Top 5 Tips on How to Make Any Baking Recipe Healthier!

As a raw and plant-based food chef, I love the challenge of taking any old recipe and upgrading it into something nutritious, “junk-free” and free of intolerant ingredients as possible. The great thing about raw food is that all raw ingredients are REAL FOOD so by making a recipe raw, you automatically “de-junk” it. It’s fairly simple to “de-junk” any recipe by simply replacing certain processed ingredients and upgrading them to something more nutritious.

My aim is to make healthy food taste just as good, if not better, than less healthy alternatives. If I make my gorgeously moist vegan chocolate cupcakes (recipe below), they have to taste better than the unhealthy ones my grandma would hide from me.

Is it too much to ask that my food tastes good, looks good and is good for me?

Here are my Top 5 Tips to upgrading any baking recipe. I invite you to go away and upgrade your favourite recipes using these tips today. Enjoy!

 

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1. Upgrade sugar with plant-based (non-chemical) sweeteners or coconut sugar
Processed white sugar is toxic and addictive. It spikes insulin levels and contains zero nutritional value. For me, there’s no excuse to use processed sugar these days – there are so many healthier alternatives. A yummy swap would be nutritious coconut sugar, which is low “GI” (Glycemic Index, a scale by which we measure the speed of the effect of “sugar” on blood sugar – the lower the better). For diabetics or those watching sugar-intake, an even lower GI alternative would be natural sweeteners such as 100% stevia or xylitol plant-based sweeteners. Be warned, these are super sweet tasting, so go easy. I love xylitol in baking and 100% stevia leaf to sweeten drinks and smoothies. Agave nectar, by the way, is not an upgrade in my books as it is basically a “High Fructose Syrup”. Agave causes insulin resistance as well as significantly raising triglycerides (a risk factor for heart disease). Watch out for this one as many “health” companies use it claiming it’s better than sugar.

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2. Upgrade your flour
Sadly, as lots of kids and even adults suffer with intolerances these days, we often need to avoid gluten and even nuts.  All is not lost, however, as there are some amazing gluten-free and “intolerance-friendly” alternatives out there. Almond flour is a perfect go-to as long as you’re ok with nuts, or else coconut flour and garbanzo bean flour are baking-friendly and actually provide more fibre than standard processed flours. I have even used tinned garbanzo and black-beans as a flour replacement when I have really needed to  (I’m not a huge fan of tinned food, per se, but I am human after all) – you still get a great result.

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3. Replace salt with high mineral salt
I have about as much love for processed salt as I do processed sugars – none at all. Processed salt robs us of precious minerals while also dehydrating the body. Refined means the naturally occurring complex of nutrients is stripped from the original salt. What you’re left with is a toxic chemical that only resembles natural salt in its taste and texture. Common table salt literally imbalances the minerals in your body because it’s made up of sodium. High mineral salts, such of pink Himalayan salt, grey slat, Celtic salt and sea salt are full of minerals and actually help to replace minerals – this salt will add nutritional quality to your baking.

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4. Rethink your oils and fats
There was recently a viral article about how we should be eating butter because saturated fats do have some health benefits, but it didn’t fully consider the true quality of these fats. Grass-fed and organic butter is surely better for us, but even then there are healthier fats to use. For example, coconut oil’s my go-to because it’s a perfect saturated fat that our bodies can easily use for energy (and no animals were harmed to make it either). It’s also super yummy in baking! I’m not saying everyone should be vegan, but it’s a good idea to think about what fats you’re using. The best ones to use are ones with a high smoke point – such as a coconut oil or rice bran oil – because they don’t go rancid at high temperatures. Vegetable oils like extra virgin olive oil have a lower smoke point and are better for flavouring a dish, as opposed to cooking.

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5. Add in some plants and greens!
And finally, add in some greens! Baking is a super easy way to sneak in some of your five-a-day without your kids or hubby knowing about it! Zucchini is a great veggie for baking as it’s super moist. Beetroot goes great with chocolate recipes and spinach can be hidden with a chocolate taste. Omega-rich chia seeds and bananas are perfect bulking agents for baking. If you’re looking to transition to a more plant-based diet, replacing egg and animal-based thickeners with these options is an easy swap. Take 1 TBS chia to 3 TBS water (soak the chia to make a gel) and you have the equivalent of 1 egg, a.k.a. the “chia egg”.

Secretly Healthy Choc Chip Cupcakes

Vegan, Dairy-free and all Junk-free
Prep Time: about 5 minutes make + max 18 mins baking time
Yield: 12 cupcakes