I went to three different holiday cookie parties last year. Not only did I bake 12 dozen different types of cookies just to gain admittance to these parties, but I also came home with more than 12 dozen cookies for my family to enjoy. That's a lot of calories if you're trying to watch your waistline!

Baking (and eating) cookies during the holidays is an enduring tradition for many families, but do you have to say good-bye to holiday cookies forever? Of course not! Use these simple tips to reduce the fat and sugar intake of your favorite treats. Or take another approach, and add healthy ingredients such as fruit or oatmeal to your cookies to increase their nutritional power. I still wouldn't recommend eating a dozen at one sitting, but one or two delicious cookies with a cup of steaming hot chocolate will put you in the holiday mood!

• Replace butter with reduced-fat stick margarine. Avoid tub or whipped margarine; it contains too much water, which will result in dry, crumbly cookies.
• Use unsweetened applesauce to replace half of the fat. You'll get better results if you drain the applesauce first for 5 to 10 minutes in a colander lined with paper towels. You may also be able to reduce the sugar content, since the applesauce provides some additional sweetness.
• Bake meringue cookies. Based on egg whites, they're lower in calories and fat than many other types of cookies.
• Try whipped prunes, available either as baby-food strained prunes or in the baking section of the grocery store. Replace one cup of oil or fat with a half cup of prunes. This technique works best in brownies or cake-like cookies. The combination of prunes and chocolate is heavenly!
• Try Splenda Sugar Blend for Baking or Equal Sugar Lite in place of regular sugar. Both combine their sugar substitute with equal amounts of real sugar, cutting the calories from sugar in your recipes by half. For best results, look for cookie recipes from their Websites before you experiment with your family favorites.

• Replace half the flour with whole wheat pastry flour. Whole wheat pastry flour results in light, airy cookies with the health benefits of 100 percent whole wheat.
• Replace 1/4 cup of the flour in a recipe with plain rolled oats. You'll add more fiber, which can help reduce heart disease.
• Substitute dried fruit or chopped nuts for part of the chocolate chips.

Check out our Recipe Finder. You can search for low-calorie, low-fat, sugar-free or even healthy cookie recipes!