Healthy Baking: Substitutes for Fat and Sugars
Healthy Recipes
If you are watching your weight and trying to eat healthy, you may have a love-hate relationship with dessert.
But you can bake sweet treats with with less fat and sugar without sacrificing taste by substituting reduced-fat or fat-free ingredients.
By making these substitutions you can decrease the amount of saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol.
| When recipe calls for... | Use this instead... |
| Whole Milk (1 cup) | Fat-free milk or reduced fat milk plus one Tablespoon of liquid vegetable oil |
| Evaporated Milk | Evaporated skim milk |
| Heavy Cream (1 cup) | 1 cup evaporated skim milk, or 1/2 cup low-fat yogurt and 1/2 cup plain low-fat unsalted cottage cheese |
| Sour Cream | Fat-free plain yogurt or fat-free sour cream |
| Cream Cheese | Fat-free or low-fat cream cheese |
| Butter |
Applesauce, pumpkin puree, or prune puree for half of the butter, shortening or oil indicated in the recipe. |
| Egg (1) | 2 egg whites or commercially made, cholesterol-free egg substitute (1/4 cup=1 egg) |
| Unsweetened Baking Chocolate (1 ounce) | 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or soft margarine |
| Whipped Cream or Ice Cream (to top cakes, pies, etc.) | Frozen yogurt or low-fat yogurt |
| Sugar | In most baked goods you can reduce the amount of sugar by one-half. Intensify sweetness by adding vanilla, nutmeg or cinnamon. Sugar-sweetener blends can also be used (i.e. Splenda) |
| Flour, all-purpose (plain) | Whole-wheat flour for half of the all-purpose flour indicated in the recipe. Whole-wheat pastry flour is less dense and works well in softer products like cakes and muffins |
Information compiled from the American Heart Association and Mayo Clinic
What Are Substitutions You Use?
Do you have an old standby you use in every baking recipe? What are the substitutions you make?
