Baking is one of the best tasks in kitchen cooking as everyone enjoys baked food. Chocolate chip cookies, cakes, muffins, pies, and bread are delicious and perfect for comfort food. Baking has become easy as there are so many cookbooks and baking recipes available online that can guide people to bake food perfectly. There is no need to visit a local bakery to greet your favorite bakery food as you can very much do it at home. However, baking ingredients are not always very healthy as far as fitness is concerned. Baking requires ingredients like heavy cream, oils, butter, sugar, and more. If you want to move towards a healthier diet, you must look for ways to bake food in a healthy way.
As you visit this site, you will find some delicious and smart ways to replace unhealthy ingredients with healthy ingredients for baking. Here are some of the replacements for bakery ingredients that would not impact the quality of baked food-
Avocado
You may think that avocado doesn’t belong in baking, however; avocado can be a great substitute for butter and oil in baking dishes. Avocado is rich in monounsaturated fats; hence, it is perfect for recipes that include chocolate. You can add avocado in brownies and chocolate cookies to make them fudgy and soft. Get fresh avocado from the market and use it in baking dishes as a healthier option.
Greek Yogurt
Most baking dishes involve eggs and cream, however, they can add to the fat content. Using Greek yogurt instead of cream, cream cheese, and sour cream is a much healthier alternative. Greek yogurt is low in fat content and high in protein. At the same time, it provides smooth creaminess for baking recipes. You can even use the hung card at home for baking purposes. Make sure the yogurt is fresh to bring out the best of the dish.
Almond Flour
Ever thought of an ingredient that can replace regular plain flour in baking? Well, almond flour and almond meal is great substitute for plain white flour. Almond flour has healthy monounsaturated fats and vitamin E. It is also rich in protein, therefore, healthier than flour. Almond flour goes well with pastries. It can be combined with plain flour and also used alone.
Oatmeal
Rolled oats and oatmeal is the best option for baking and a healthy replacement for plain flour. Powdered oats and whole oats add texture to the baking recipe. Even those on a gluten-free diet can use gluten-free oats that are available in the market. Oats are cheap and easy to find on the go.
Coconut sugar
Coconut sugar or coconut nectar acts as a natural sweetener. It has plenty of health benefits and this is why it is a much better choice when compared to granulated sugar. For people with diabetes or health problems, coconut sugar in baked items is appropriate. You may find coconut sugar at grocery stores, however, it might be a bit expensive.
Bananas for baking
When you are in no mood to add any type of sugar to baked food, you can always use ripe bananas. Bananas are naturally sweet and high in potassium and B6. Mashed bananas offer the perfect consistency for baked food. It can be used instead of butter, oil, and sugar. Bananas are perfect for banana bread, brownies, muffins, and cakes.
Cocoa powder is another great substitute for chocolate and sweetened milk chocolates. It’s best to use unsweetened cocoa powder for baking as it’s healthier. You can visit this site for more information on healthy baking and cooking recipes.