We always want you to have the healthiest choices when it comes to your fitness and health. We’ve found different ways to make your favorite meals a lot healthier without giving up on the flavor. Today we have compiled a list to help you get you baking the healthier way. Below are some easy to do and guaranteed healthy baking substitution that can help bring out the flavor in your bake goods with an extra healthy kick. Get your aprons on and baking mitts loaded, we are about to bake.
Baking hacks
Flour to Black Beans
If you want to give your brownies that extra protein kick, replace the flour in the recipe with black beans. This is a great way to reduce the gluten in the recipe. Don’t worry about the taste since black bean just adds a little nutty flavor to the recipe. This is perfect for creating brownies and sugar. You start draining and rinsing the black beans. Place it in a blender and puree, leave it to sit. One cup of pureed black bean equals to one cup flour.
White Flour to Whole Wheat Flour
We all know that when it comes to baked goods the healthier option is whole wheat. Replacing your white flour with whole wheat will add more nutrients, texture and flavors. Since whole wheat contains the grain’s outer shell, it also adds more fiber to the recipe. Fiber can help lower the risk of heart problems and diabetes, it also helps improve digestion. When substituting, 7/8 of a cup of whole wheat flour equals to a cup of white flour.
Sugar to Unsweetened Applesauce
To all my sugar tooth friends out there this one is for you. Sugar is one of the ingredients that can make or break a recipe. Too much sugar can make the whole dish too sweet and the lack of it can make it bland. However, sugars are high in calories. A cup of sugar can equal to 770 calories or more. An unsweetened cup of applesauce contains 100 calories. Applesauce is naturally sweet, so substituting this can still give your recipe the sweetness it needs. This is perfect for oatmeal cookie recipes. When substituting, one cup of sugar equals to one cup of unsweetened alcohol. However, due to the applesauce texture; you need to reduce the liquid in the recipe to ¼ cup.
Butter to Avocado Puree
Avocado is a great substitute for butter. They are both fats and have the same consistency. Though they are different types of fat. The creaminess and flavor of the avocado can add extra flavor and texture to dark chocolate recipes or fudge brownies. The swapping of butter to avocado puree can be a bit difficult and can vary from recipe to recipe. It’s best to experiment beforehand. You can start by substituting one cup of butter to one cup of avocado puree.
Rice Crispies to Brown Rice Cereal with Flax Meal
Rice crispies are a delicious addition to a lot of baking recipes and even on cereal/yogurt. Take the healthy option by substituting white rice for brown rice cereal with flax meal. Brown puffed rice will add more texture to the meal, but almost half the calories. The flax will also add more omega 3 fatty acids, phytochemicals and fiber to the recipe without altering the flavor.
Frosting to Marshmallow Fluff
Frosting and marshmallow fluff have the same consistency, making it an easy substitute. Instead of using fatty and sugar filled frosting, use marshmallow fluff. It contains fewer calories and sugar. The portion is always 1:1 when it comes to marshmallow fluff, unless you prefer to add more.
Fats to Mashed bananas
Fats in recipes such as avocado and butter can be replaced with mashed bananas. The consistency is close to commonly used fats. Bananas contain vitamin B6, fiber and potassium that can help with muscle rejuvenation and digestion. When substituting fats such as oil and butter, a cup of mashed banana is enough for a cup of butter/oil
What do you think about these healthy baking substitutions? Do you think you can create a much healthier meal with these easy tips? We hope that this short list was able to help you with some of your baking dilemmas. Share with us some of your healthy baking substitutions.
