Homemade healthy Valentine cookies delight loved ones - includes recipes

Better Nutrition (1989-90), Feb, 1990 by Leslye Michlin Borden

Homemade Healthy Valentine Cookies Delight Loved Ones

If you are looking for an educational and entertaining activity to do with your children for Valentine's Day, try baking cholesterol-free cookies they can paint. Once they have decorated the cookies, they can give them to relatives and friends as artistic, thoughtful "cookie cards."

All you have to do is provide the opportunity by making cookie dough from the recipe that follows or preparing your own favorite rolled cookie dough. If you want to lower the fat and cholesterol, follow these guidelines:

* Omit egg yolks. Use egg substitute instead of whole eggs. Eggs contain approximately 213 milligrams of cholesterol, more than two-thirds of the daily amount recommended by the American Heart Association. Egg substitute contains no cholesterol, because it is made from egg whites. One-quarter cup of egg substitute is the equivalent of one egg.

* If you use margarine, make sure it does not contain cotton-seed, palm or coconut oil, the only vegetable oils that contain saturated fat, which contributes to high cholesterol levels. Even if the wrapper says "all vegetable," read the entire ingredient list to ensure that it contains none of these undesirable oils. The healthiest choice is safflower margarine, which contains the lowest ratio of saturated to polyunsaturated fat.

* Look for low-fat cookie recipes. Divide the amount of margarine called for in the recipe by the number of cookies. This tells you how much fat is present in each cookie. Try to find a recipe that uses the least margarine per cookie. A desirable amount would be one teaspoon or less per cookie.

* Avoid nuts. If you want to keep cookies low in fat, do not pick a recipe that contains nuts. Most nuts are very high in oil. If you prefer a recipe that does use nuts, remember to add the fat from the nuts when you determine the fat content per cookie. Of all nuts, almonds are the lowest in fat.

Look for heart-shaped cookie cutters and buy several sizes. To decorate the cookies, prepare edible paint by combining egg yolks, water and natural food coloring, available from your health food store. Very little egg yolk ends up on the cookie, so cholesterol content is not a worry in this case. Another consideration in favor of egg yolk paint is that it is lower in fat and calories than frosting. Provide as many paint jars and brushes as there are children, since sharing might be difficult. You want to make this a fun experience, not one fraught with discipline.

Children can paint cookies faster than you can roll them out and bake them. So have plenty of dough on hand.

No-Cholesterol Rolled Valentine Cookies

1     cup salt-free margarine
2/3   cup raw, natural sugar
1/4   cup egg substitute (equal to

one egg)

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour

1/2 tsp salt substitute

Cream margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg substitute and then the vanilla, mixing thoroughly. Combine flour and salt substitute. Blend into the creamed mixture. For easier rolling, chill dough several hours or overnight. When you are ready to bake, heat oven to 350 [degrees]. Roll dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into heart shapes. Place close together on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. Do not allow to brown. Cool on a wire rack. Decorate with Egg Yolk Paint. Makes 6 dozen 2-inch cookies.

Egg Yolk Paint

1 egg yolk

1/4 tsp water

Natural food coloring

Blend egg yolk and water. Add food coloring. Remember that the yellow color of the egg yolk will affect the color of the paint. If the paint gets too thick, add a little more water. May be stored in the refrigerator and used at a later time