Making Your Baked Goods Lower in Fat and Sugar
We all like a treat once in a while, but if you’re watching your weight you might think baked goods are off limits. Think again! We can learn to modify even our favorite recipes to make them lower in fat, sugar, and cholesterol. You can use one of these changes, or all of them at once.
1. To reduce the amount of sugar: Many recipes call for far more sugar than is necessary. I frequently cut the sugar down by about one-third. If one cup of white sugar is to be added, I just add 2/3 cup. No one will notice, especially if there are other sweeteners (honey, brown sugar), flavors (vanilla, chocolate) or fruit (as in banana bread). For each 1/3 cup of sugar you are saving 64 grams of carbohydrate and 256 calories. This means if the recipe serves 10 that each person is getting 6 fewer grams of carbs and 25 fewer calories than the original recipe.
2. To reduce the amount of fat: I have heard that all of the fat called for in a recipe can be replaced with fruit. I have not had success when trying this and some of my banana breads have come out more like bread pudding! The fat affects the consistency of some baked goods much more than others. Here’s what works for me. When making a pumpkin or banana bread, cake or cookies, if the recipe calls for a stick of butter (1/2 cup), I replace half of this (1/4 cup) with an equal amount of applesauce or mashed bananas. You cannot do this with something like a pie crust and hav e the crust come out proper and flaky. Shortbreads and cookies, however, come out soft and sweet and moist. For every 1/4 cup of fat you replace with fruit you save 12 teaspoons of fat or 60 grams of fat! When replacing the fat with the fruit sugar you also end up reducing the total recipe by 300 calories (30 calories per person if the recipe serves 10).
3. To lower cholesterol, replace each egg that is called for with 1/4 cup egg substitute (such as egg beaters). These are also lower in fat than eggs, which have about 5 grams of fat in each yolk (providing 45 calories).
If you reduce both fat and sugar in a standard pumpkin bread recipe you are saving each person over 60 calories per serving. So, try one of these suggestions, or two or three and lower the fat and sugar and calories in your homebaked goods without anyone being the wiser when they enjoy your tempting lower calorie treats!
Written by Laurie Beebe
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About The Author: Laurie Beebe has been a registered dietitian for 25 years and is certified in adult weight management. Laurie currently serves as a Related posts:
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