Healthier Baking

Healthier Baking

With the start of fall, it’s a great time to enjoy your warm, freshly baked goods!  Baking is fun to do once chilly weather arrives, however, many of those warm comfort foods may be detrimental to your healthy diet.  Most baked goods are full of added sugars and trans fats and should be consumed sparingly.  There are ways to increase the healthiness of your baked goods so you can feel good about your choice of dessert!

Many substitutions can be made in baked goods to cut down on the calorie, sugar, and fat content while still being delicious.  Follow this chart for easy substitutions to try next time you get out your baking pans!

Instead of This…	Use This!
Butter, margarine, shortening	Unsweetened applesauce or prune puree
Cream	Fat-free half and half or evaporated skim milk
Full Fat Cream Cheese	Fat-free cream cheese, low-fat cottage cheese pureed until smooth, or Greek yogurt
Eggs	Two egg whites or ¼ c. egg substitute per 1 whole egg
All-Purpose Flour	Whole-wheat flour for half of called for flour
Evaporated Milk	Evaporated Skim milk
Whole Milk	Reduced-fat or fat-free milk
Sugar	Use half the sugar called for and add vanilla, nutmeg or cinnamon to add sweetness, use an artificial, no or low calorie sweetener, or mashed ripened banana
Sour Cream	Low-fat Greek yogurt
Baking Chocolate (1 oz)	3 T. unsweetened cocoa powder + 1 T. polyunsaturated oil

Written by Marni Shoemaker, University of Nebraska Lincoln Dietetic Intern