Spoonful of Sugar Free

Registered Dietitian

My Nutcracker Ate My Cookies!

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Once upon a time there was a little girl who was baking cookies for Santa. It was Christmas Eve, and the stockings were hung by the Fireplace. The tree was decorated and the smell of chocolate drifted through the air.

 

The little girl was making chocolate-mint crinkle cookies, and she had just finished making all the dough. She turned around to turn on the oven; but when she returned to her cookies dough, the bowl was empty! In it’s place was a wooden man, with her cookie dough in his mouth.

There’s the culprit:

 

She was furious with the wooden man for eating all her cookie dough! Now she had no more cookie dough to make cookies for Santa! There were only a few minutes left until Santa arrived, and there was no time to make another batch. She started to cry.

Then the clock struck Midnight and a clatter came from her living room. It was Santa coming down the chimney! He came over to the little girl to see what was the matter; after all, how could she be sad on Christmas Eve?

The girl told Santa Claus the whole story, and showed him the wooden man who ate her cookies.

 

Santa popped the cookie dough out of the wooden man’s mouth and placed it into his own mouth. He declared it was the best cookie dough he had ever tasted.

However, since the wooden man simply took the cookie dough without asking, Santa condemned him to only cracking nuts and never eating cookies again.

So that is how Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookie Dough came to be, and how wooden men became Nutcrackers.

Don’t believe me? Ask Santa himself!

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Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookie Dough Bites

Chocolate Mint Crinkle Cookie Dough Bites

~These cookie dough bites are unbaked. Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Soy-Free, Dairy-Free, Vegan, Paleo, and Sugar-Free.

Ingredients

  • 5 dates
  • 1 cup walnuts
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/8-1/4 tsp peppermint extract
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

  1. First, process the dates in a food processor or strong blender until smooth.
  2. Then add all other ingredients process. I like the walnuts to stay a bit chunky, but this is up to you. Shape the dough into balls or cookies and enjoy!
https://www.spoonfulofsugarfree.com/2011/12/10/my-nutcracker-ate-my-cookies/

Whatever you do, keep it away from wooden men.

 

Health Benefits:

  • Walnuts: This nut is a rich source of Omega 3’s. It can help lower cholesterol and protect the heart. Full of vitamin E, B, and fiber.
  • Mint: Besides simply freshening your breath, mint can help aid in digestion and remedy nausea. The strong aroma is also very helpful in clearing congestion and relieving sore throats.
  • Chocolate:Β ClickΒ HEREΒ for a post I did about all the benefits of chocolate.
  • Dates:Β A laxative food with a high-fiber content, so it can help those suffering from constipation. They are digested quite easily and are great for when you need quick energy. Also, regular consumption of dates has been found to help the growth of friendly bacteria in the intestines.

 

THOUGHT-PROVOKING, MIND-PRODDING QUESTION OF THE DAY:

What is your favorite Christmas cookie?

When I was little, I loved making sugar cookies for Santa. Although they weren’t my favorite flavor, I liked making different shapes and decorating them.

This post was a part of myΒ Operation Beautiful Food. Original recipe here: Christmas Cookies

Reader Interactions

Comments

  6. I have been dying to make little peppermint balls! I’ll need to make these. Love the nutcracker. I used to looove sugar cookies when I was younger. My tastes are changing though, I love ginger and peppermint!

  7. Cute story. I just can’t tolerate dates for some reason. Do you have suggestions for substitutions ?

  9. Too cute! These look delish… totally need to get some peppermint extract (I’ve been meaning to make my own vanilla and mint extract for so long – a project for next year, me thinks!) We don’t really do the whole ‘Christmas Cookie,’ thing…. one sweet New Zealand tradition (or in our family) are Pavlova Nests (basically, an individual meringue nest) filled with cream and topped with berries, kiwifruit and a passionfruit coulis. I hate whipped cream though so they are not really a favourite of mine. Maybe I should make these little truffles for the family instead! Can’t handle all the sugar in meringue these days πŸ˜‰

  10. Your pics are beautiful. πŸ˜‰ I was just in a production of the Nutcracker as a singer, and I sat in the orchestra pit and saw it 5 times. It was great, but that’s a little much.

    Drooling over those cookies. About how many does this recipe make? Thanks!

  12. i’ve never been a huge cookie fan but i used to love putting them out for santa … for probably more christmas’s than i should have (i was slow to learn the truth about santa)!
    these look great – i’ve been eating dates a lot on my long runs & these will be great pre-workout fuel!