5 Ways to healthify Baking

Baking:

One of the methods of cooking is baking,it consists of using dry heat in a closed area.The conventional  equipment used for baking are pressure cooker,microwave,oven etc.In this process, the heat generated in these equipments make contact with dough/batter & this heat causes starches in the vessel to change the form. This heating process results in a browned surface usually called Maillard i,e, browning reaction. The closed area is necessary for effective baking in order to distribute heat uniformly which results in uniformly baked product.

Baking is a method of cooking that uses dry heat in an enclosed space.

Healthy Baking:

• Look out for Portion Size: The size of the baked goods is important to keep the product appealing. This can be achieved by procuring baking vessels of various shapes & sizes. To keep overeating at bay,smaller portions of baked goods are advised to be consumed..

• Check  the ingredients:

It is advisable to use quality ingredients for flavoured products where minute designing is expected on the surface of the baked product. Usually we use sweet cream or vanilla beans  for decorative purposes.

It is also advisable to use nutritious rich ingredients to the recipe to make it more healthier.

•  Addition of a Fruit/Vegetable:

Use of shredded carrot or pumpkin to the baked item adds to nutritive value, also increases flavour & keeps the baked item in sufficient moist condition.

• Use of  Whole-Grain Flour:

Use of whole grain flour in a ratio of 1:1 is mostly preferred in most of the recipes. To make the recipe more nutritious, the proportion of whole grain flour can be varied with use of whole grain flour with millet based flour as a gluten free alternative.

• Use of less Common Flours:

Conventionally, we use wheat flour for savoury pancakes and waffles, we may try these recipes with chickpea flour alternatively. We may even add almond flour into the dough for flavour and additional nutrient value.

• Use Low-Fat or Fat-free Dairy Products in baking

The baked recipes contain protein and calcium,we can attain the said nutrients by using lower fat-milk,buttermilk or curd in preparing these recipes.

Try removing cream cheese frosting, which is high in calories and saturated fat and has minimal nutritional value.

One of the ways to retain high nutritional value in preparing recipes is from low fat Greek curd.

There are many ways of carrying out this process:

       Using Heart-healthy oil-

By removing butter: We are aware that butter is required in good quantity in preparing baked cookies & cakes.We can make slight modifications in the process without losing taste, texture & aesthetic of the product(cakes & cookies).This can be done by using combination of canola oil with some portion of butter. The ratio of plant based oil & butter can vary from product to product such as muffins,cakes,cupcakes etc. We can use up to  ¾ cup of plant oil for about 1 cup of butter.

As this plant oil contains unsaturated fats which is good for the heart.

• Sugar Substitutes:

Sugar is one of the most important constituents of these baked recipes. As sugar has some adverse effects on few people & also those who have diabetes,therefore it is possible to reduce the sugar component by 25% which will not result in variation in taste.
For instance, in some recipes we need  4 tablespoons of sugar, where we can reduce this amount to 3 tablespoons and also use fruits instead of white sugar as a replacement.

We can also use raisins,dates,fresh fruit juice of apple/pineapple or mango which will even add nutritional value

Instead of using white sugar to sweeten your baked recipes, try replacing sugar with a fruit.

•  Frosting With Flavour: Below mentioned are some healthy icing alternatives for a cake retaining the flavours. Yoghurt & Greek yoghurt can be used as a healthier topping alternative.You can even use a small amount of honey for sweetness and jam over cupcake/cake for a good colour & contrast.

From above, we come to know that baked recipes can be prepared in a holistic manner with high nutritional value and with reduced calories. We can replace regular sweetening agent i.e. white sugar by fruits,raisins & also increase the fibre contents. So enjoy every bite of bakery goodies guilt-free.