Gingersnaps, lemon frosting a tasty treat

Every now and then I create a new recipe, not because somebody asked me to lighten it up, but because a food idea just pops into my head.

This time I was inspired to marry light lemon cream frosting with homemade gingersnap cookies (to make a sandwich) – maybe it’s my late-harvest lemon tree in my back yard, maybe it’s the new gingersnap tea I’ve been drinking. I have to say though, they tasted better than I even imagined.

I started by lightening up a gingersnap cookie recipe, using 2/3 cup of less fat margarine (8 grams fat per tablespoon instead of 12 with butter) instead of 3/4 cup of butter plus shortening. I wanted to see if I could cut the calories from sugar in half so I used 1 cup of Equal Sugar Lite instead of 1 cup of sugar added to the cookie dough, and I added ¼ cup of lite pancake syrup plus ¼ teaspoon maple extract in place of ¼ cup pure maple syrup.

Another cup of sugar is used to roll the cookie balls around in and I made the executive decision to take this sugar out completely. This cookie dough actually flattens out nicely as it bakes all on its own so there’s no need to press the cookie dough balls down with your fingers.

To bump up the fiber, I replaced a cup of the white flour with whole-wheat flour. I made a minimum of light lemon frosting with powdered sugar, less-fat margarine, lemon juice and lemon zest.

Light Lemon Cream Gingersnap Sandwiches

2/3 cup less-fat margarine (8 grams fat per tablespoon)

1 tablespoon lite pancake syrup

1 cup Equal Sugar Lite

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup unbleached white flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1/4 cup lite pancake syrup

1/4 teaspoon maple extract

1 large egg

Light Lemon Frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar

4 tablespoons less-fat margarine (with 8 grams fat per tablespoon) or whipped butter (see note)

1 tablespoon lemon juice (add 1 more teaspoon if needed for desired texture)

1 teaspoon finely chopped lemon zest

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream margarine, 1 tablespoon of lite pancake syrup, and Equal Sugar Lite on medium speed until light and fluffy.

In an 8-cup measure, toss flours, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger together and set aside.

Add 1/4 cup lite pancake syrup, maple extract, and egg to margarine mixture and beat on medium speed to blend. On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture, a little at a time, until blended dough forms.

Using a cookie scoop, drop balls of dough on prepared baking sheet about 3 inches apart. Bake until golden, about 12 minutes. Let cookies cool on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, add all of frosting ingredients to a small mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until well blended. Add more lemon juice if needed for the desired frosting texture. Spread at least 2 teaspoons of lemon frosting over each cookie (using only half of the cookies). Place a second cookie on top of the frosting-covered ones to make sandwiches.

Note: If using whipped butter, add 1 tablespoon of less-fat margarine (to help make the frosting the desired thinness).

Yield: 14 large gingersnap sandwiches

Per large cookie sandwich: 212 calories, 6.4 grams fat, (1.1 gram saturated, 27 percent fat calories), 3 grams protein, 37 grams carbohydrate, 15 milligrams cholesterol, 1.5 grams fiber, 256 milligrams sodium.

Weight Watchers Points = 4