Decorating Christmas treats the healthy way

You probably have a lot of recipes for tasty Christmas cookies. But do you have enough ideas on how to decorate them? It's worth venturing beyond conventional methods. There are many ways of not only turning your treats into real eye-catchers, but also giving them a healthy twist. Get inspired, and develop your own specialities.

Icing without all the sugar

Children in particular love the thick icing on biscuits, preferably decorated with colourful sprinkles. If you'd like to find an alternative that looks and tastes good, we have something for you. Try xylitol, also known as birch sugar. This is obtained from natural resources such as birch bark, corn cobs or straw. Unlike conventional sugar, xylitol is a sugar alcohol and not a carbohydrate. It has little effect on blood sugar levels and fewer calories than sugar.

You can now buy xylitol at most supermarkets. Choose the powdered type to use in your icing. The method is the same as you're used to: sift the powdered xylitol and stir with a little water to make a smooth icing. You can also make it colourful with beetroot juice, fruit juices, or even healthy food colouring made from natural ingredients. So as you see, you don't need any chemicals to make things colourful.

Dark chocolate is better

Chocolate is also a very popular choice of glaze. If you opt for dark chocolate with as high a percentage of cocoa as possible, you will benefit even more from its valuable ingredients. That's because it contains more phytochemicals that can potentially benefit your health. The sugar content is also lower. The slightly tart taste is balanced by the sweetness of the biscuits. You can melt dark chocolate the same way as you would melt milk chocolate, and of course decorate it with all kinds of toppings.

Fruit as eye-catchers

So now your biscuits have a lovely glaze in various colours or are topped with glossy chocolate. For the finishing touch and even more colour, you don’t have to use sugar sprinkles. Have you heard of freeze-dried fruit? Strawberries, mango, blueberries... there are many choices. You can also crush the pieces of fruit and turn your biscuit creations into real eye-catchers – in a healthy way.

Decorative grains

If you prefer to decorate with natural tones, there's a whole world of grains and nuts open to you. Whole, chopped or ground, they stick well to chocolate or xylitol icing. Or you can press them lightly onto the biscuit dough once it's been laid out and before baking. There are many options to choose from. Sesame, poppy seeds, almonds, hazelnuts and tree nuts are classics. But have you considered using quinoa or chia seeds? You can also use flax or hemp seeds to create decorative effects.

But despite the creative options available, biscuits are of course still not the healthiest of foods. And they don’t have to be. The bottom line is that you can enjoy little treats simply because they are part of the Christmas season. But if you consider our tips and use your imagination, your biscuit plates will be more varied – and perhaps even a little healthier.

Additional information about xylitol

Sweeteners are considered to be safe when consumed in moderation. However, we would like to point out that a study conducted by the German Heart Institute in Berlin found that xylitol poses health risks. The risk of cardiovascular events due to thrombosis, such as heart attack and stroke, appears to be increased when xylitol is consumed in large quantities. People with pre-existing heart disease in particular should therefore restrict their intake of sugar alcohols such as xylitol or erythritol. But actually, this applies to everyone: it is worth considering whether sugar – consumed in moderation – may be better than sugar substitutes after all.