Holiday Low Fodmap Cookie Recipe
Food is an important part of almost any holiday celebration, but for people with IBS, some foods can lead to GI discomfort. A low-FODMAP holiday cookie recipe can bring more joy to the holiday festivities!
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Making a Low Fodmap Cookie Recipe and Baked Goods
With a few modifications, recipes can be made more GI-friendly by changing the type of fruits, vegetables, and flour used, as well as the amount and type of nuts used. I have included some tips for low FODMAP baking and links to resources below.
How do you make a low FODMAP cookie and other holiday desserts healthier?
Here are some additional ideas to make holiday desserts more nutritious by including more whole-food ingredients instead of relying on processed foods. Adding fruits and vegetables adds lots of color, flavor, and nutrients. For example, blueberries and pumpkin in the cookie recipes below, or carrots in a carrot cake.
Nuts can also increase the nutritional value of a holiday dessert, but it is important to make sure that everyone can eat them. Make sure that no one eating the nuts has an allergy to them. Many nuts are high in FODMAPs, so if you are sensitive to them, you might want to reduce the portion or choose a lower FODMAP nut.
Processed sugar and even natural sugars can be anti-inflammatory, but eating a small amount during the holidays, along with higher nutrient foods like fruits, vegetables, lean protein, healthy fats, and whole grains, can help them be a part of the celebration. In other words, balance, moderation, and variety are the key!
Dark chocolate is rich in beneficial antioxidants like polyphenols. Some people with IBS may be sensitive to an excessive amount of chocolate because of the fructans (and the lactose if it is milk chocolate). But, spacing out the portions and enjoying it along with other lower FODMAP foods can help keep someone symptom-free.
Whole-grain flour rather than processed flour can add a nutritional boost and fiber to recipes. However, when used in baking, these flours can make a product heavier and can affect the texture. Small amounts may be successfully added to recipes without considerable notice, but this probably needs a little experimentation before taking it on for a special holiday recipe.
Nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables provide additional nutrients to a recipe. You might be wondering about vegetables in sweets? Carrots, beets, and even black beans make delicious additions to dessert recipes, but beets and beans also provide high FODMAP ingredients, so caution should be used when making them for someone with IBS.
Modifications to Traditional Family Recipes
Many recipes made during the holidays have been handed down for generations and are only made seasonally. Traditional family recipes may be best not altered unless it is crucial for someone’s health (for instance, substituting gluten-free flour for someone intolerant to gluten).
Above all, portion sizes are the key to spacing out the joy and not having too many fodmaps at one time.
Low Fodmap Baking Tips
Two baking gluten-free blend mixes that I have used in dessert recipes contain a mixture of grains included in them. King Arthur Gluten-free Flour includes white rice flour, whole grain brown rice flour, tapioca starch, and potato starch, and Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free 1 to 1 Baking Flour contains sweet rice, brown rice, potato starch, sorghum flour, tapioca flour, and xanthan gum. Both of them are gluten-free and low FODMAP.
There are other brands out there. If you get a chance to experiment, you may come up with your own baking blend that would be great too. I have tasted several delicious desserts that have garbanzo bean flour that I loved, but have not experimented with this ingredient.
Healthy Holiday Treat Recipes
Here are two new cookie recipes to add to your low-FODMAP and gluten-free list. I have included some additional cookie recipes at the end of this post.
Low Fodmap Holiday Cookies: Blueberry Lemon Cookie
The lemon and blueberries combined give these cookies a refreshing, sweet, and tart flavor. The blueberry juice mixed into the icing provides the cookies with a beautiful purple color. I think these cookies are especially beautiful and are made into a snowflake shape.
2 1/2 cups gluten-free flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon grated lemon rind
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup dried blueberries (I used Stone Ridge Orchards Dried Blueberries)
Blueberry Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon blueberry juice (made from approximately 1/3 cup thawed frozen blueberries that have been smashed and strained)
A small amount of lemon juice, around 1 tsp
To make the glaze, mix the sugar, blueberries, and lemon juice. Adjust to get the consistency that you want.
Directions for cookies:
In a large bowl, mix gluten-free flour, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix sugar and butter well. Add eggs and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture. Add the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture. Stir well. Chill cookie dough for at least one hour.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured piece of wax paper (gluten-free, of course), carefully roll out and cut cookies. Add to a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for approximately 10 minutes. Take off carefully from the cookie sheet and onto a baking rack.
To decorate cookies, drizzle with glaze, and use grated coconut and dried blueberries
Low Fodmap Holiday Cookie: Pumpkin Pecan with Maple Cinnamon Glaze
The pumpkin in these cookies makes them very moist and soft. I love the combination of cinnamon and maple syrup, also.
Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour (see my notes on ingredients above)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup chopped pecans
Maple Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons softened butter
A touch of maple syrup and a sprinkle of cinnamon if desired.
To make glaze, add powdered sugar, butter, and a toast of maple syrup and cinnamon. Make the consistency desired.
Pecans to decorate the top of glazed cookies
To make cookies:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon). In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugars until smooth. Add the egg and blend it into the sugar/butter mixture. Slowly add the sugar mixture to the dry ingredients.
Lightly grease the cookie sheet, drop about 2 teaspoons of batter two inches apart, and bake for approximately 13 minutes. While the cookies are baking, make the maple cinnamon glaze.
Carefully take cookies off the sheet and place them on a cooling rack. After the cookies are cooled, drizzle the cookies with glaze and top with a pecan cookie if desired.
Other Low Fodmap Cookie Recipes for the Holidays
Here are some delicious low-FODMAP cookie recipes and dessert ideas from some of my favorite nutrition blogs that are also low in FODMAP.
I love making and decorating sugar cookies with my grandchildren. If you are looking for a classic sugar cookie recipe that is also low in FODMAPs, check out Patsy Castos’ classic sugar cookie from her blog, IBS-Free At Last:
And here are lots of holiday treats from E.a. Stewart’s Spicy RD Nutrition:
12 Days of Low Fodmap Dessert + Holiday Treats
You may also love Kate Scarlata’s Italian Seeded Cookies.
And if you love a raspberry bar that has a delicate, buttery crust-you might want these from my Vine Ripe Nutrition blog, and I also included a few low FODMAP baking tips.
https://vineripenutrition.com/low-fodmap-raspberry-bars
Here are a few more tips on baking for the holidays, plus a recipe for a cranberry coffee cake.
Enjoy Your Low FODMAP Holiday
In short, if you are looking for a great cookie without gluten that is low in FODMAPs, these new low-FODMAP holiday cookies will be some yummy options! They are so delicious that your family members and friends will love them as much as you, so there is no need to make a different batch for everyone.
But, don’t feel that you have to wait for the holiday season to make them! Have a warm and meaningful holiday season! And if you are looking for some additional low FODMAP holiday recipes, check out this Low Fodmap Holiday Dinner!
