Holiday baking is fun, and you wait for the festivities all year only to mix your favorite recipes. You may even want to experiment with some latest trends this season. But calories always seem to be on top of your mind as you bake for the festivities. After all, the last thing you want is loads of extra weight for your family at the end of the holiday season. Thankfully, you can cut calories while preparing your favorite Christmas desserts. The best part is that you need not compromise on taste and texture. Here are the tips that help.
Swap white flour with whole wheat variant
You can swap half of the white flour with whole wheat flour for most bakery-type recipes. It will not affect the taste or texture but reduce the calories significantly. Even better, you get the extra fiber that slows digestion and increases fullness. Additionally, the whole wheat variant offers a hefty amount of phytochemicals, magnesium, and selenium. Your cakes and cookies become a lot healthier than you imagine.
Cut the fat
Fatty ingredients like butter, margarine, and oil are the most common calorie culprits in Christmas desserts. You can skip half the quantities of these fats to bring down the number of calories. All you need is creative substitutes like low-fat buttermilk, fat-free sour cream, orange juice, or fruit purees. They add delicious flavors to your desserts while making them light and healthy.
Ditch sugar
The simplest way to cut calories in your holiday sweets is by ditching sugar. But a dessert without sugar sounds like an impossible thing to do. However, you can use a zero calorie sweetener to bake a perfect cake sweet like the one with an all-sugar recipe. The good thing is that you can serve a delicious dessert to your loved ones without worrying about their health.
Trim the extras
Consider recipes without high-fat add-ins and embellishments this season to go low on the calorie count. If you still want to opt for your all-time favorites, you can trim down the amount. For example, half the amount of frosting in your cake recipe. You can skip a layer of cream in a double-layer cake and use fresh fruits as an alternative to chocolate chips. Just a little creativity can make the recipe a lot healthier, and you will probably have a healthier favorite to bake year after year.
Use cooking spray and non-stick dishes
A small swap in your baking technique and dishes can take you a long way with your calorie-cutting goals. Use a cooking spray to cut down the fat in the batter. Investing in non-stick baking pans is another good idea as you will have to use less grease to keep food from sticking. You can check the market for non-stick bakeware, from cake and muffin pans to springform pans and cookie sheets.
Low-calorie baking is not a big feat, provided you are ready to experiment with your ingredients and technique. Follow these tricks, and you can bake without worrying about the results.
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