A good part of my weekend was spent baking and decorating Christmas cookies with my Mom—great bonding time and a fun way to unleash my creative side! Our recipe is not exactly a nutritious choice, but there are some healthy holiday dessert recipes out there. To celebrate the season, I decided to post a small round-up of better for you seasonal desserts so that you can indulge and still have a healthy, balanced diet for the day. Plus, if you bring a tray of these goodies to your parties, you can feel sly by sneaking a healthier treat under your friends’ and family members’ noses! :)

A selection of our festive treats!

Taste of Home has a marvelous round-up of lightened-up and dietitian-approved cookies. How cute are the wreath cookies?

Every year Eating Well magazine hosts a healthy holiday cookie recipe contest, which turns out wonderful (and often drool-worthy) cookie creations. Be sure to check out their handy article about five secrets for healthier cookies!

Be sure to check out this super handy guide, courtesy of FITNESS magazine, detailing the best ways to tweak traditional cookie recipes to be lighter. Everything from snickerdoodles to oatmeal to molasses cookies are covered!

Karla’s Five Cookie Baking Health Tips:

• To increase the nutrition of your cookie toppers or add-ins, consider freeze dried fruit pieces or dark chocolate
• Sprinkling cookies with colored sugars or “jimmies” before baking is generally a lower calorie route than frosting
• Utilizing cocoa powder in chocolate recipes instead of melted chocolate bars or pieces reduces fat
• Subbing whole wheat flour for part of the white flour usually is unnoticeable (and adds fiber!)
• Applesauce can sometimes be used in place of margarine, butter or oil in cookie recipes—although this takes some experimentation. Egg substitute usually works well in place of whole eggs if you prefer. I wouldn’t recommend these tips for cutout cookies, which need to be a specific consistency to bake as a recognizable shape.

And don’t forget, as we discussed around Thanksgiving, it doesn’t matter as much what you do during the few holiday meals (or snacks), but what you eat on a regular basis throughout the entire year!

Do you have any favorite holiday desserts? How about any tricks to improve the health quality of your treats?