Guilt-free baking

If you have a sweet tooth then it is important that you satisfy your cravings otherwise you won’t last very long on any diet or healthy regime. When you deprive yourself you are setting yourself up for either a binge, yo-yo dieting or mood swings that will weaken the most disciplined person. Having said this high sugar foods need to be monitored and eaten only occasionally as they are high in calories and most high sugar foods have very little nutritional value.

The secret to long term success is to include your favourites, just learn how to do them the low fat/low sugar way. I have adapted most of your favourite cakes, biscuits and muffins in my recipe books, this way you don’t have to miss out – yes, you now can have your cake and eat it too! When I was losing my weight, I would bake one of my cake or muffin recipes each week and then wrap individual serves in cling-wrap and freeze. That way, I could defrost and enjoy my daily guilt-free sweet treat without over-indulging. Here are some more tips:-

1. Baking with low fat margarines is a great way to lower the fat count of most baking recipes.

2. Use skim milk. It’s amazing how much fat you can save with skim milk only 0.2grams of fat a cup compared to nearly 10 grams for full cream milk.
 
3. Egg yolks are full of saturated fats and of no real benefit to cakes; I use only the egg whites, which have all the nutrients and raising ability, so why add 6g of fat per yolk when you don't need too.

4. I use ½ cup of apple sauce (in jar) instead of oil or butter in a cake or batch of muffins. Add some bicarb soda to the apple sauce (it will froth) which will keep the baking light. Apple sauce gives the moisture butter or oil would normally give, but has no fat so this is another fantastic way to cut down the fats in baking.

5. One of the tricks to making a low fat cake or muffin is in the folding. You really need to be careful when folding the flour through cause if you over beat they will come out tough or rubbery. Baking my way means there is no fat in the recipe. Fats normally protect the gluten when stirring, so you must fold flour through as if you are making a delicate sponge.

6. Cooking spray or baking paper is better than greasing cake pans with butter and flour.

7. Watch what you add to baking as there are many hidden fats, such as adding nuts, yes they are good for you but they are also high in fat so use sparingly in baking same goes for coconut, cream and cream cheese.

So the next time you feel like baking why not try one of my low fat recipes such as Wicked Chocolate Cake, Apple Teacake, Carrot Cake, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Date Loaf, Jam Drops, Pumpkin Scones and so much more...all delicious for morning or afternoon teas, a school fete or a celebration.

More tips from Annette