This Hack Cuts Calories and Fat From Baked Goods Without Sacrificing Flavor
Getting healthier doesn’t have to mean giving up all your favorite sweet treats, and when it comes to baking, making a few wise (and tasty!) substitutions might be all you need to healthify your favorite snacks. And while butter might seem like the holy grail for rich baked goods, we’re here to introduce you to an alternative that might just make your cakes taste even better without the added calories and fat — applesauce.
Unlike butter, applesauce is a nutritious and low-fat ingredient to add to any baking recipe. It’s often used to replace oils in other cooking recipes to reduce saturated fat content, and the same applies here with baked goods. The best part is, adding applesauce to your baking recipes could actually make your cakes even more moist and decadent. The moisture from the applesauce along with its natural sweetness, acidity, and fruity flavor all make for great tasting treats, whether you’re subbing some of the butter in your baking recipe or all of it.
Adding applesauce to white or yellow cake mix adds a lovely tangy flavor that you wouldn’t get using plain old butter. It’s also a great addition to spice cakes and gingerbread recipes, as the apple taste compliments the warm flavor of the spices. But for cakes like chocolate cake, you probably wouldn’t notice much of a difference in taste. You can also add applesauce to recipes like banana bread for even more deliciousness!
When it comes to texture, using applesauce will make for a much richer cake or cookie. If you don’t want your cake so rich, you can simply swap half of the oil or butter in your recipe with applesauce. However, if you enjoy a more dense cake, go ahead and swap the full portion of butter or oil with applesauce! Your cakes will even stay moist for longer, too.
You can add applesauce to regular from-scratch baking recipes, or even to boxed cake and cookie mixes. When choosing your applesauce, go for options that contain less or no added sugars to make your treats even healthier. Happy baking!
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