There are healthier ways to bake mouth watering treats. You can easily switch out refined flour and sugar for better for you nut and rice flours along with all natural sugars like maple syrup and agave. Yet there are other ingredient conundrums that can more or less be solved.
Vegan or vegetarian baking holds the answers. Many home bakers want to omit eggs for something healthier or won''t trigger egg allergies. There is Just Egg, an egg yolk substitute that can make everything from omelets to cookies. It's made from mung beans and has the same eggy flavor as the real thing. Three tablespoons equal one egg, yolk and white included.I've baked with it and it did produce a crisper cookie. There is also Vegg, a powdered egg sub in that's also plant based. They use peas to create the mix, You do have to buy the Vegg Uncaged version and then add a teaspoon of coconut sugar along with a scant amount of water to get the liquid. again I'v e made brownies with it and they came out chewy and dense. You can reduce the amount of sweetener if you use Vegg's one. Dairy is always another area of concern. For milk the best replacement is soy. It has the same amount of protein as cow's milk and it helps baked goods to brown nicely. This is perfect for pond cakes and biscuits, recipes that don't require icing. almond milk is the second best bet. as for butter. Melt plant based butter is a good alternative. and it is a good leavening agent. It works perfectly in cookies and creates a lovely brownness to them. Miyoko's also works well as does avocados and applesauce. Nut butters and pumpkin puree can also make for a smooth batter or dough.
The big question is the frosting. Most American buttercreams have at least two to two and a half cups of confectioners sugar in them. This is way too sweet no matter how tasty they are. Yet what's a cupcake without a big blob of colorful icing on it? There is a way to have healthy and decadent.. One is making your own sort using ground coconut sugar and tapioca flour. If you can't get the tapioca flour then just use cornstarch or arrowroot powder.You do need a high powered blender like a Vitamix to grind it into that powdery consistency. It just takes only thirty to sixty minutes and storing it in an airtight container. This is also perfect for making glaze and icing for cakes and cookies too. another frosting idea is taking maple syrup and vegan cream cheese. You will need to use Greek yogurt but only a quarter cup of it along with a dash of vanilla extract. another recipe for a healthy but still creamy topping is a mix of unsweetened apple sauce and coconut oil. Palm oil and tapioca or arrowroot flour round it out to give it both that creamy mouth feel and taste. You could also use cocoa powder for a chocolate frosting.
Healthy baking can be done. You can even have cupcakes with a big swirl of frosting on top. It's just subbing in the good ingredients for the bad ones>It's just that easy.
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