Two Bite Spice Drops

Gently spiced, these soft cookies are butterless and perfect for a morning cuppa.

Spice cookies are the thing at the holidays. Unlike chocolate chippers, which are pretty season-neutral, there is really no better time to indulge in the sweet-spicy goodness of gingerbread or cardamom-laced cookies than the period between November 1 and December 31. Spice cookies are awesome this time of year because their flavour is generally not conducive to overindulging... at least not the cookies I like, which are more about the spice than the saccharine. Besides, spices like cinnamon are supposed to help with blood sugar regulation, so there's no reason you should be craving a second...third...fourth...

That said, it is the holidays and thus the season of overindulgence in everything, so with these cookies I employed cookie strategy #2: smaller cookie size. This way, you can have your two cookies and eat them too, without the guilt of polishing off a batch of shortbreads (wait, am I the only one who does that?). These cookies are also devoid of one of the season's greatest ingredients - butter. Instead, canola oil keeps them soft and moist while keeping it's flavour neutral, allowing the maple, cinnamon and allspice to shine through. The only adornment they need to take it from an "after school special" to "dessert platter worthy" is a dusting of sparkly sanding sugar - I actually used raw sugar for a more "natural" look, but for Christmas parties red and green might be nice too.

Two Bite Spice Drops
Makes 18
1 large egg
1⁄3 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp maple extract
½ cup sugar
1 ¾ cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp allspice
1 tsp baking powder
1⁄4 tsp salt
Coarse sugar, to sprinkle

1. Heat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment. 
2. In a bowl, beat together egg, oil, extracts and sugar until well blended.
3. Add flour, spices, baking powder and salt and mix well.
4. Drop by tablespoons (I used a disher) 3" apart on the sheet and sprinkle with sugar.
5. Bake at  for 6 minutes or just until lightly golden.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 101.5
Total Fat: 4.0 g
Cholesterol: 10.3 mg
Sodium: 36.5 mg
Total Carbs: 14.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.3 g
Protein: 1.6 g