New Again for like the 10th Time

hi Joanne. Welcome back.

Curious? Are these baked goods you’re buying, or some you’re baking yourself?

I love taking baked good recipes and seeing where I can trim them.

I made scones yesterday, and reduced the sugar by half and the butter by 1/3. They were still lovely and enjoyable. Actually, I use margarine because it’s almost half the calories of butter, and little difference in taste. My scones, even with generous dried fruit included, were about 250 or so per serving )(standard scone recipe makes 8).

if I crave pie, I buy those tiny little party appetizer crusts, bake them, finely dice fruit (typically an apple) and “sautee” the apple with either a little water, syrup or even sugar free syrup, spoon it into the teensy crusts, put a pinch of pecan meal on top of each, and bake them a little longer. Voila! A nice mini apple pie for about 70 calories.

I baked cinnamon rolls last weekend using a recipe from a famous London Bakery. Excellent! Just like the bakery’s! I’ve already figured out a way to reduce the calories of each roll by about 200- less sugar, waaay less butter (again..margarine for me!) and I plan to substitute molasses or sorghum for some of the sugar in the cinnamon filling. Not only will it spread easier, but they’re already way too sweet anyway.

Plain applesauce is my go-to to replace sugar in many baked goods, including pancakes. Much healthier, with no detriment to taste. Also works great as a substitute for oil in box cake mixes, too.

If you’re doing your own baking, experiment. Apply your ingenuity and think “how can I make this lower cal while still enjoying good flavor?”