This recipe makes sugar cookies a little healthier by substituting whole wheat pastry flour for some of the multipurpose flour, canola oil for some of the butter, and honey for some of the sugar. 

I already posted one version of this recipe.  This new one uses less eggs and less ingredients overall.  My husband likes it and he doesn’t have a sweet tooth.  He said to me, "I actually like these cookies and you know I don’t normally like cookies."

Whole wheat flour has a shorter shelf life than multipurpose flour.  So when you make baked goods with it, you may want to store them in the fridge so they don’t go stale too quickly.

Healthier Recipe for Sugar Cookies (2nd Version)

Ingredients

1/2 cup Canola Oil
1/2 cup Butter 
2 Eggs
1 T. Vanilla
1/4 cup Honey 
3/4 cup + 2T. Sugar
1/4 t. Salt
2 cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
2 1/2 cups Unbleached Multipurpose Flour

Leave out butter to soften while you preheat the oven.  Meanwhile, grease your cookie sheets with butter.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

1.  Cream together the Canola Oil, Butter, and Eggs until smooth.  I use an immersion blender or a hand mixer.

2.  Add in the Vanilla, Honey and Sugar.  Mix well.

3.  Add the Salt and the Whole Wheat Pastry Flour.  Mix well. 

4.  Stir in the Multipurpose Flour with a wooden spoon.  You want a smooth dough.  If you need to, you can add a little extra flour to get the right consistency.  You’ll need to use your hands at the end to get the right smoothness.

5.  Form the dough into two balls and refrigerate them for at least an hour.

6.  Roll out the dough on a clean surface covered with a light layer of powdered sugar or flour. You want the dough to be rolled out to about 1/8th to 1/4 of an inch thick.

7.  Cut out the shapes with cookie cutters and place on pan leaving about an inch between the cookies. 

8.  Bake for about 7 minutes until golden on the bottom.

9. Once the cookies cool off you can put icing on them.  I used the following measurements for the icing and added almond extract.  The almond taste might be part of why my husband likes these cookies so much.  They also tasted good cold.  So I recommend refrigerating them for freshness and for taste.

Icing Ingredients

2 cups Confectioners Sugar
Approximately 1 T. + 1 t. Water
Vanilla or Almond Extract for flavoring if desired (recommended)

Mix these ingredients until smooth but not too watery – you can add more water if needed to get a smooth consistency.

Enjoy!

Mama Lisa