12 recipe switches for healthy (or vegan) holiday treats

It’s that time of year again! Time to get out the pie pans, baking sheets, and rolling pins. Let the holiday baking begin!

Believe it or not, it’s also the beginning of a great opportunity to turn your holiday favorites into healthier treats.

All the ingredients that make holiday baked goods taste so good are the ones we try to keep on the down-low the rest of the year: Sugar, butter, cream, flour, and chocolate.

This got me thinking… Is there any way to enjoy the holidays without going overboard?

There is! Trim the fats, carbs, and sugar in your traditional holiday baked goods by making some simple substitutions. That way you can have your cake and eat it, too!

Here are a dozen easy recipe switches that will not only let you enjoy delicious baked goods without the guilt but will also make a once-sinful treat into a nutritional delight!

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Recipe Switches: Fats

Use avocado or banana, not butter. Both of these add a soft, moist consistency to baked goods without the saturated fat. Avocado provides folate, potassium, fiber, vitamin C and healthy monounsaturated fats.

Bananas are also potassium-rich and a good source of fiber.

Use pureed fruits, not vegetable oil. Eliminate the added fat in your recipe by using pureed fruits or veggies in place of oil. Even baby food will do. One tip: prunes taste best when used in chocolate recipes, including brownies and cakes.

Use egg whites or chia seeds, instead of whole eggs. For years, eggs were vilified over cholesterol concerns. But research has come out touting that eggs lower cholesterol, heart disease, and stroke risk.

But if you’re not a whole egg eater, no worries. Instead of a whole egg, use two egg whites. You’ll keep the protein but lose the fat.

Or, substitute 1 tablespoon of chia seeds soaked in a cup of water for 15 minutes. Chia seeds are tiny black seeds from the plant Salvia hispanica, which is related to mint. Calcium, magnesium, and manganese are three of the important minerals you’ll get by using these seeds instead of eggs.

Nutritious flax seeds also work well as an egg substitute. To replace one egg, just mix a tablespoon of flax seeds with 2 ½ tablespoons warm water. Flax seeds are super-high in omega-3 fatty acids and are a rich source of lignans, plant compounds thought to reduce cancer risk.

Flax and chia seeds are great alternatives for vegans!

Instead of heavy cream, sour cream or cream cheese, try Greek yogurt. It’s lower in fat and higher in protein, but still has all the creaminess of the fattier ingredients.

Recipe Switches: Carbs

Replace white flour with whole wheat… or with beans! That’s right. Whole wheat flour is always a healthier choice than white flour, which has next to no nutritional value. Almond flour is another good choice. It has a unique flavor of its own, and loads of Vitamin E.

Better yet, if you’re baking chocolate cake or brownies, use the same amount of pureed black beans. You’ll be adding a dose of fiber and protein to your dessert.

Recipe Switches: Sugar

You don’t need to load your baked goods with sugar in order to achieve a sweet, satisfying taste. Here are a few things you can try to ease up on the sugar.

• Use half the sugar called for in the recipe and substitute cinnamon for the other half.
• Applesauce has natural sugars and makes a great sweetener for baked goods. It will also add a healthy dose of Vitamin C to your treats.

Read: Sugar’s cancer-causing secret exposed

Simply replace the amount of sugar called for with applesauce, then decrease the amount of liquid in the recipe by ¼ cup for each cup of applesauce used. Here’s a simple recipe for home-made, slow cooker applesauce that will make it even more wholesome!

• Use cacao nibs instead of chocolate chips. Cacao nibs are bits of dried, roasted and crushed cacao beans. They haven’t yet been ground and mixed with sugar to become chocolate, but they have an intense chocolate flavor.

If you need a little more sweetness, use half chocolate chips and half cacao nibs.

Sources:

1. 8 Tips For Healthy Holiday Baking Substitutions — healthcentral.co
2. 7 Healthy Baking Substitutes For More Nutritious Cooking — simplemost.com
3. Top 10 Health Benefits of Flax Seeds — Healthline
4. 11 Proven Health Benefits of Chia Seeds — Healthline