Top tips for healthy bakes

There’s nothing worse than craving for cakes and savoury bakes when you’re trying your best to adhere to healthy eating. But did you know that there are ways in which you can make your baking healthy too? One of the greatest perks of whipping up recipes at home is the fact that you are free to use ingredients of your choice – something you have no control over when you’re purchasing goodies from your favourite bakery.

As compiled from BBC Good Food, here are some pro tips you can incorporate while cooking at home, making the final bakes healthier and more delicious!

Switch the fat



Instead of popping a fat stick of butter into the batter, try opting for unsaturated alternatives such as sunflower oil. Not only will this decrease the fat content of your cakes, it will also keep them moist for longer.

Ditch white flour



Next time you’re at the supermarket stocking up on ingredients, get a bag of wholegrain flour instead of the usual white flour. Wholegrain flour naturally contains more fiber and gives a pleasant, slightly nutty flavour and fragrance to the bakes. For some recipes, you can also use rolled oats or ground flaxseeds in place of flour. This works best for cookies!

Use fruit and vegetables



If you thought veggies and fruit had no place in your sweet bakes, you are in for a surprise. By incorporating sweet fruit such as apples, bananas, dates, peaches and berries in your recipes, you can actually cut down on the amount of sugar you have to add and still get all that extra flavour and volume, which is definitely a plus point. You can also add carrots and fresh beetroot to create wonderful, healthy baked desserts at home.

Different cheese, please!



Weight watchers always tend to steer clear of cheese cake recipes owing to the sheer amount of fat present in the mouthwatering final products. However, for your cheat days, there are ways to make the icing low-fat too. Simply switch the cream cheese with a yogurt-based cheese like quark and you’re good to go!

Tofu tricks



Did you know that because tofu has a very neutral taste, you can easily use it to replace the fat in your recipes? Next time you’re baking a batch of fudge, puree the tofu and use it in place of the oil/butter. It’s high in protein, calcium and makes for delicious guilt-free desserts. Applesauce and yogurt also make good fat substitutes in recipes.

Set the glaze



Instead of using a layer of butter to give the final glazed finish to your cake, unleash your inner creativity and use powdered sugar to create patterns on top surface. A fine layer of powdered sugar, which is less than 10 calories a teaspoon, means a lot less fat. You can also decorate your cake with chopped nuts or a drizzle or bittersweet chocolate.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th, 2016.

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