Baking sweet treats for family and friends is a great way to entertain company, celebrate holidays, or simply pass a weekend afternoon. Unfortunately, many of our most delicious recipes are also quite unhealthy. Eggs, oil, butter, and cream can add tons of fat and calories to your diet. However, there are ways to still bake and enjoy your favorite treats without putting on pounds. Here are a few helpful tips to make your baked goods healthier.
Replace Fat with Applesauce
Recipes for baked goods often call for shortening, oil, or butter. Unfortunately, these ingredients are loaded with fat and, often, cholesterol. To lessen the impact of these unhealthy additions, replace half of what the recipe calls for with unsweetened applesauce. Applesauce is fat-free and contains valuable nutrients. You can also experiment with other fruit purees or canned pumpkin.
Choose Skim Milk
Most baking recipes call for some amount of milk. You can remove a lot of fat and calories by choosing skim milk instead of whole. This is true for any dairy product in your recipe including yogurt and cheese.
Use Less Sugar
Most baked goods will taste just fine with ½ to 2/3 the amount of sugar called for in the recipe. If you're worried about losing flavor by cutting out some sugar, add more spices and flavorings like cinnamon or almond extract.
Replace Your Eggs
When a recipe calls for eggs, you can use a fat-free egg substitute (like egg beaters) or egg whites to reduce the fat and cholesterol in your food. For each egg, use 1/4 cup of substitute or 2 egg whites.
Cut Down on Extras
Making baked treats often includes chips, nuts, and dried fruit. You can save calories by cutting down the portion of these extras in half, and the recipe will still taste delicious. In fact, if you toast nuts first, their flavor value will increase.
Use Wheat Flour
Substitute up to half a recipe's all-purpose white flour with whole wheat flour. This will add fiber and nutrients to your food.
Avoid Cream
An excellent substitute for heavy cream is mixing equal parts of half-and-half with nonfat evaporated milk. This mixture has the same baking properties without the fat and calories of cream.
