Ready for Christmas? So are we!

This year, keep on the merry tradition of decorating Christmas cookies with your friends and family, but make it healthy! We have a delicious gluten-free and grain-free sugar cookie recipe for you, complete with a Paleo frosting recipe so you can keep up with the Holiday fun without sweating the scale so much.

Healthy, Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies for Christmas 

Ingredients:

Wet:

• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp of almond extract
• 2 tbs of melted coconut oil
• 1/4 cup of honey or maple syrup

Dry:

• 2 cups organic almond flour
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• 1/2 cup of coconut flour
• dashing through the snow... or salt! 1 dash of salt

Paleo Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of palm shortening
• 3 tbs of maple syrup
• 1 vanilla bean or a splash of vanilla extract

Optional:

• Food coloring
• Sprinkles

Directions:

Healthy Christmas Cookie Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, mix together your large egg. almond extract, and your honey or maple syrup. Stir in your melted coconut oil and whisk until smooth.
3. At a slow pace, add your dry ingredients (except the coconut flour) to your wet ingredients until a dough is formed. (It will appear a bit crumbly at first, but fear not! If you continue to knead it will ball together.)
4. You can now add your food coloring if you so choose, kneading in a drop at a time until you get your desired color. If you opt-out of food coloring, just skip this step!
5. Make your dough into a large ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Leave it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to chill.
6. After 30 minutes, remove from the fridge and sprinkle some coconut flour on your rolling pin and on a flat, hard surface. Using your rolling pin, roll out the dough so it's about 1/4 - 1/2 of an inch thick. If the dough is sticking to the surface or your rolling pin too much, sprinkle on some more coconut flour!
7. Using cooking cutters, cut out all your cookies until there is no more dough. Place your masterpieces on your parchment-lined baking sheets. (Don't worry about spacing so much, as these cookies won't expand a lot).
8. Bake at 350ºF for 6-8 minutes until they begin to brown. 
9. Remove from the oven and place your cookies on a cooling rack. Now, the hard part: wait 30 minutes for the cookies to cool.

Paleo Frosting Directions:

It's as simple as this: Put all your ingredients for your healthy frosting into a bowl, and whisk it together until smooth!

 Recipe was adapted from Christmas Sugar Cookie Cut Oats (gluten-free!) - Fit Foodie Finds

Time to Decorate!

Frost your healthy cookies with your close friends and family, and feel good about what you are putting into your body this Christmas season. Staying on top of the Christmas fun AND your health. Win-win.

Happy Holiday, Genesis Fit Fam!

Want More Delicious AND Healthy Recipes from Genesis Health Clubs?

More Healthy Recipes

Learn how to lower your sugar intake with healthy substitutes through the following Genesis blog:

Sugar Swaps | Lower Your Sugar w/ Healthy Alternatives