Ever had a Lofthouse Sugar Cookie?

You’re probably sitting looking at your computer (or phone) screen right now either wondering what the heck a Lofthouse Sugar Cookie is, or drooling. I’m doing the second just thinking about them. If you don’t immediately reminisce on your childhood days, piling in the car after the grocery store to crack open a container of these babies, you might know them by a different name. Do Wal-Mart Sugar Cookies or Soft Iced Sugar Cookies or even Best Sugar Cookies in the WORLD right a bell?

Yes?

I thought so.

As a kid, I only ever got these sugar cookies on two occasions: at school functions or if my sisters and I were able to sneak them into the grocery store cart. Usually the former, considering my mom would usually catch us red-handed just as the cashier rang them up, no matter how we tried to distract her. No matter the occasion, as you can probably guess, I relished every bite of this cookie. And every bite of the second one, and the third, until my stomach ached and my face was covered in icing.

Since exiting elementary school, I’ve come to encounter these cookies less and less often. And in the absence of the sugary-goodness, I’ve found myself attempting countless “copycat” recipes.

Well, as you can probably guess, none of these “copycat”‘s have ever rivaled a fresh-bought, chemical-and-sugar-packed “Lofthouse” cookie. Until now.

And guess what else?

This recipe’s completely healthy.

The trick in making these cookies is the greek yogurt. It gives them that little punch that helps to balance the typically super-sweet icing. To ice these, I actually used my recipe for Healthy Vanilla Icing, which occurs in so many of my other recipes. But you can, of course, choose any icing you like! The classic Lofthouse cookie is typically iced with a buttercream, but I chose to frost mine with my coconut-milk version of vanilla icing both because it’s much healthier (and all natural!), and it’s simply my favorite icing. And topped with coconut Easter M&M’s, lemme tell you, these cookies are to die for.

Your favorite cookie, completely guilt-free and totally customizable.

Are you drooling yet?

Healthy Lofthouse Sugar Cookies

• 1/4 c fat free greek yogurt
• 1/2 c stevia
• 3 tbs coconut oil, softened slightly
• 1 tbs unsweetened applesauce
• 1 egg (or 1/4 c egg whites)
• 1 tbs honey
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 c old fashioned oats
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350°F. Process 1 3/4 c oats in a blender or food processor. Combine with baking soda and baking powder in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, combine greek yogurt, stevia, coconut oil, applesauce, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth. Add dry mixture to wet mixture, stirring until smooth. Lightly grease two cookie sheets and arrange tablespoon-sized balls of the mixture 1 inch apart, so they have room to expand. Press down on the top to flatten slightly. Bake in the oven for 7-9 minutes. Let cool before icing.

For this recipe, I used the vanilla icing featured in my recipe for Gluten Free Carrot Cake Cupcakes. Feel free to ice with another icing or buttercream of choice. Enjoy!

Nutrition Information (from myfitnesspal.com)

Calories: 51

Fat: 3g

Carbs: 6g

Protein: 2g

(Yields 20 cookies)

The nutritional information reflects the recipe for the un-iced cookies. If iced with the icing appearing in the Gluten Free Carrot Cake Cupcake recipe, each cookie would have 59 calories, 3 grams of fat, 6 carbs, and 2 grams of protein. (About 1/2 tbs- 1 tbs icing per cookie.)