Baked goods may be very tasty, but they are often high in saturated fats, sugar and sodium. There are some tricks to preserve the taste but lose the unhealthy criminal.
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Saturated and unsaturated fats
In baked goods, saturated fats often come from butter, lard, or vegetable shortenings. Fat helps blend flavors, moisturize and increase softness. However, if you have too much saturated fat, LDL (bad) cholesterol can increase your risk of heart disease.
You can replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats such as vegetable oils and margarines. Another trick is to cut off some of the fat and replace it with puree fruits such as applesauce, mashed bananas, and puree pumpkin. It provides moisture, sweetness, and some vitamins and minerals. If you reduce the amount of fat used, the baked goods will be a little chewy and less fat.
Sugar and puree fruit
Sugar and other natural sweeteners such as honey, maple syrup, and molasses help keep the baked goods moist. It also provides calories without the actual nutrients. In many cases, reducing the amount of sweetener to one-third can still maintain some sweetness. If you use puree fruit instead of saturated fat, reduce the amount of sweetener used.
Sodium and low sodium alternatives
Sodium in baked goods comes from salt, baking soda, or baking powder. Salt enhances the flavor of other ingredients and controls yeast activity in certain baked goods. Baking soda and baking powder provide leavening agents. Sodium should be used sparingly in people with high blood pressure, kidney disease, and congestive heart disease. However, low sodium baking soda and baking powder can provide the required swelling effect. Even if you reduce the salt content by half, you should be able to obtain flavorful foods.
In today’s lemon brownie bite recipe, we replaced fat with mango baby food. I chose a light-colored mango baby food with a mild taste, but applesauce works as well.
These easy-to-make treats have a rich brownie and lemon bar sweet packer texture, thanks to lemon juice and skin. A bite of these brownie bites should satisfy your sweet teeth at your next picnic.
Bethany Sayre is a dietitian nutritionist registered with Henry Ford Health. For more recipes and health information, please visit henryford.com/blog. If you have any questions about today’s recipe, please email HenryFordLiveWell@hfhs.org.
Lemon brownie bite
make: 16 servings / Preparation time: 20 / total time: 45 minutes
Vegetable oil cooking spray
4 oz jar puree mango baby food
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cup flour
¾ Cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 tablespoons of lemon zest, split
4 tablespoons of lemon juice, split
1 cup of powdered sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Spray vegetable oil cooking spray on an 8 “x 8” baking pan.
In a bowl, add pureed mango, vegetable oil, flour, sugar and salt to the bowl and mix. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, 2 tablespoons of lemon zest, and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice together in a whisk. Add the lemon mixture to the flour mixture and beat with a hand mixer at medium speed for 2 minutes.
Pour the mixture into a baking pan and bake for 25 minutes. Let it cool. Mix powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of lemon zest in a medium bowl. Slowly add the reserved lemon juice to the desired concentration. Spread the glaze over the brownie. When the glaze has hardened, cut it into 16 sticks and put it out.
From Henry Ford Live Well.
115 115 calorie (From 18% thick), 2.5 grams thick (0.5 grams I sat down.thick), 23 grams carbohydrate1.5 grams protein45 mg sodium26 mg cholesterol4 mg calcium0 grams fiber..Food exchange: 1½ starch, ½ fat..
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