Baking Tips for Healthier Foods
Sure, a cookie is never going to become as good for you as an apple, but you can learn some
ways to make your baked goods a little healthier.
Try these tips:
 Use fruit, fruit juice, and citrus zest to sweeten up your food
 Add flax meal and wheat germ to batters
 Use unsweetened applesauce, yogurt, or pumpkin puree in place of oil
 Experiment with lower fat milk, buttermilk, whipped topping, half-and-half, cream cheese,
cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, or yogurt in place of what is called for in the recipe
 Consider using a lite almond or soy milk in place of cow’s milk
 Use tofu to replace milk by blending silken tofu with water until it has the consistency of milk
 Replace eggs with tofu by using ½ cup of silken tofu for every egg called for in the recipe
 Use Egg Beaters® in place of eggs
 Replace one-third to one-half of the all-purpose flour called for in a recipe with whole-wheat
flour
 Experiment with teff, quinoa, amaranth, oat, and garbanzo-fava bean flours
 Use a few tablespoons of oat-bran hot cereal in place of flour to add fiber to your baked goods
 Choose margarines and other fats that do not contain partially hydrogenated oil and that
contain as little saturated fat as possible
 Use oil in place of melted margarine or butter
 For some recipes, you can remove one-fourth of the sugar without impacting the taste or
texture of the final product—consider using artificial sweeteners in place of some of the sugar
 Use marshmallow cream as a fat-free frosting
 Use 6 tablespoons of cocoa plus 1 tablespoon of canola oil plus 1 tablespoon of fat-free sourcream instead of two squares of unsweetened baking chocolate
 Toast nuts to make them more flavorful and use less than the recipe calls for
 Aim for no more than ½ teaspoon of salt per batch of cookies, or if you are on a salt-restricted
diet, try reducing the salt in a batch of cookies to ¼ teaspoon
 Choose lower sodium baking soda, such as Know that Ener-G® Baking Soda (contains 1200
milligrams less sodium per teaspoon, compared to regular baking sodas) or Hain
Featherweight® Baking Powder (contains 480 milligrams less sodium per teaspoon, compared
to regular baking powders)
References and recommended readings
Fraser S. 5 secrets for baking healthier holiday cookies. Available at:
http://www.eatingwell.com/blogs/healthy_cooking_blog/5_secrets_for_baking_healthier_holiday
_cookies. Accessed February 28, 2013.
KATC.com. Healthy holiday baking tips. Available at:
www.katc.com/…right/HEALTHY_HOLIDAY_BAKING_TIPS.pdf. Accessed February 28,
2013.
Magee E. Healthier holiday cookie recipes: the ‘recipe doctor’ lightens up 4 favorite cookie
recipes. Available at: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/healthier-holiday-cookierecipes. Accessed February 28, 2013.
Magee E. 10 ways to cut calories in baking recipes: how to lighten up your holiday recipes
without sacrificing taste. Available at: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/10-ways-to-cutcalories-in-baking-recipes. Accessed February 28, 2013.
Nasoya®. Tofu in place of dairy, eggs and meats. Available at: http://www.nasoya.com/healthyliving/tofu-eggs-dairy.html. Accessed February 28, 2013.
Simply Sugar & Gluten Free. 7 tips for healthy holiday baking. Available at:
http://simplysugarandglutenfree.com/7-tips-for-healthy-holiday-baking/. Accessed February 28,
2013.
Contributed by Elaine M. Koontz, RD, LD/N
Review Date 3/13
G-1848