Do you love baked goods? Do you eat all the cookies the minute they’re out of the oven? Do you want a sweet treat that is healthy too?
Baked goods get a bad rep for being extremely unhealthy, but on occasion, they can be the perfect addition to your day. If you need a treat every day, I recommend making these simple ingredients swaps to add a little more nutrition to your favourite dessert.
- Applesauce
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This is a fool-proof replacement of sugar. Obviously, you want to get unsweetened applesauce or else you should have just stuck to the sugar, but the apple sweetens whatever you are baking instantly. Why not add fruit to your brownies?
- Greek yogurt
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This is another great one, as it has quite a bit of protein for a dairy product! You can exchange it for oil or sour cream, but be careful it is not a one to one ratio, so you will have to play around with this one!
- Honey
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Sometimes avoiding sugar is impossible, so why not opt for one full of nutrients and flavour? Honey gives a great taste to whatever you are baking and is a sugar that has good qualities to it!
- Black beans
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Yes, I said it, put beans in those brownies. They add fiber and protein to your brownies without adding any strange taste while replacing flour. Whether you are gluten-free or just want some protein in your sweets this is a great option!
- Bananas
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Another fruit to the rescue is bananas! By adding these to the wet ingredients of your baked good you can avoid butter, oil, and reduce sugar as they are naturally very sweet! Have some bananas that you forgot about? Get baking!
- Flax seeds
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Don’t know what these are? They are seeds that help with digestion and lower cholesterol so add some water to them and use them instead of eggs!
- Healthy flour
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White flour is bleached! I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be eating bleach so at least opt for unbleached. However, other flours have nutrients and fibers that white flour has been stripped of.
- Fig date and prune puree
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Yes not the most appetizing of fruits, but they are so sweet naturally that they replace sugar and butter! So get pureeing pronto!
- Pumpkin puree
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It replaces oil, which can be quite unhealthy if chosen improperly, therefore why not opt for the pumpkin? It also adds a great flavour.
- Avocados
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Don’t think I forgot about avocados. This replaces butter perfectly without jeopardizing the flavour of your guilty pleasure, that won’t have to be so guilty anymore!
- Berries
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Try adding berries to those pancakes instead of chocolate chips to add sweetness. But if you are set on chocolate opt for cacao nibs as they contain less sugar!
Happy baking! Hopefully, now you can make some nice Easter treats that encourage you to go for a second and even a third. Who knew you could eat a brownie made of black beans, avocado, apples, and flaxseeds?!