25 Low-Carb Christmas Cookies That Will Make Your Spirits Bright

December 21, 2020

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Play Christmas music and do some holiday baking with these festive, low-carb Christmas cookie recipes. You could make cookie jar classics like Vegan Gingerbread Cookies or Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. Or, you could try something new like Spritz Cookies or Snickerdoodle Thumbprint Cookies with Chocolate. Whatever you make will have no more than 15 grams of carbohydrates per serving and is sure to be jolly and delicious.

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Spritz Cookies

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It's time to break out your spritz cookie press for these festive Christmas spritz cookies! These easy Christmas cookies can be decorated with sprinkles or flavored with citrus, spices or sweet sugar glaze. And if you're looking for healthy cookies, these fit the bill thanks to whole-wheat pastry flour that keeps their texture soft while giving them a boost of fiber. For ideas on how to dress up these spritz cookies even more with different flavorings or a glaze, see Tips below.

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Kids and adults alike will love this easy peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe, which--unlike most cookie recipes--doesn't call for flour. These gluten-free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are soft and chewy and, with only five simple ingredients, they can easily be whipped up by young chefs and enjoyed as an after-school treat. They're also perfect for a holiday party or for a cookie swap.

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Cinnamon-Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

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This recipe takes oatmeal cookies up a notch with its cinnamony, buttery, delicious take on a much-loved classic dessert.

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Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

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These airy coconut cookies get an upgrade with a simple dark chocolate drizzle in this healthy dessert recipe.

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Stained Glass Sugar Cookies

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You won't believe how easy it is to make these seriously impressive cookies. Crushed hard candy melts in the center of these festive sugar cookies, making a gorgeous stained-glass effect. Use any shape cookie cutter you like, just make sure you have two--a big one for each cookie, and a slightly smaller one for the hole in the middle.

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Vegan Gingerbread Cookies

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Coconut oil stands in for butter in this dairy-free, eggless cookie recipe for completely mouthwatering gingerbread cut-outs. Decorate cookies with a simple vegan icing or sanding sugar.

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Snickerdoodle Thumbprint Cookies with Chocolate

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This healthy cinnamon-sugar snickerdoodle thumbprint cookie recipe has an added bonus: chocolate filling! With slightly crispy edges and a chewy, chocolaty center, these snickerdoodle cookies are the ultimate crowd pleaser.

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Spiced Poppy Seed Shortbread Cookies

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Renowned author and spice aficionado Lior Lev Sercarz loves these French sablé-style cookies so much, he sells a collection of five different flavors twice a year. In this variation, he uses tart amchoor (ground dried green mango) to give them a citrusy brightness. These healthy cookies will get you in the holiday spirit.

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Christmas Strawberry Jam Thumbprint Cookies

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This healthy strawberry jam thumbprint cookie recipe is festive for the holidays with a red center and a green sugar coating. If you want to skip making your own naturally dyed sugar, look for green sparkling or decorating sugar prepared with botanical ingredients. For sources for natural dyes and sugars, see Tips.

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Chocolate Snowcap Cookies

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This fudgy chocolate crinkle cookie recipe is a hit with chocolate lovers. Bake the cookies right after rolling them in confectioners' sugar: if they sit, the sugar absorbs into the dough and the rich chocolaty cookies lose their snowcapped look.

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Ginger Crinkle Cookies

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Cynthia Farr-Weinfeld, a hypnotherapist and writer, started improving the nutritional profile of a friend's mother's ginger cookie recipe by substituting whole-wheat pastry flour for all-purpose flour and canola oil for shortening. “Experiment with these cookies,” she advises, “as they taste great either slightly underdone or crispy.” She calls them “the quickest cookies you'll ever bake.”

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Pignoli Cookies

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This crispy-on-the-bottom-and-chewy-on-the-inside gluten-free cookie recipe is a twist on a traditional Italian holiday treat, pignoli, or pine nut cookies. Look for almond paste--a mixture of ground almonds and sugar (available in tubes or sometimes tubs)--near other baking supplies in well-stocked supermarkets or specialty stores. Sweeter marzipan doesn't work well in these cookies.

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Almond Linzer Cookies

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In this almond cookie recipe, star-shaped cutters give these classic jam-filled sandwich Linzer cookies holiday sparkle, but you can also use a more traditional round or scalloped cookie cutter. Almond flour adds crunchy texture and nutty flavor. Look for it near other specialty flours in natural-foods markets.

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Peppermint Checkerboard Cookies

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The red and white design makes these white chocolate and peppermint cookies especially colorful for holiday cookie trays and casual gatherings.

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Rosemary-Orange Shortbread

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Looking for a unique, diabetes-friendly desert? This shortbread, flavored with rosemary and topped with a white chocolate drizzle, is ready in just 40 minutes.

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Brownie Cookies

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Cocoa powder and brown sugar make this easy drop cookie recipe taste like rich brownies.

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Nutty Chocolate-Dipped Macaroons

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These sweet peanut butter-flavored meringue cookies are perfect for special occasions. Dipped in melted chocolate and full of crunchy peanuts, they can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, or in the freezer for up to three months.

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Apricot-Almond Sandwich Cookies

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Elegant and delicious, these cookies are the perfect addition to your holiday spread. For a variation, try with raspberry preserves; you can show off the jewel-like filling by cutting the center out of half of the cookies. If giving these as a gift, be sure to pack them carefully with a layer of wax paper between each cookie.

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Chocolate Chunk Cherry Cookies

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These diabetic-friendly cookies combine antioxidant-rich cherries with both dark and white chocolate.

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Molasses Cookies

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There's something seriously addicting about these ginger-cinnamon molasses cookies. Get the kids involved in the preparation--they'll have fun flattening each cookie with a glass dipped in a cinnamon-sugar mixture.

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Cranberry-Pistachio Sugar Cookie Thins

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This healthy sugar cookie recipe makes delicate, thin cookies that are a great accompaniment to coffee or tea. You press the dough into cute wafers using the bottom of a glass and can sprinkle the cookie thins with dried cranberries and pistachios, as in this recipe, or use your favorite dried fruit and nut combination as decoration.

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Pecan-Gingerbread Cookie Thins

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This healthy gingerbread cookie recipe incorporates white whole-wheat flour and uses less butter than traditional gingerbread cookies. These thin, sugar-kissed cookies are then topped with a pecan for a Southern-inspired treat. If you don't like pecans, try other nuts, such as macadamia nuts, walnuts or hazelnuts.

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Christmas Sugar Cookie Thins with Coconut

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This healthy sugar cookie recipe makes delicate, thin cookies by using the bottom of a glass to press the dough into cute wafers. To give the cookies a festive look, top them with naturally dyed red and green decorating sugar and flakes of unsweetened coconut before baking.

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Gingerbread-Coconut Thumbprint Cookies with Blueberry Jam

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This healthy thumbprint cookie recipe has all the flavors of a traditional gingerbread cookie: cinnamon, ginger, cloves and molasses. These soft and chewy gingerbread cookies are decorated with coconut and filled with blueberry jam, but we also like them filled with raspberry or apricot preserves.

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Two-Tone Biscotti

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The flavors of decadent rich chocolate and delicate orange meet in this cookie. Enjoy this sweet treat for a snack or dessert.

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