Healthy Recipe Substitutions
Fall is officially here and you know what that means…baking!! With holiday parties just around the corner, it’s time to begin planning your menus now! J
Just when you think you’re ready to break out the flour and sugar, you might want to reconsider a few of these healthy substitutions for your next dessert:
Black beans for flour: Drain and rinse a can of black beans, put them in a food processor or blender and voila! You now have the perfect substitute for flour! Not only do you add extra fiber and protein in your baking but you cut out all the unnecessary gluten without sacrificing your sweet tooth! (You may see this done often in brownies…and by “often” we mean that we are posting a recipe for chocolate flourless brownies tomorrow so make sure you check back!)
Nut flour for wheat or white flour: Most commonly found in your local health foods store, almond flour is a perfectly healthy substitute for regular flour. Almond flour is free of yeast and gluten and high in protein and omega-3s so this is definitely “a-okay” in our book! (We also enjoy garbanzo or black bean flour!)
Natural peanut butter for reduced fat peanut butter: as deceiving as it may sound, reduced fat peanut butter can actually have more sugar are artificial sweeteners than regular, all natural peanut butter. A favorite brand of ours is Laura Scudder’s old-fashioned smooth or nutty peanut butters. With only two ingredients (peanuts and less than 1% salt), you can’t get any cleaner than that!
Erythritol for sugar: Erythritol is a sugar alcohol derived from the bark of birchwood trees. It measures cup for cup just like regular sugar but is calorie free and doesn’t have any negative effects on our blood sugar. Erythritol is naturally about 80% as sweet as regular sugar and is the perfect substitute for baking or even using in your coffee and tea.
No one said it would be easy testing all these different foods but since we’re committed to healthy living, we’re more than willing to be the guinea pigs!
Have you found any healthy recipe substutions? If so, send 'em our way! We'd love to incorporate them into a recipe!
