3 Baking Swaps That Make Your Cookies and Brownies So Much Healthier

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How do you take the butter out of your cookies without ruining the flavor? (Photo: Romulo A Yanes)

Do you ever buy “low-fat” cookies or “reduced-fat” pudding in an attempt to be healthy? “Try not to get sucked into a lot of ‘reduced fat’ versions of snacks and condiments,” says NYC-based personal trainer Jamie Corso. “A lot of these versions have added sugars, carbs, and fillers. It’s better to stick to the natural thing,” she says. Corso and pal Amber Samee launched a local business called Slim Kitchen that specializes in homemade desserts with real ingredients. The idea is that natural fats and a little real sugar is better for you than chemicals, white flour, and tons of added sugar that’s typically found in fat-free desserts.

I found Corso through our shared passion for healthy baking, and we immediately bonded over our love of oat flour and nut butters. If you have a sweet tooth like us, learning to bake with healthy, natural ingredients will change your life—promise. All you need to do is learn a few basic switcheroos: “There is always a healthy substitution for many ingredients in cooking or baking,” she says. “Most recipes call for an overabundance of oils or sugar,” says Corso. To start, she recommends you replace both, and takes us through a few healthy swaps below.

Related: The 10 Healthiest Foods to Have in Your Kitchen 

Instead of sugar:
“For sugar, you could use stevia, which is an all natural sweetener made from the rebaudioside (Reb A) plant. Stevia does not raise your blood sugar levels like sugar does.” Note: I find that Stevia has a much stronger taste than sugar, so start by using just a tiny pinch and work up from there.

Instead of oil:
“Many times oil can be substituted with applesauce,” says Corso. The natural sweetness of applesauce will also cut down the amount of sweetener you need to use. Another option? “You could sub in coconut oil. Coconut oil can actually help you burn more fat.”

Instead of flour:
“For white flour, a great alternative is oat flour. We use it for pretty much everything. Oats are a great source of fiber and also an excellent source of slow-digesting carbs, which means you will feel fuller longer!” Almond flour also works well in a pinch, and you can make both oat and almond flour by grinding up oats or almonds in a NutriBullet in seconds, in addition to buying it ready-made.

By Marissa Gold

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