Springtime Skinny Sugar Cookies

These colorful old-fashioned sugar cookies are crispy, delicate, and buttery tasting.   And, I’m using just a small amount of reduced-fat butter combined with canola oil.   Each skinny cookie has 37 calories and less than 1 gram of fat. Although I like sugar cookies crispy, if you like them soft, bake them for a shorter time.  Have fun rolling in several colors of sugar.  These can be made way in advance since they’ll last several weeks in an airtight container.  If they actually last that long!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Refrigerator Time: 1 hour before baking

Bake Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

¼ cup canola oil

¼ cup reduced-fat butter

1 cup extra-fine sugar, such as C&H Bakers Sugar or regular sugar, see shopping tips

1 cup sugar

2 egg whites

1 egg, I like Eggland’s Best eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2¾ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tarter, see shopping tips

1¾ teaspoons baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

Ingredients for rolling

½ to ¾ cup assorted colored sugar, see shopping tips

Instructions

1. In an electric mixer or large bowl using a hand mixer, mix together the oil, butter, and sugar.  Beat on high until smooth, about 1 minute.

2. Mix in eggs and vanilla.  Add flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, vanilla, and salt.  Mix until smooth.

3. Place the batter in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to firm up.  It’s easier to roll after being refrigerated.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 baking pans, (cooking sheets) with parchment paper, see shopping tips

5. In a small bowl, add the ½ cup or more sugar for rolling.  If using several colors, place each color in a separate small bowl.

6. Scoop the batter into rounded 1-inch pieces and roll in sugar.  Place each on lined baking pans.

7. Bake cookies for 11 minutes, then rotate pans and bake for about 12 more minutes. This will create a crispy cookie when cooled.  If you desire softer cookies, bake for the 8 minutes, rotate pans ,and bake for another 8 minutes.  Repeat with remaining batter.

8. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container.  They will last for several weeks. if baked crispy.

Makes about 105 cookies

Shopping Tips
C&H Bakers Sugar is a much finer grain of sugar.  Using it in cookies creates a much crispier, lighter dough.  Most supermarkets carry this type of sugar in the baking aisle.  It comes in a carton.  If you don’t want to buy it, just use 2 cups total of regular sugar for this recipe.

You’ll find assorted colored sugar in the baking aisle of the supermarket.

It’s important that the cream of tarter is fresh.  If it’s been in your cupboard for over a year, toss it and buy a new one.

Parchment paper can be found in the foil/ plastic wrap section of most supermarkets.  It comes on a roll-like foil.

Prep Tips
Lining cookie sheets with parchment paper is a fabulous way to create perfectly baked cookies.  It ensures that the cookies don’t burn on the bottom before they’re baked through.

WW 2 Blue Freestyle SmartPoints
WW 2 Green
WW POINTS PLUS 1

SKINNY FACTS: for 1 mini cookie 37 calories, .8g fat, 1g protein, 7g carbs, 0g fiber, 32mg sodium, 5g sugar