Making Recipe Changes in Baked Goods

In today's world, most of us are looking for ways to enjoy our favorite baked goods while keeping off those excess pounds. Here are several ideas:

1. Substitute unsweetened applesauce for oil when baking. Even though the applesauce is unsweetened, it has natural sugars which can then lead you to cut down just a bit on added sugar.

2. Substitute eggs whites for some eggs in recipe. So if a recipe calls for 4 eggs, use two whole eggs and two egg whites only.

3. If you're using an old recipe from your mother or grandmother, there might be more sugar than needed. Older recipes called for higher amounts of sugar. Try cutting out just a bit of the sugar called for.

4. Always decrease the amount of chocolate chips, nuts, etc in baked goods. This helps to greatly reduce calories.

5. Try reduced fat cream cheese, reduced fat sour cream and reduced fat cheeses. I wil often mix half regular and half reduced fat. This too cuts down on calories without giving up all of the taste.

6. When making frosting, cut out some of the confectionars sugar. It's very sweet and you don't need the full amount.

7. If you're adding frosting, make a thin layer instead of a thick layer. You'll still get frosting but in moderation.

8. Make your cookies small. Most folks will eat one or two regardless of size, so make them smaller.

Enjoy the baked goods, but with a bit fewer calories.

Audrey :)