The holiday season is coming. That means it is BAKING SEASON! When you inevitably reach for your mixing bowls and whisks, keep these sites in mind to make healthier treats for your friends and family (or sometimes just for yourself)!
1. iFoodReal
iFoodReal was created by Olena with the family in mind, so there are multiple categories of recipes for you to scroll through. There is a “kid friendly” section for those of you who cook for little ones, or just have a limited palette. Look for the “recipes” tab at the top, and it will lead you to a page where you can select what kind of recipe you are looking for (mains, desserts, breakfast, etc.). Vegetarian and vegan categories are included.
What’s great about iFoodReal: ALL recipes are clean! That means you can choose anything and not worry about it being unhealthy for you (unless you have dietary restrictions or allergies, then pay attention to the ingredients lists)! All of the recipes are broken down into categories, then into smaller sections for specific finds. On iFoodReal there are options for everyone including “15 minute mains,” “protein powder desserts,” and “snacks crunchies.” I didn’t even know I was looking for some of these categories before I found them.
iFoodReal provides the nutritional information after each recipe. This is a HUGE bonus because you are able to make an informed decision about what you are baking. The nutritional information helps you choose which recipe is right for you, so you can find something yummy and good for you!
Healthy Tip: try to make things with less sugar and more protein or dietary fibre!
Check out this Gingerbread Loaf, it’s almost the most wonderful time of the year, after all!
Ambitious Kitchen is written by Monique. There are countless recipes for all tastes: healthy and indulgent, sweet and savoury. My favourite thing about any recipe blog is a search bar to narrow down the abundance of yumminess, and this is conveniently located right at the top of any page! Make sure you search “healthy” on this website, as the Ambitious Kitchen uses sugar freely in some of the recipes. However, the search results for “healthy” include numerous recipes for savoury and sweet taste preferences as well as blog posts about healthy living.
What’s great about Ambitious Kitchen: Monique incorporates more than just recipes into her page. Under the “Healthy Living” tab at the top of the page, she provides workouts that are so simple, you can do them at home (maybe even while your baked goods are in the oven!). Another great thing is that most recipes call for ingredients that you might already have, or that are easy to find so you won’t need a lot of trips to any specialty grocers. Like iFoodReal, this site also includes nutritional information for all recipes!
I was first introduced to Ambitious Kitchen by a friend of mine! Her favourite recipe is for the Whole Wheat Oatmeal Applesauce Banana Bread!
Amy’s website is a bit simpler than the first two, but comes equipped with a search bar, recipe sign-up, and recipes menu. The main categories are “breakfast,” “lunch & dinner,” “starters, snacks, & sides,” and my favourite… “desserts!” These categories are broken into more specific ones, so everything is very easy to find!
What’s great about Amy’s Healthy Baking: Everything I’ve tried so far is incredibly easy to make and there is a lot of variety within each dessert category (hello, 100+ kinds of cookies!). The only trick is, again, looking at the amount of sugar in the dessert recipes. I can usually get away with using less than the suggested amount without anyone noticing and they still taste great!
Check out these Classic Monster Cookies
Healthy Tip: use half the amount of sugar she suggests (try only 1/4 cup), since the peanut butter is sweet anyways, and play with the toppings! Try pepitas, semi-sweet chocolate chips, raisins, dried cranberries, etc. instead of the M&Ms.
Try these Soft Baked Ginger Cookies as a bonus recipe for the holidays!
The Minimalist Baker has a really attractive website design and great pictures, as everything looks very light and clean. Dana is the creator of this website and has entire sections dedicated to vegan and gluten- free recipes. In her “About Me” page, she states that she is lactose intolerant, has gluten-free friends, and promotes the incorporation of more veggies into our diets!
What’s great about Minimalist Baker: If you scroll down, on the right hand side appears a “Most Popular” bar so you can see what recipes are enjoyed the most! It is very diet-specific, so if you have dietary restrictions you are likely to find something for you!
I always go onto this site for sweet things but it has a number of savoury dishes too! I always find a new food idea on Minimalist Baker because Dana uses such unique ingredients and flavour combinations.
One more great thing to enjoy about Minimalist Baker: Dana includes How-To pages. If you scroll down to the bottom of the recipes page you will find links from “How To Make Cauliflower Rice” to “How To Make Date Caramel.”
My favourite recipe by Minimalist Baker is the 1 Bowl Apple Gingerbread Cake! It is so rich in flavour and the ingredients list is all vegan.
I made adjustments based on what I had in my fridge at the time, such as: using real eggs instead of the flax eggs and using the sugar substitute, erythritol (from Bulk Barn) instead of organic cane sugar, and using coconut oil over grape seed oil, but everything turned out so yummy! I am already planning on making this for my family over Christmas because it’s so insanely good. Holiday miracle: this cake combines gingerbread and apple, my favourite holiday flavours!
I randomly stumbled upon this website via Rachel Bilson’s Instagram (Hi, Summer from the OC). She made the banana muffins for her family!
I haven’t perused this website as much as the previous four, but from what I can tell, Cookie and Kate has great pictures for each recipe, showing the steps along the way, and produces many healthy recipes for treats we can all enjoy! There are crisps, cookies, muffins, salads, soups, and dinners for the family. *Here I am, searching for dinner inspiration while writing this article*
What’s great about Cookie and Kate: it includes many recipes for low-sugar treats! This is great because you can indulge in these treats without feeling guilty about eating “junk food.” This website also has a meal plan section that you can sign up and pay for, or just look at to get the general idea of what you need to do to plan your meals. Meal plans are great to help those of you who need new meal ideas (think of how many different ways you can use one ingredient) or simply more structure to your healthy eating!
Check out these Apple Muffins
They look so easy to make and are sweetened with honey or maple syrup instead of sugar!
Rules of thumb for healthy baking:
- Use LESS SUGAR. Many studies are starting to show that sugar is the real enemy, not fat, so challenge yourself to cut back. In recipes that use fruit, you may find that the whole portion of sugar is not always necessary, since the fruit is already sweet!
- Know your healthy substitutions and find nutritional information, if that is important to you.
- Make sure you have all ingredients before starting!
- Always, always enjoy what you make, you put the effort in to create this! You deserve it!
Note: I am presenting all of these sites as inspiration for baking, but take a look around. There are so many meal ideas on all of these sites, you can find something new to make for dinner or breakfast or just because you feel like it!
Let us know if you try any of these recipes in the comments below!