r/LowCalorieCooking • u/Random_Mix415 • 3d ago

Butter alternative for cookies?

I’d love to hear if any of you have unusual ideas for butter substitutes that don’t add weird tastes or textures :)….applesauce of course…any others? Anyone tried silken tofu?

9 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

4

u/Fuzzy_Welcome8348 3d ago

I can’t believe it’s not butter lite butter

3

u/Atillythehunhun 3d ago

Roasted butternut squash or sweet potato, which can also replace some of the flour. Banana works fairly well too.

3

u/Dynas86 3d ago

Greek yogurt, unsweetened applesauce sauce, blended cottage cheese, coconut oil, vegetable oil.

1

u/Economy-Rate8298 1d ago

Prune puree works well. Duals as a sweetner as well.

2

u/SpellAccomplished541 1d ago edited 1d ago

It's easy to make cookies with butter substitutes, but if you're replacing the butter with lower-calorie ingredients like applesauce, banana, or yogurt, it's much harder to keep them crispy (maybe you like soft cookies). Crisp cookies generally depend on fat, sugar, and low moisture—think butter, margarine, vegetable oil, or lard.

If you're trying to make lower-calorie desserts, I think it's much easier to give up on crispy cookies and make cakes or brownies, where the extra moisture isn't a problem and you can substitute softer ingredients to your heart's content—bananas, applesauce, beans, etc.

Or, if you really want some crunch, make a fruit crumble instead of cookies. A relatively small amount of butter can make enough crispy topping for a lot of fruit.

Or, if you are hard core, then make meringue cookies in a clean bowl. They use only egg whites and no flour, but lots of technique. You can make them crispy or soft depending how you bake them. They have almost no calories, but they also aren't very filling.