Some Smart Substitutions

I don't know about you, but I’m always trying to find the “healthier” side of yum. I know that baked goods and sweet treats are bad for my waistline, but I just can’t find it in me to give them up 100%. So instead of feeling grumpy and deprived, I decided to search for a couple ingredient substitutions that I can utilize to minimize the calories, fat, and guilt associated with the occasional sinful snack. (I also only cut my baking back to once every month or so. That helps, too!)

One that I absolutely love, but never would have thought of, is to replace the butter or margarine in a recipe with the equal amount of mashed banana! Bananas have the perfect consistency and fat content to make your baked good just as decedent, but they don’t have the added saturated fats to weigh you down. If your recipe calls for ½ cup of softened butter simply replace it with a ½ cup of mashed banana, that simple. Just be sure to keep an eye on your oven as the substitution may decrease your baking time.

Another substitution that is just as mystifying (yet seems to work perfectly) is swapping out that baking staple, flour, for an equal substation of black bean puree. Yup, black beans. Not only will you reduce the calories in your backed good, but you’ll also add on some fiber. This will work especially well with your brownies and cookies.

Cut a large amount of the fat right out by replacing your oil with Greek yogurt. Although you’ll barely notice a change in the flavor of your baked good, you should notice that the end product is considerably moister with the yogurt replacement. For ever cup of oil you remove from your recipe, replace it with ¾ cup of Greek yogurt. This works perfect with cookies, breads and, especially, cakes.

My fellow chocolate buffs, another simple substation is replacing your usual chocolate chips with cocoa nibs! With no sugar and very little fat, cocoa nibs are a no-brainer. Just don’t try eating them by the handful…it may not be the chocolate sensation you were looking for.

Not so hip on replacing your sugar in baking with apple sauce or stevia? How about just reducing it, with the help of vanilla extract? I have to say, vanilla extract is probably my favorite secret weapon in the kitchen; add a little to any recipe to up the flavor. For a substation, however, you’ll be amazed how many calories you can cut out with a little vanilla! Cut the sugar in your recipe in half and add an extra teaspoon of vanilla. This cuts out tons of extra calories, without completely cutting the sugar out of your treats!