January 16th is Fig Newton Day. These popular cookies came out in the 1890s and contained a cake-like pastry filled with fig paste. While people love them, just one cookie contains almost 48 grams of sodium and 6 grams of sugar from sugar and corn syrup.
Homecare in Ardmore PA: National Fig Newton Day
Nutritionally, the cookies don’t offer much. There’s a half gram of fiber and two percent of your daily requirement of iron. They’re still a tasty treat. Instead, make homemade Fig Newton cookies that are healthier. Here’s how.
Change the Ingredients
If you look at an online recipe for Fig Newton cookies, ingredients typically include all-purpose flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and cream. Replace some of the ingredients with healthier alternatives like whole wheat flour, fruit, and yogurt.
-Pick your favorite recipe. Get ready to decide what ingredients need to be swapped for healthier options. Generally, you’re looking to replace sugar, butter, cream, and corn syrup.
-Instead of making the dough with all-purpose flour make them with whole wheat flour or white wheat flour. Keep the amount of butter to a minimum by replacing half of it with Greek yogurt.
-Instead of sugar and brown sugar, use honey or maple syrup and mashed banana. You’ll still have natural sugar in them, but you have control over how much you use.
-Make the fig paste without adding corn syrup or sugar. Instead, sweeten the paste with the juice from an orange or unsweetened apple juice. Figs are sweet. You shouldn’t have to add much to them. If your mom and dad find figs sweet enough on their own, skip the juice and use water.
Forming the Cookies
Once you’ve made the dough of choice, roll it out into rectangles that are about 4 inches wide. Spread one side of that rectangle with the fig paste and fold the dough over and seal the long edge with a fork. Use a pizza cutter to cut the rectangles into squares.
Bake the squares and let them cool. Store them in containers to keep the moist cookie dough from drying out. You can also freeze them and take them out as needed.
Keep your parent’s healthier diet on track with the help of elder care services. If your mom or dad is focusing on freezer meals, takeout, or ready-to-eat meals from the deli, something needs to change. These meals are often high in fat, sodium, and sugar. Have an elder care aide cook for them instead.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Homecare in Ardmore, PA, please talk to the caring staff at Better Care Home Health Services LLC today. Serving individuals and their families in Philadelphia, Delaware, Montgomery and Bucks counties. Call Today: (267) 766-5218
Better Care Home Health Services is a family-owned agency dedicated to providing excellent and comprehensive home health care to individuals and families of Philadelphia, Delaware, Montgomery and Bucks counties. We are honored that God has blessed us with the opportunity to positively impact and change people’s lives. It is our mission to ensure that we provide the very best of care to our clients.
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