better for you than regular eggs. This brand contains more vitamin E, 100 mg of Omega 3 and 25% less saturated fat than regular eggs. These can be found in most supermarkets. There are other brands with these added benefits.

Parchment paper is available in most supermarkets in the plastic wrap and foil aisle. It’s packaged the same. Smart and Final also sells it in packaged in flat sheets. If you bake cookies often, it’s worth buying.

Weight Watchers (old points) 1
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 1

SKINNY FACTS: for 1 mini cookie
37 calories, .8g fat, 1g protein, 7g carbs, 0g fiber, 32mg sodium, 5g sugar

FAT FACTS: for 1 mini cookie made with regular butter
48 calories, 2g fat, .5g protein, 7g carbs, 0g fiber, 32mg sodium, 5g sugar

Find more delicious and skinny recipes on Nancy Fox’s website, Skinny Kitchen.