Sugar Cookies

                Last year I thought it would be a good idea to make sugar cookies without using margarine. And while that is a great idea on many levels, I decided to make the “real deal” this year. It was well worth it—a taste of nostalgia. I have been using this recipe to make sugar cookies for as long as I can remember baking. Sometimes I would color the dough and make fancy patterns, but in more recent years I made colorful glaze. A tall pile of sugar cookies in all the colors of the rainbow was so exciting. And the best part of it for me was sharing them with my friends and family. The joy of good food is multiplied when I can share it and let others enjoy it too.

                This year, I did not buy food coloring, but I did get margarine especially for this recipe. I had not bought margarine in two years probably. The recipe needs only two sticks, and the other two sticks are now in the freezer. (Maybe for next year?!?) I did have colored nonpareils, and the cookies did have the riot of color that I wanted, despite not using colored glaze.

                But who could I share the cookies with? I did figure that part also. I met a fried for lunch, so she got some, and I also sent a package with cookies to my family. Those cookies are still in transit, but I am looking forward to hearing that they received the coolies.

                I am so glad I made “real” sugar cookies this year. It’s a once a year thing for me. Food is not just to sustain us physically. We attach all sorts of values and emotions to food, and those are important to recognize and understand too.

colorful nonpareils

lots of cookies

What's the Problem With Margarine?

What’s wrong with margarine?

1. The process of turning oils to margarine changes the chemical structure of the fats into trans fats. These fats act like saturated fats in our body. Saturated fat intake is associated with heart diseases.
2. Margarine is a high calorie food, so large amounts can contribute to excess calories in our diet.
3. Usually margarine is in foods that are not the healthiest…such as cakes, cookies, and pastries.

                Okay, okay, I know, most people do have treats every so often. Here are a few points to consider. Having margarine-containing foods as a regular and frequent part of the diet—that is not ideal. If you are baking at home, you can often substitute an oil for margarine, but you will have to decrease the amount and possibly alter other parts of the recipe. See my cookies post. I know that many people do not feel adventurous enough to do that. Instead, you can look for recipes that do not contain margarine (or other solid fat) to begin with. I guarantee you can find recipes that use oil for everything from cookies to fancy pastries. Remember that using oil instead of margarine does not make your dessert into a health food. You are just eliminating the negative effects that margarine has on heart health. Of course, occasionally having a dessert that contains margarine is not the end of the world, but recommended intake of trans fat is as close to zero as you can get.

Chanukah Traditions

The Jewish holidays are always a time for cooking and baking yummy foods. One of my favorite Chanukah foods are sugar cookies. You are correct, you can have cookies on any holiday, but on Chanukah they are a special tradition for me.

Typically, the one time of the year I use margarine in baking is for making sugar cookies for Chanukah. I love making Chanukah-themed cookie shapes and glazing them with a simple powdered sugar-based glaze. I always had difficulty finding the perfect proportions of oil, flour, sugar, and other ingredients to make dough that has a good consistency for making shapes with cookie cutters without using margarine. Until this year.

This Sunday I wanted to make sugar cookies. I had forgotten to purchase margarine at the supermarket last week, and I had no intention to take the cold trip out again. So, as any determined person will do, I asked my sister-in-law if she had a margarine-less sugar cookie recipe. And in fact she did! The recipe did require some tweaking. I used less oil than it called for, and added some extra flour and sugar. Once they were baked, I realized I should have used less baking powder, because sugar cookies are not supposed to grow or get a little bubbly like these did.

I wish I could share the recipe with you…and the other people who have already asked for it. But, sadly, I did not measure my ingredients! I plan to remake the cookies, but this time measure the oil, flour, and sugar that I use. On the agenda in a coming week is to give you the margarine-less sugar cookie recipe. 

Before Glaze

After Glaze!!

Comparison of Different Fats

Nutrition Information for 1 Tablespoon of Various Fats[1]

	Calories	Fat (g)	Saturated fat (g)	Mono- unsaturated fat (g)	Poly-unsaturated fat (g)	Trans fat (g)
Coconut oil	121	13.5	11.2	0.9	0.2	0
Butter	102	11.5	7.3	3.0	0.4	0.5
Palm oil	120	13.6	6.7	5.0	1.3
Chicken fat	115	12.8	3.8	5.8	2.7
Margarine	100	11.2	2.3	5.3	3.1	2.8
Peanut oil	119	13.5	2.3	6.2	4.3
Soybean oil	120	13.6	2.1	3.1	7.9	1.2
Vegetable oil	120	13.6	2.1	3.1	7.8	0.1
Olive oil	119	13.5	1.8	9.9	1.4
Avocado oil	124	14	1.6	9.9	1.9
Sunflower oil	120	13.6	1.3	6.2	5.5
Canola oil	124	14	1.0	8.9	3.9	0.1
Safflower oil	120	13.6	0.8	2.0	10

                Here we have it…the nutrition content of common fats. Fats and oils are all around 120 calories per tablespoon. You will notice that butter is lower. That is because butter is a water-in-oil emulsion, and the water content does not contribute calories.

The main nutritional difference between the other fats is the proportion of saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and trans fats. Excessive intake of saturated fat and trans fat is associated with heart problems, while unsaturated fats are beneficial to our heart health.

One easy way to tell if a fat is high in saturated fat is if it is solid at room temperature. All fats that are solid at room temperature have higher content of saturated fat. The first five fats on the list are solid at room temperature, and their saturated fat content is the highest of the fats on the list.

One surprising fact is that there are two vegetable fats on this list that are high in saturated fat. Many times we think that if something is from a plant it is automatically better for us. Yet, based on the saturated fat content, there are other fats that are better for our heart health.

Another easy trap to fall into is the health aura that surrounds some plant foods. The fact that a food is a plant and has nutrients in it that are healthy for us is not a good enough reason to eat as much as we desire. A great example of this is the avocado. The avocado is a fruit that is high in many vitamins and minerals. Additionally, it is high in monounsaturated fats. Yet, because of that, it is definitely a high-fat food—75% of its calories are from fat. A whole avocado can have 220-370 calories! While definitely a healthy choice of a fat source, it is important to remember about portion sizes. As a reference point, a half cup of avocado cubes is about 120 calories. Next time you are making a salad, measure it out with a measuring cup…you may be in for a surprise!

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[1] USDA Food Composition Databases. United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed October 11, 2017. < https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list>