tips for baking?

jldaley09

I am relatively a novice cook, and I was making my favorite muffins today and when I entered it into the recipes they were 230 cals each.
here is the recipe:
1 1/3 c flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch cloves
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1/4 c canola oil
1 c sour cream (I used 1 c plain fat free greek yogurt)
1 l granny smith apple (I used 2 tiny ones because its what I had)
1/2 c walnuts (optional)
1/2 c sweetened dried cranberries

Here is my question, if I sub applesauce for the oil, could I reduce the sugar? and if so by how much?
I know using wheat flour in bread it has to be balanced with white or it wont turn out, if I sub wheat flour for the white, can I do it straight across or will have have to have a wheat/white mixture as well. I just want to make them healthy and I like the walnuts in them,and they are so hearty! If I can cut the calories down some I want to try. I just have never really modified recipes much. Thanks in advance!

raylenebrooks

If you use whole wheat pastry flour you can sub it all otherwise half or they may be dense. you can use less sugar I would try 1/4 cup and think it shouldnt change the texture to much or agave could be subbed I would try 1/4 cup also oh deff try the applesauce that should work no problem. I am not doing much baking while dieting but ww pastry is great for all baking

kupc4k3

You can substitute regular sugar for Splenda. They have it also like brown sugar!
Splenda has zero Calories unlike regular sugar and it is left unabsorbed. So you'll save a lot of Calories there seeing how one teaspoon of sugar is about 15kcals!

ve022

Be careful with splenda.... as there is a difference. I would use the baking splenda... as there is granule and baking.

hanna1210

I use applesauce all the time for baking, but I don't use the sweetened kind, mainly because it's a few more calories. But definitely don't use it as a substitute for sugar. It's an added sweetness, but not enough to make up for the real thing.

Oh, and replace eggs with the fake ones, like Egg Beaters or Break-free. It makes less of a mess and the cholesterol and fat are dramatically reduced.

jldaley09

Thanks for the tips, I don't like to use splenda, I have a problem with sugar substitutes. My applesauce does not have much added sugar, just a tiny bit as its homemade and I can control how much sugar goes into it. I have Agave so I might try that! Great idea! And thanks for the information on the Pastry flour. I just want these to be as healthy and whole as possible. Oh and I don't worry too much about the eggs, I have my own chickens so I always have more than enough.