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I hold no shame in admitting that I LOVE sweets, especially when it comes to baked goods. Offer me a cookie, cupcake, anything baked, and it’s going to be hard for me to deny; I mean, one ain’t going to hurt anyone! But when it comes to baking at home in a household of two people, I try my best to recreate beloved classics as a healthier version, because truth be told I eat the majority of whatever it is that we bake.
I also love trying to find fun ways to up the protein content in some recipes, especially if I am in a heavy training season for an event or goal. Moreover, due to a pre-existing health issue at home, we must be mindful of the saturated fats that we consume, so we watch the amount of butter or coconut oil used in a given recipe.
Needless to say, I love looking for fun and easy ways to make baked goods a little bit healthier, allowing us to indulge a little bit more and wanted to share these simple tips with you. I hope you enjoy it!
Reduce the Sugar Content
Often, recipes call for a shit-ton of sugar, and it is just unnecessary.
Usually, you can get away with reducing the amount of sugar by 50 - 75% without compromising the recipe or flavour. The only thing to note that if you are adding spices to the mix, it might be worth considering reducing the amount of spice as it will come through the recipe stronger with the reduced sugar content.
The Bakers Percentage
If you're looking to cut back on the sugar content but are not sure where to start, perhaps the baker's percentage may be a useful tool for you. Rather than talking about it in detail, I highly recommend checking out this link, which highlights this concept but also provides different examples of baked goods that this formula was tested on, such as brownies and drop cookies.
Reduce the Saturated-Fat Content
Overall the consensus is that saturated-fats are a no-no, and due to a pre-existing health issue in our household, we must be mindful of the amount of saturated fat in our foods. There are simple ways that you can reduce saturated-fats in your baked goods, and my favourite is using apple sauce, a popular replacement.
When substituting fat, you can easily substitute half of the fat content with an equal volume of one of the options listed below, which will provide the best results. However, you can replace 100% of the fat content, but could potentially compromise taste and texture.
Alternatives other than apple sauce include:
Pureed pumpkin or sweet potato
Mashed banana
Plant-based plain, unsweetened yogurt
Beans
Try Different Flours
There is no denying the convenience that white flour offers and the cost benefits of it, but is not necessarily the healthiest option. Instead, try experimenting with other varieties of flour outside of white and whole wheat. One of my personal favourites - spelt flour - provides a light and fluffy texture, which is just delightful. There are, of course, other flours such as oat and barley, and you can even mix different flours and make your own concoction.
Add Fruit to the Mix
Any time I think of fruit in baked goods, I instantly think of a fruit explosion muffin from Tim Hortons, which was by far one of my favourite muffins! Even thinking about it makes me so undeniably happy, regardless of how long it has been since I’ve had one.
Adding fruit to your baked good is always an easy way to up the nutritional content of any recipe, providing some vitamins, a touch fiber, all the while enhancing the flavour and experience when you bite into your baked item.
Up the Protein
As I mentioned, I try to find some inventive ways to up the protein content of baked goods, and a simple way to do that is by adding some protein powder to the mix. Personally, in baking, I find that this works best in a recipe that is moist in nature, such as brownies, which is perfect for me, because - chocolate.
Another simple way to up the protein is by incorporating beans. It may sound weird or intimidating, but recipes such as black bean brownies or chickpea blondies are so flipping delicious and flavorful, but yet simple. It is also a fantastic starting point to incorporate beans into your baking, all the while upping the fiber content of any baked good, without compromising taste.
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There you have it: five simple tips for healthier baking and I hope you found them helpful. Until next time, have an amazing day!
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