Two weeks ago, we featured our carrot cake bites on the blog as a way to have the taste of carrot cake while still being healthy. This week, we provide healthy baking tips for making your favorite desserts (like carrot cake) OrganWise! We used all the tips listed here when we made our delicious carrot cake, pictured below. Made with lots of real grated carrots (a December Foods of the Month), this cake is sure to please both those with a sweet tooth and the health conscious by using the following healthy baking tips.
Tip 1 – Use Applesauce – Did you know you can substitute unsweetened applesauce for eggs or butter/oil in your favorite baked goods recipes? For butter or oil, the ratio is one to one. For example, if your recipe calls for 1/2 cup of butter or oil, use 1/2 cup applesauce instead. For eggs, substitute 1/4 cup applesauce for one whole egg. Be sure to use unsweetened applesauce so the taste of your baked goods is not affected.
Tip 2 – Keep Frosting Healthy – Typical frostings are full of sugar. To avoid a sugar overload, use a healthier version and consider making sheet cakes instead of layered ones to cut back on the amount of frosting. For our carrot cake frosting, we spread a thin layer of reduced-fat cream cheese (at room temperature) with a little bit of maple syrup mixed in. The result tasted wonderful, and provided low-fat dairy instead of sugar.
Tip 3 – Use Whole Wheat Flour – Cookies, muffins and other baked goods can still be delicious when using whole wheat flour. Instead of just replacing white flour with whole wheat in your favorite recipe, we recommend searching for a recipe of your favorite food that is specifically made with whole wheat flour. There is a difference in texture when using whole wheat, so using a new recipe instead of modifying an existing one will yield better results. If you need ideas, start with our whole grain blueberry muffins – a big hit!
