Recipe Substitutes for Healthy Holiday Baking
Looking for a way to incorporate healthy holiday baking this year? Try substituting traditional ingredients with healthier, more nutrient dense ones. This will help you cut back on sugar, fat, and total calories without having to give up the holiday treats you love!
Instead of this ingredient: |
Try one of these: |
| Butter, margarine, shortening, or oil | Applesauce, plain or vanilla Greek yogurt, prune or banana puree for either half or all of the fat, depending on desired consistency |
| Heavy Cream | Fat-free half-and-half, 2% milk, skim milk, or evaporated skim milk |
| Cream cheese | Fat-free, low-fat cream cheese, or low-fat cottage cheese pureed until smooth |
| Eggs | Two egg whites or 1/4 cup egg substitute for each whole egg |
| All-purpose flour | Whole-wheat flour, ½ whole-wheat and ½ white flour, or ½ rolled oats and ½ wheat flour |
| Fruit canned in heavy syrup | Canned fruit in water or fresh fruit |
| Sugar | You can try reducing the amount of sugar by half. Use vanilla extract, cinnamon, and allspice to increase the flavor. Honey or Truvia/Stevia can be used in much smaller amounts to provide the same level of sweetness. |
| Whole Milk | 1% or skim milk |
| Salt | In most baking recipes you can limit all salt without changing the taste |
| Sour Cream | Fat-free sour cream, low-fat sour cream, or plain low-fat yogurt (Greek yogurt has a thick consistency similar to sour cream) |
We’d love to hear about your additional healthy baking substitutes in the comment section below.
