Growing up, my brother’s best friend and her mother loved Sweet Tomatoes, a buffet-style restaurant with a salad bar, soup and pasta counter, and bakery section. Armed with coupons from our local newspaper, Mom, my brother, and I met them for dinner there about once a month.
As soon as we walked in the door, we grabbed a white salad plate from their stacks and began walking down the long sides of the salad bar, reaching for tongs and serving spoons when we spotted our favorite items. Pre-made options sat alongside bowls of freshly washed greens for DIY salads, followed by tubs of nearly every topping imaginable: fruit and veggies, nuts, pasta, beans, olives, hardboiled eggs, grated cheeses, nuts and sunflower seeds, herbed croutons and wonton strips, and a plethora of salad dressings.
Once we paid the cashier at the end of the salad bar, we sat down at a booth and started enjoying our creations. Multiple times throughout our meal, we hopped up to walk over to the hot food station for cornbread squares, blueberry muffins, and thin rectangular slices of pizza. We always treated ourselves to a warm brownie topped with soft-serve ice cream, chocolate chips, and crushed Oreos before leaving—the best part of the night!
As I kid, I wanted to try a bit of just about everything… But I felt guilty leaving food on my plate with only a few bites taken out of it! Thankfully, my mom and brother felt the same way, so we split many of the baked treats like muffins and pizza. Two bites for everyone, nothing leftover—the perfect solution. (But as big chocoholics, we never split those brownie sundaes!)
And that “two bites of everything, please” mentality is exactly why I ♡ these Ultimate Healthy Mini Soft Sugar Cookies! They’re perfectly bite-sized, meaning I can enjoy one or two (or more, when my sweet tooth strikes!) without feeling like I overindulged. Even better, they’re made with no butter, refined flour or sugar—yet still taste just like traditional buttery oh-so-irresistible sugar cookies!
It might sound too good to be true… But after your first bite, you’ll swear it isn’t. I promise! ✌?
Let’s start by addressing the elephant in the room… ? How can we make sugar cookies without any sugar, Amy? The thought crossed your mind, right?? I know it sounds pretty ironic!
Instead of refined granulated sugar, we’re sweetening our cookies with a combination of honey and vanilla crème stevia. It’s really important to use both! The honey adds a lot of liquid and moisture to the cookie dough, which is why we can only use a small amount… Too much, and your cookie dough would turn cakey, like muffins!
As its counterpart, stevia is a no-calorie sweetener that’s extracted from plants, so it’s entirely clean eating friendly and not artificial at all! It’s highly concentrated too, so you just need ¾ teaspoon for your cookie dough. This is the kind that I buy because I love its warm vanilla flavor and don’t detect any funky aftertaste like with some other stevia products. You can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, but I always buy mine online here because that’s the cheapest price I’ve found. (And you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
Whereas many traditional sugar cookie recipes require a stick or two of butter, I can’t find enough hours in the day to exercise and burn off all those calories… And still have enough time to sleep! So to create that buttery flavor in our healthier sugar cookies, you’ll just use 2 tablespoons of coconut oil (or butter, if you prefer!) and a combination of vanilla extract and butter extract. Vanilla extract can imitate butter’s rich flavor, and the butter extract gives these that true, classic, unforgettable sugar cookie taste. Please oh please, don’t skip it! You can find butter extract (like this!) right next to the regular vanilla extract on the baking aisle, and it’s shelf-stable and keeps for ages, just like vanilla!
You’ll bind all of that together with white whole wheat flour. No, that isn’t an oxymoron! White whole wheat flour actually exists! It’s made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat (hence the name!), and it has a lighter taste and texture similar to all-purpose flour. Regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat, but both it and white whole wheat flour have the same health benefits—like extra micronutrients and fiber!
After chilling, you’ll use my special trick to rolling out cookie dough… Put it between two extra-large sheets of plastic wrap, and roll it out with a rolling pin while still sandwiched between the plastic wrap! (See the shiny bits of plastic wrap in the corners of that photo above?) This trick means you get to skip flouring your work surface and rolling pin. Less mess to clean up—and fewer dishes to wash!
Because I’m impatient and don’t always feel like using cute cookie cutters… Then rerolling the dough… Then cutting out more shapes… And repeating… I just sliced my nice big sheet of cookie dough into bite-sized pieces with a pizza cutter! Another super easy trick right there! It only takes 60 seconds, which shaves off about 37 minutes from your cookie cutting… If you’re as meticulous as little ol’ perfectionist me. ? Then pop your tray in the oven, set your timer, and…
Enjoy your buttery {yet secretly healthy!} sugar cookies! ?? And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your sugar cookies and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| The Ultimate Healthy Mini Soft Sugar Cookies | | Print |
- 1 cup + 6 tbsp (165g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- ¾ tsp cornstarch
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (28g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp butter extract
- ¼ cup (60mL) honey
- ¾ tsp vanilla crème stevia
- Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil or butter, egg, vanilla extract, and butter extract. Stir in the honey and vanilla crème stevia. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Transfer the dough to the center of a large sheet of plastic wrap, and shape into a 1”-tall rectangle. Cover the top with another large sheet of plastic wrap. Chill the dough for at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days*).
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Leaving the cookie dough between the sheets of plastic wrap, roll it out until 1/16” thick. Carefully peel back one piece of the plastic wrap. Lay a silicone baking mat on top, and flip the cookie dough over. Carefully peel back the second piece of plastic wrap. Slice the cookie dough into small squares using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife.
- Slide the silicone baking mat onto a large metal baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 9-11 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before separating the cookies and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Use store-bought gluten-free flour blends for the gluten-free option, but make sure you measure them carefully, like this or with my favorite kitchen scale!
If using coconut oil, the cookies may have a faintly detectable coconut flour.
Vanilla extract may be substituted for the butter extract, but the cookies will not have the same iconic taste.
Pure maple syrup or agave may be substituted for the honey.
You cannot substitute additional honey for the vanilla crème stevia because cookies require a precise balance of wet and dry ingredients. However, you may substitute ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (120g) coconut sugar (or granulated sugar, if you aren’t concerned about keeping these cookies clean eating friendly) for both the honey and stevia, but the cookies will appear “speckled” if using coconut sugar because it doesn’t dissolve as well.
If chilling the cookie dough longer than 1 hour, it may be necessary to “thaw” the cookie dough on the counter for 15-20 minutes before trying to roll it out. It gets stiffer the longer it chills, so letting it rest on the counter for a short period of time makes it easier for you to roll it out!
Parchment paper may be substituted in place of the silicone baking mat. If using parchment paper, cut the cookie dough into small squares as written. If the parchment paper rips, then place another fresh sheet of parchment paper underneath before transferring to the metal baking sheet.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie, lower sugar}
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ The Ultimate Healthy Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
♥ The Ultimate Healthy Gingerbread Cookies
♥ The Ultimate Healthy Egg-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
♥ The Ultimate Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
♥ The Ultimate Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies
♥ The Ultimate Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Oh, Amy! It’s been way, way too long since I indulged in your blog (always one of my favorites!), and good golly, girl – your photography is blowing me away! Gorgeous pics!! And as always, I love reading your posts! I can totally relate to the adventure of a lovely buffet with a fantastic salad bar – so much fun! I thought your recipe tips were fabulous, too – about why it’s important to use honey here, and which stevia you find doesn’t have an aftertaste. Oh – and white whole wheat flour? Love it! Totally my go-to now! Such a pleasure to read all this! 😀
Awwww Shelley, I’ve REALLY missed you!! I saw your comment recently in FBHEO about how blogging has changed and it’s harder to keep up with food blogger friends… I feel exactly the same way. ♡♡ Thank you SO much for your sweet comments about my recipes and photography! That means the world to me! You’re a true gem Shelley — I can’t wait until we have the chance to meet in person! ?
YUM!
Izzy | http://www.pinchofdelight.com
Thanks Izzy!
So much yes. These are just the little treat I need to satisfy my sweet tooth without going crazy on the sugar/calories! Cannot wait to try them!
You’re so sweet Karly — that means a lot to me! I’m so excited to hear what you think of these cookies! 🙂
Do you think I could substitute pure maple syrup for the honey? It’s thinner and more liquidy, so I don’t want to ruin the texture.
I’ve actually answered that already in the Notes section underneath the Instructions! It can be easy to miss. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookies Chelsea!
These must be very tiny cookies.
They’re about 1″ squares. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try these cookies Dona!
Ok. I’m a believer now. I just took these cookies out of the oven, tasted them–delicious!–and have admitted to myself that using vanilla creme stevia in baking sweetens without strange aftertaste. Except for subbing whole wheat pastry flour for the white whole wheat flour, I followed the recipe. Three-quarters teaspoon of stevia surely is too much, I thought, but I was wrong. As soon as I got them out of the oven and while they were on the baking sheet, I sprinkled some with coconut sugar and some with 2 carob drops each. They latter were delicious, too. This cookie is another Amy triumph.
That’s wonderful Linda!! I’m so glad you loved these cookies! I’m truly honored that you trusted me and my recipe — that really means a lot to me! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear (and maybe even see! 😉 ) what recipe of mine you try next!
Hi Amy! So I got an idea about this recipe- could you add cocoa powder to make them chocolate? If so, how much? I got the idea after reading this recipe and the one for your chocolate sugar cookies! Thanks!
I’m so honored that you want to try this recipe of mine Whitney! If you want to make these bite-sized sugar cookies but a chocolate version, then just follow the recipe for my ultimate healthy chocolate sugar cookies but then cut them into squares instead of using a cookie cutter, like in Step 3 of this recipe. (So the only thing you’ll be doing differently is cutting them smaller and into squares!) Does that make sense? 🙂
Yes it does thank you!
You’re welcome Whitney! I’m always happy to help! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear how your cookies turn out!
Actually, I’m obsessed with these cookies. Love the photographs and the mini square shape. They’re not overly sweet, and with the almond flour and coconut oil, they are a nice satisfying snack that can give you some energy. thanks for sharing and keep on sharing.
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies, Mechanzie! You’re so kind to say such nice things about my photos too. Thank you for taking the time to share! 🙂
Can imitation bitter flavor be used as butter extract? Should I be using butter vanilla extract?
Please let me know! What recipe did you want us to use butter extract in?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Lorna! Imitation butter extract is fine to use for the butter extract that I call for in my recipes. It should produce the same flavors and texture. You can find some of my other recipes that call for butter extract here!
I’d love to hear what you think of these sugar cookies if you try making them!