How To Lighten Up Baked Goods

With many people today trying to lose weight, lighter options of our favorite baked good items and sweet tooth needs is a must.  While many diet options promise to lighten up our favorite treats, the expense can be lofty at best. However making a lighter baked good recipe right at home does not have to be a complicated affair. Lightening up common baked goods can be easily achieved by exchanging a few minor ingredients in your favorite pastry recipe. Whether you will be baking a cake, cupcakes, pies or breads, your friends and family will enjoy a lovely baked good flavor while benefiting from a lighter recipe choice.

Many items in most baked good recipes today can be replaced with ease by using another more diet friendly, health conscious option. Many items, including eggs as well as the actual flour, which makes up the bulk of most baked goods today, can be replaced or even omitted to make for a far lighter baked good treat enjoyable and fit for even the pickiest eaters.

If you’d like to lighten up your favorite baked goods, try one of these options:

• If your recipe calls for oil, choose oil lighter in calories such as olive or vegetable oil. Highly fatty oils can add a heavy caloric count to your baked goods.
• Even if your recipe calls for oil, try replacing it completely. Instead of using vegetable or a lighter oil, try using applesauce or puréed peaches instead. Apples or pureed peaches will add equal amounts of moisture to your baked goods while removing any extra fat that is usually found in oils.
• If your baked good recipe calls for butter or another solid fat, try replacing this with margarine or a low fat butter substitute. Many low fat butter substitutes are more than flavorful enough and well suited to lighten up any baked good recipe.
• If you plan to make a pie which calls for sugar, omit the regular granulated or powered sugar with a lighter choice. Sugar substitutes are highly recommended and useful options for a lighter baked good preference.
• If your baked good recipe calls for syrup based canned fruit, drain and rinse the fruit and replace the syrup with a lighter juice product.  For instance, if you’re using apples in heavy syrup, replace the syrup with canned, jarred or bottled apple juice.
• Refrain from using thick layers of frosting on your baked goods. Frosting and icing can be easily replaced with small amounts of a lightly applied powered sugar or sugar free whipped topping. If your baked good is not heavily sweet itself, simple sugar free fruit piled on top of each sliced piece would more than suffice for a sweet flavor.