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I love to bake! Cakes, slices, muffins, the lot :) But with the combination of not working and baking all the time I seem to be bulging out of my pants :redface: But I just can't give it up! So what are your favourite relatively healthy sweet recipes with everyday ingredients? I'm not keen on coconut oil or spelt etc. Just regular stuff.
Oh and I'm thinking of using a sugar substitute like stevia or similar :)
Just throwing some ideas out there:
scones and pikelets (only a little sugar as long as you don't top with jam!)
fruit based muffins
things with healthy stuff like nuts, coconut, oats in them.
I always use wholemeal flour in my baking.
Carrot pikelets.
Apple muffins
Muesli bar slice. (It has lots of sugar in the form of dried fruit).
Zucchini bread (like banana bread)
Cheese crackers ( mine are always too crumbly)
Just cut up fresh fruit and carrots and put it in a bowl and snack on it. If it's pre done, you'll find it gone in no time. And then you are a bit more filled up.
Thanks :) I have an oat slice recipe that I put 1/3 cup brown sugar in and 100g butter/marg. I'd like to omit the sugar, but it already has sulatanas and honey too. So not sure if it would be sweet enough. The original recipe has 1/2 cup sugar and 130g butter, but I tweaked it a bit.
Hmmm, scones are a good idea. Wholemeal flour, pumpkin yum. Not huge on dried fruit, bit of sultana is ok lol
I guess it depends on what you classify as 'healthy' :lol:
I don't think any grain or starch or general polyunsaturated fat is 'healthy'. I could give you lots of recipes without those things if you like.
I'd just reduce sugar and use raw instead of white or even cut the sugar, use unrefined wholemeal or wholegrain flours etc instead of white, try coconut oil instead of part or all of the butter. Little things like that
I'm getting into a different type of baking these days - coconut oil, nuts and seeds, dairy free, wheat free and even raw 'baking' (paleo foods). Not all the time, but I'm really enjoying the change and it's no harder than baking 'normal' stuff. My regular baking always uses Wholemeal flour, low or no refined sugar and I add fruit, seeds, oats and nuts where I can. I don't use sugar substitutes, just try and keep things natural and in moderation).
My suggestions:
Look up Emily Rose recipes - she uses no white flour, no sugar, but bakes with 'normal' ingredients. I make her choc chip bikkies all the time (I decrease the choc chips and add sesame seeds, flaxseeds, oat bran or whatever else I have on hand)
Wholemeal honey banana muffins (uses honey to sweeten and you can replace the banana with other fruit eg apple cinnamon)
Replace white flour with Wholemeal (you might need to add a touch more liquid)
Apple, banana or date purée can replace some sugar in most recipes. Vanilla essence does the same.
Gradually decrease the sugar you put in recipes so your taste buds will adjust.
Try a 'good' oil instead of butter - coconut oil, macadamia oil, sunflower seed oil or rice bran oil. But an unsalted butter isn't bad in itself.
Replace choc chips with 70% cocoa dark choc.
Bake muffins, scones, bikkies and loaves rather than cakes and slices that need icing.
Also check out Sarah Wilson's I Quit Sugar website.
Just as an aside, butter is much healthier than a seed oil. Similarly, unrefined sugar and wholemeal flours have the same effect on your body as the 'white' refined versions. Better to use nut flours or coconut flour.
Fruit purees are concentrated fructose - especially date purée, which is extremely high in sugar. You may as well use the white stuff.
But I don't want to go to a speciality store or buy weird ingredients! Or pay too much and i hate the idea of 'raw' foods with seeds etc. Asking too much ? :lol:
Thank you so much ladies! I guess it doesn't have to be totally healthy, just not AS fatty. So sugar substitutes are out of the question?
Ok maybe give me some good substitutes for:
Sugar
Butter
Oil
I can handle a bit of flour, I prefer the taste of wholemeal flour actually. I looove oats too :) Maybe some websites I can visit ( a few mentioned already, thanks :) )
Oh and N2L, do your recipes have stuff I can get from the supermarket? If so I'd love some :)
There is nothing wrong with butter - repeat after me.... There is nothing wrong with butter!!! :lol:
Margarine is what is unhealthy.
For sugar substitute I use erythritol and/or stevia. Both are 100 per cent natural. You can buy Natvia or Norbu from the supermarket (although I buy erythritol in bulk from iherb in the US). I don't use fruit to sweeten because I don't eat fructose (except the occasional handful of berries). But, apple and banana are good alternative sweeteners.
Oil is fine too. Just not seed oil. So no vegetable, canola, sunflower oils. Use olive oil or coconut oil for baking. Or butter!
Peanut butter cookies
Makes about 15 cookies:
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1 Tbl tahini paste
3 Tbl coconut oil
1 egg
1 Tbl granulated stevia powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup flax meal (ground flax)
3 Tbl coconut flour
1/2 oz 99% dark chocolate, chopped
Combine all the wet ingredients into a medium bowl and stir well. Add the stevia, salt, flax meal and coconut flour and stir until a stiff dough forms. Roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet. Press down with your thumb or the back of a spoon and place a small piece of dark chocolate in the center of the cookie. Alternatively you could mix the chocolate directly into the dough like chips. Or you could use an OVEN PROOF mold to press half the dough into, then the chocolate in the center, then the rest of the dough on top. Bake at 350 degrees (F) for 15 minutes. Pure peanutty, chocolately goodness!
Approx nutrition info per cookie: 135cals, 11g fat, 1.5g net carbs, 4g protein
No bake almond bars
Ingredients
3/4 cup almond flour
3/4 cup unsweetened finely shredded coconut
1/2 cup powdered erythritol (or alternative sweetener)
1 cup + 2 Tbsp almond butter (or any nut butter)
2 Tbsp coconut oil
120gm dark chocolate (85%)
In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut, and sweetener.
Over medium-low heat melt 1 cup of almond butter and coconut oil.
Once melted, add the almond butter to the dry ingredients and mix well.
Press the mixture into a 8" x 8" baking dish.
Over medium-low heat melt 2 Tbsp of almond butter and the chocolate.
Once melted, pour the chocolate over the almond butter mixture and smooth out the top for even coverage.
Refrigerate for 2 hours or until the almond butter mixture has set. To reduce the amount of time for the almond butter mixture to set place the bars in the freezer until set.
Cut into 12 even bars.
No Bake Almond Butter Bars: 5.5 net carbs per serving (yields 12 bars)
Clafoutis
A low carb variation on the classic. I make a half batch of this recipe as it is quite rich and serves don't need to be big.
2 cups coconut milk
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup almond flour
8 Tablespoon butter
1 cup erythritol
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Berries - blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, etc.
Directions
Mix together milk, coconut, eggs, vanilla, flour, butter and sweetener.
Pour into a well greased pie plate.
Decorate with berries. Sprinkle nutmeg on top.
Bake at 180c degrees for 45-50 minutes. Use a deep pie pan or make 2 small pies.
When you take it out of the oven it will still be very soft in the middle. It will get firmer as it cools. Serve hot or cold with cream.
Choc Chip Granola Biscuits
Serves: 20
1/4 cup almond flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons coconut flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon bicarb soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup coconut oil (or butter) melted
1/4 cup erythritol (or alternative sweetener)
2 eggs
40gms 85% chocolate (chopped)
3/4 cup Grain Free Granola ( use chopped mixed nuts/seeds as alternative)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup water
Mix dry ingredients. Add eggs, melted oil/butter, and water. Mix well until dough-like.
Roll into small balls. Place on greased baking paper. Flatten with fork.
Bake on 180c for 15-20 minutes.
Batch: 53 gms carbs, 176 gms fat, 44 gms protein, 32.5 gms fibre, 1975 calories.
Approximately 1 net carb per biscuit.
Casheroos
Serves: 20
1 cup raw Cashews
1 cup whole Almonds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup Pepita
2 tablespoon Linseed
2 tablespoon Sesame Seeds
4 tablespoon Rice syrup
4 tablespoons Coconut
dried Cranberries (optional)
1/2 cup Sultanas (optional)
Cinnamon to taste
Blitz almonds and cashews until roughly chopped. Add to other dry ingredients. Add rice syrup. Mix well. Place into lined slice tin.
Bake at 180 for 20mins or until golden. Leave in tin for 30mins after taking out of oven.
Chocolate chip cookies
2 eggs
2tbs sour cream
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup coconut sugar (I use erythritol)
1/4 cup ricemalt syrup
Dash vanilla
1/2 cup almond meal
2-3 tablespoons coconut flour
1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
I cup rolled oats
75 gm of dark choc (I use 72/85%)
Cinnamon and ginger to taste (optional)
Mix dry ingredients, add wet ingredients. Place on lined baking tray and put in preheated oven at 180 for around 20 mins.
Churro mug cake
The Preparation
Base
1 Egg
2 Tbsp. Butter
2 Tbsp. Almond Flour
1 Tbsp. Erythritol
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
Flavor
2 Tbsp. Almond Flour
1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
1/4 tsp. Vanilla
1/8 tsp. Ginger
1/8 tsp. Allspice
Mix all room temperature ingredients together in a mug.
Microwave on high for 60 seconds.
Turn cup upside down and lightly bang it against a plate.
Optional: Top with whipped cream, then a sprinkle of cinnamon and erythritol.
Thanks N2L, could I substitute the chopped nuts with oats in the granola? Or even do half half?
Yep :)