Lightened Up Holiday Sugar Cookies are the perfect cookie for the holiday season. Classic sugar cookies topped with peppermint Hersey Kiss! Weight Watchers friendly recipe-4 SmartPoints!
Nothing says the holidays like the smell of fresh baked cookies… am I right?! The holiday season is my favorite time of year, as it is for most people. I am not a huge sweets person, but for some reason during the holidays I become addicted to desserts! We all get a little carried away with indulging a bit too much during the holidays, so I always like to have a lightened up festive dessert to bring to parties. My Lightened Up Holiday Sugar Cookies are the perfect festive cookie for the holiday season. Classic sugar cookies topped with a peppermint Hersey Kiss! Super festive looking and delicious. Just the right sweetness without all the guilt. This is a Weight Watcher friendly recipe and each cookie is 4 SmartPoints!
I love to bake, but I do not want to spend hours in the kitchen baking during the holidays. I want to spend time hanging out with family and relaxing… and eating, duh! Cookies are the perfect holiday dessert to make because they typically don’t take that long and baking cookies with family is a great activity to do. I used to always make cookies with my aunt before the holidays when I’d come home from college. We always had a great time and it was a great excuse to spend some quality time together. Another great thing about cookies is that you can make a lot to feed a crowd! Perfect to bring to a party!
I’m always trying to find ways to lighten up classic dishes and recipes, especially during the holidays. I try my hardest to wait until Christmas day to indulge. My husband requests plain ole sugar cookies every few months. While sugar cookies are good, I always like to take things up a notch and put my own spin on things. When I was brainstorming for a healthier holiday cookie, I knew sugar cookies would be the perfect classic cookie to lighten up! These cookies have the same flavors of traditional sugar cookies and are topped with a delicious peppermint flavored candy. Talk about holiday flavors!!
Not only do these cookies have the classic flavors you crave during the holidays, but this cookie recipe is super easy to make! In a large bowl, using a stand mixer or hand mixer, blend room temperature butter, sugar, and Stevia baking blend for about 5 minutes until the mixture is fluffy. I like to use the Stevia baking blend because it is a blend of stevia and sugar. This is the component of this recipe that helps to lighten it up. If you are nervous about using Stevia, don’t be! The baking blend is a good starting point for using Stevia because you can barely even tell the different.
After the butter and sugar have been blended, add egg, milk, vanilla and blend for a few minutes. Slowly add white whole wheat flour, baking soda, and salt to the bowl and blend until all the ingredients are combined and form into a cookie batter. Freeze the batter for 1 hour to firm up.
Using a cookie scoop, scoop out the dough to form 18 cookies and place cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 9-11 minutes! Remove the cookies from the oven and once they have cooled a bit, place a peppermint Hersey Kiss in the center of the cookie and press down firmly.
Lightened Up Holiday Sugar Cookies are the perfect festive cookie for the holiday season. Classic sugar cookies topped with a peppermint Hersey Kiss! Perfect to bring to a holiday party, or even for Santa! Easy to make, and even easier to eat. Lightened up but full of flavor!
I hope you enjoy these bites of flavor!
4 SMARTPOINTS per serving
10 minPrep Time
11 minCook Time
21 minTotal Time
Ingredients
- ¼ Cup Light Butter
- ½ Cup Sugar
- ½ Cup Stevia Baking Blend
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
- 1 Egg
- 1 ¼ Cup White Whole Wheat Flour
- ¾ Teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¼ Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Tablespoon 2% Milk
- 18 Hersey Kisses Candy Cane Flavor
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Mix butter and sugar together and mix until fluffy.
- Add in egg, milk, and vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, whisk white whole wheat flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Slowly add flour mixture into bowl with sugar.
- Scoop out cookies with cookie scoop and lay on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Using a flat bottom glass, gently press down on cookies to make flat.
- Sprinkle top of cookies with a pinch of sugar.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition is based on the NEW Weight Watchers Freestyle Program guidelines. Nutrition calculated using Weight Watchers calculator.
NUTRITION: Serves 18- (4 SmartPoints Per Serving) CALORIES: 86 FAT: 2.5 SATURATED FAT: 1.1 CARBS: 14.5 FIBER: 0 SUGARS: 9.1 PROTEIN: 1.4
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16 Comments
Joleene
December 12, 2016 at 6:23 pm I LOVE sugar cookies. Love, love them. We're looking for a different recipe to change things up a bit this Christmas.Kristine
December 13, 2016 at 8:59 am Sugar cookies are the best for the holidays!!Vicki @ Babies to Bookworms
December 12, 2016 at 7:31 pm So I can eat delicious cookies with less guilt?? You rock!Kristine
December 13, 2016 at 9:00 am YES! Guilt free but you can't tell because they are so good. In fact, my husband has no idea they are healthy and loves them :)Julie
December 12, 2016 at 8:13 pm These cookies look really good and easy to make! I'm not a good cook but your recipe makes me want to tryKristine
December 13, 2016 at 9:00 am They are super easy... Anyone can make them!!Marian
December 12, 2016 at 8:20 pm I like how you use both sugar and stevia.Kristine
December 13, 2016 at 9:01 am Awesome! I like that blend better than just Stevia alone.Kandja Sylla
December 12, 2016 at 8:25 pm I like that these cookies looks so perfect for the holidays. Can't believe that it will only take a total of 21 minutes in making it! Bookmarking this recipe. xx http://www.prettyweirdbombshell.com/catching-2-0/Kristine
December 13, 2016 at 9:02 am Super quick to make, which makes everyone happy :) !Kayla
December 13, 2016 at 10:11 am I love these they look so delicious! I hope you don't mind but I'd love to add them to my holiday cookie roundup at the end of the week!Kristine
December 14, 2016 at 10:08 am I don't mind at all as long as it's linked back to my page :) ! Thank you Kayla!Idriss
December 13, 2016 at 4:46 pm Delicious ! I love how good this looksKristine
December 14, 2016 at 10:08 am Thank you Idriss!T.M. Brown
December 14, 2016 at 7:55 am Willing admit, not a Stevia fan....but I do love the candy cane kisses as the centerpiece of your creation. Yum!!!Kristine
December 14, 2016 at 10:09 am Oh it's ok T.M.! You can totally use sugar!