The Perfect Low-Calorie Sugar Cookies
Are sugar cookies the best kind of cookie out there?
Yes, of course they are.
I mean, what’s not to love about cookies that are mostly butter & sugar?
Well, the calories, for starters.
Let’s take ALL of the flavors you’d expect from a classic sugar cookie and pack them into a buttery cookie with only 40 calories.
These cookies are every bit as soft, buttery, and sweet as you’d want a sugar cookie to be. Yet these cookies are low-calorie, gluten-free, high-protein, and keto-friendly.
Each cookie is small, which is why they’re only 40 calories. But don’t let that deter you from making these! If you want to make larger cookies, you definitely can.
Double the size to have soft sugar cookies that still only have 80 calories each.
Sugar cookies are my favorite way to ring in the Christmas season, but these are great any time of the year!
If sugar cookies aren’t your cup of tea, I’ve got plenty of other Christmas cookie recipes here on my site to keep your spirits high and your stomach full.
How to make low-calorie sugar cookies
We’re going to mix up all of our ingredients to make the sugar cookie dough, but we are going to add the protein powder LAST.
Similar to my No-Bake Sugar Cookie Bars, adding the protein powder as the final ingredient is absolutely pivotal. While it may work out just fine if you add your protein powder in early, it will often lead to a sticky result.
By adding the protein powder last, it absorbs most of the liquid and brings everything together to form a workable cookie dough.
With that being said, this cookie dough is still going to be soft and slightly sticky, so we’re going to refrigerate it for one hour to allow the dough to firm up and become easier to work with.
Using a small cookie scoop (or tablespoon) scoop your sugar cookies and roll them into balls using your hands.
Evenly space out your sugar cookies on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
I was able to create 12 small cookies, but if you prefer larger cookies, I would aim for about 6 total cookies.
Bake at 325 degrees F for 6 minutes. Since these sugar cookies are small, they don’t need very long in the oven. If you make larger cookies instead, you’ll want to bake them for closer to 8 minutes.
When you remove these sugar cookies from the oven, they’re going to appear very cakey and soft. Don’t worry!
As you’ll see with most of my healthy cookie recipes, the magic happens as the cookies cool. As the cookies sit, they will sink and firm up inside, creating the perfect cookie consistency that we are after:
20-30 minutes should be all you need for these low-calorie sugar cookies to firm up inside and be ready to eat.
If you decided to make larger cookies, you may need an extra minute or two in the oven to fully cook these. However, since this cookie dough is completely safe to eat raw, you can safely underbake these healthy sugar cookies to enjoy a delicious half-baked cookie.
Full disclosure: I tested this recipe by making 6 cookies instead of 12, but kept the bake time the same. While they still turned out, they were incredibly soft (probably too soft). I definitely recommend a few extra minutes in the oven if you go that route!
How to store these low-calorie sugar cookies
If you have leftover cookies from this recipe (which is unlikely based on how good they are) they can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.
To make these healthy sugar cookies firm up even further, you can store these in the refrigerator. When chilled, the cookies will very closely resemble sugar cookie dough.
Enjoy some edible sugar cookie instead
Sometimes you just don’t feel like baking, and that’s totally fine.
If you’d rather enjoy some edible sugar cookie dough, I’ve got two perfect recipes for you. And don’t worry, they are both packed with protein!
First up, we have a cut-out sugar cookie dough that tastes nearly identical to the pre-cut Pillsbury sugar cookies we all love to eat raw.
This recipe is perfect if you’re worried about portion control since you can easily grab a single slice of cookie dough as a quick snack.
Each cut-out sugar cookie contains just 70 calories, has 5 grams of protein, and tastes just like the real thing.
But if you’re not too worried about over-indulging, you can also whip up an entire bowl of edible sugar cookie dough, which is my personal favorite.
If you’re trying to keep things low-calorie, this recipe may be less appealing (since it’s tough to stop yourself from eating the entire bowl) but it is delicious.
A serving of this protein cookie dough (about half a bowl), contains 200 calories and 20 grams of protein, so it’s basically like eating a protein bar… but significantly tastier.
Low-Calorie Sugar Cookies
For me, nothing says Christmas like a batch of delicious sugar cookies, but these are great at ANY time of the year. Plus, these are gluten-free, keto-friendly, & packed with protein, so they'll help keep you on track all year long no matter what your dietary preferences are.
Ingredients
- 31g Vanilla Whey/Casein Blend Protein (Code "Matt" will save 10% off PEScience)
- 30g Oat Flour
- 10g Almond Flour
- 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
- 50g Granular Sugar Substitute (or regular sugar)
- 42g (3 Tbsp) Light Butter (I use Country Crock Original Spread)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 20g (1 Tbsp) Canned Pumpkin (Can be omitted, but it is the secret to keeping these cookies very soft)
- 5g Rainbow Sprinkles
Instructions
- Mix together the sugar, butter, pumpkin, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Add all of the dry ingredients except for the protein powder and sprinkles.
- Mix the protein powder in last until it forms a dough ball (protein powder is very absorbent so it will thicken into a dough). Fold in the sprinkles, then refrigerate the dough for one hour. While you can get away with not chilling the dough, I find that it leads to a significantly better cookie overall.
- After one hour, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Using a small cookie scoop (or tablespoon), scoop out your cookies and roll them into balls in your hands. I opted for small cookies and was able to scoop 12 total cookies out, but it may vary depending on how large you choose to make your cookies.
- Add to a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees F for 6 minutes. Note: these cookies are quite small, so 6 minutes works well. If you make larger cookies, 8 minutes will be perfect.
- Let cookies cool for about 20 minutes. When you remove the sugar cookies from the oven they will seem a little bit cakey, but they will sink and firm up into a great texture as they cool.
- These cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
Notes
If you do not have canned pumpkin, or do not want to use any, you can omit it and this recipe should still work out great. The pumpkin just helps keep these soft without requiring extra butter (and thus more calories), but the recipe works without it.
I don’t count sugar substitutes in the carb totals since they do not contribute to the overall calories. If you are super strict about carbs, make sure you take the sugar substitute into account.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 1 Small CookieAmount Per Serving Calories 40Total Fat 2gCarbohydrates 2.5gProtein 2.5g
Hi. Is it possible to substitute the light butter with something like I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter (to further reduce the calorie count)?
That’s basically what it is, so you’re good. I use Country Crock which is 50 calories per tablespoon, and ICBINB is very similar.
Have you experimented with leaving the cookie dough sit in the fridge overnight before baking?
Could you please put tablespoons and or cups in your recipes please? See
Hey Lory, I’ve been trying to add measurements more often, but I use a food scale for exact weight measurements with my recipes. Since low-carb & high-protein baking requires being precise, the food scale eliminates a lot of that margin for error vs using cups or tablespoons. But there are a lot of resources online to convert grams to cups if you need to in the meantime!
Do I let them cool down on the cookie sheet I bake these in or take them off after removal from the oven and place them on a wire rack to cool?
Great question- leave them right on the cookie sheet. They’ll be pretty soft right out of the oven so you’ll risk them falling apart if you try to transfer them before they set
Can I sub the almond flour for extra oat flour or coconut flour?
They won’t come out quite the same, but I’d stick with extra oat flour. Coconut flour is very absorbent so it would mess with the final product too much
Would liquid sweetener work as well? Or is the solid sugar substitute needed also for the right texture and not just for the sweetness?
The sugar itself provides some structure to the cookies, so if you used liquid, the dough would be veerryyyy sticky and likely impossible to form. If it’s truly all you have, you can try to eliminate the pumpkin & vanilla extract in hopes that the total liquid balances out a little bit, but you’d likely need to add some extra oat flour to compensate.
I know you said the pumpkin could be omitted but do you think applesauce would be a good substitute? Or should I just leave it out?
It’s a small amount so I’d say to just leave it out. Applesauce works in recipe but tends to make things a little cakier
Can you keep the dough in the freezer or fridge before naming die a few days?
Typo- before making for a few days ahead of time*^
I haven’t tried it, but when it comes to cookie dough, it’s typically pretty safe to keep it in the fridge or freezer prior to baking. I can’t say with 100% certainty that the freezer would work well for this healthier cookie dough prior to baking, but I don’t think it would be an issue!
Good LORD these slap. If you are on the fence about trying them, make them tonight. See the light as I have.
I ended up with 10 cookies that were still 36 calories each, maybe just slight difference in our ingredients.
I also added cheesecake “frosting” using plain non-fat greek yogurt mixed with sugar free cheesecake pudding mix which was amazing on these but they honestly don’t even need it. They are phenomenal on their own.
Hahaha I love to hear it. THANK YOU. This recipe is severely underrated, if I do say so myself.
PS: To anyone else reading this, I swear I am not talking to myself here. His name just also happens to be Matt.