Have Your Cake and Eat It Too: 4 Ways to Make Baking Healthier

Guest Post

As blog aficionados, we love nothing more than catching up with our favorite food bloggers and trying out their tasty new recipes. Baking, in particular, has become the most popular method of cooking in the blogosphere and in homes across the country.

Though we love nothing more than indulging in a few home-baked cupcakes, we couldn’t help but wonder what these sweet treats were doing to our waistlines. Undoubtedly, keeping it simple is the key to a robust, healthy lifestyle instead of manically counting calories. For some of your favorite baked treats, here are our top tips for healthier baking:

Baking Your Own Bread

Nothing warms the heart like the smell of home-baked bread. It’s also good for your health because it contains fewer additives and more nutrients than commercially sold loaves. Although baking bread is kind of an art, it’s been made for centuries by your average home cook, so you can do it too with a little practice. Like any skill, once it becomes commonplace, you’ll be able to turn out bread perfectly every time.

When choosing your ingredients, always pick the highest quality. Commercially sold breads usually contain a lot of trash to preserve the life of the bread; you can leave these out and enjoy a robust loaf at home.

Overnight Oats

This isn’t technically speaking baking, but it was too good to leave out.

If you’ve never had a bowl of overnight oats before, it requires absolutely no cooking. Commonly, you combine an equal ratio of raw, rolled oats to a liquid of your choice (low-fat milk/yogurt). Place in the fridge overnight and let them soak. This process retains all the goodness of the oats.

Top it all off with healthy additions, such as fresh fruit, nut butter, chia seeds, or dark chocolate chips. Delicious and bursting with nutrients, you’ll benefit from slow-releasing energy all day.

Fruit Muffins

All of us are guilty of that morning muffin from Costa when we’re in a desperate hurry to get to work. You can make a healthier version at home, absolutely packed full of fruits.

You’ll find that healthier alternatives are much better than that bowl of sugar-encrusted cereal in the morning. Fill your breakfast muffins with your favorite berries and nuts for a delicious, baked treat to set you up for the day. Muffins don’t have to give you muffin top.

Biscotti

Known as the ‘twice baked cookie,’ biscotti is a healthy alternative to a biscuit with your afternoon drink. Completely butter and oil-free (or containing very little), you can pack your biscotti full of nutrient-rich nuts for that extra crunch. Traditionally, these are made with almonds, but if you’re not a fan, you can always choose something leftfield like pistachios.

Biscotti last for ages, so you don’t have to worry about chucking out the contents of your biscuit tin when your biceps go off. In their native home, you’ll find the biscotti consumed with dessert wine or coffee. Dig in to your healthy snack and feel a little Italian at the same time!

Quick, Healthy Baking Tips

· Swap plain flour for wholegrain flour to up your fiber and vitamin intake. Whole grains are full of nutrients, so your body will be thanking you for that tasty batch of wholegrain flour chocolate cupcakes!

· Avoid over-mixing your batter, as stirring excessively can increase the gluten in your ingredients.

· Substitute whole milk with skimmed milk. Alternatively, try almond milk for an extra tasty flavor!

Written on behalf of food flavoring supplier, Ungerer Limited who appreciate the importance of healthy eating and want to deliver posts relating to the subject.