Q. I would like to make this recipe for chocolate cookie cutter cookies that I saw on the Martha Stewart Web site. How would you make them more healthful?

A. I like the idea of chocolate cookie cutter dough (for a change) and I really like the idea of using cocoa powder for the chocolate flavor as this one does. We can make a few changes, though, to bring down the calories, fat and saturated fat and bring up the fiber.

Instead of 1 1/2 cups white flour, I used 1 cup whole-wheat flour and 1/2 cup white flour. A less-fat margarine with no trans fats and low in saturated fat (and 8 grams of fat per tablespoon) replaced the butter, which typically contains 12 grams of fat per tablespoon. And since I replaced the egg with egg substitute, you can even taste the raw dough without fear of salmonella poisoning. These changes doubled the fiber and cut calories by 14 percent, and cut fat grams by more than a third and saturated fat and cholesterol by two-thirds.

If you want to make a half batch, cut all of the ingredients in half and just form one disk of dough to be chilled instead of two.

Original recipe contains 72 calories, 4 grams of fat, 2.3 grams saturated fat, 14 mg cholesterol and .6 grams of fiber per cookie.

CHOCOLATE COOKIE CUTTER DOUGH

• 1 cup whole-wheat flour

• 1/2 cup unbleached white flour

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 3/4 cup less-fat margarine (8 grams of fat per tablespoon)

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup egg substitute

• Powdered sugar

In a medium bowl, whisk together whole-wheat flour, white flour, cocoa and salt; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat margarine and sugar until light and fluffy (about 1 minute). Slowly beat in egg substitute. On low speed, gradually beat in the flour mixture.

Form each half of the dough into a disk about 3/4-inch thick on a sheet of plastic wrap or foil. Cover the disk with the plastic or foil and chill in the refrigerator. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.

Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Coat a nonstick cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with canola cookie spray or parchment paper. Place each disk of dough on a sheet of waxed paper lightly dusted with powdered sugar. Roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thick. Using 3-inch fall cookie cutters, cut out shapes like leaves or pumpkins and place them 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets.

Bake until surface is dry to the touch (about 10 minutes). Cool cookies for a minute on the baking sheets then remove them to a cookie rack to cool. Decorate with M&Ms and tube frosting if desired.

Makes up to 40 cookies.

• Per cookie: 62 calories, 1 g protein, 9 g carbohydrate, 2.5 g fat, .7 g saturated fat, .6 g monounsaturated fat, 1.2 g polyunsaturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 1.2 g fiber, 54 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 36 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids = .15 gram, Omega-6 fatty acids = .9 gram. Weight Watchers POINTS = 1

NOTE: You can make chocolate walnut cookies by forming pieces of the chilled chocolate dough into a balls about 1-inch in diameter, and then roll them in chopped walnuts. Bake for about 10 minutes.

Elaine Magee is a registered dietitian. Learn more at www.recipedoctor.com.