Holiday Baking? Avoid The Added Calories With These Tricks!
The holiday season can be such a magical time of year. However, with all the parties, holiday shopping, decorating and food preparation, your fitness and health goals can drop to the bottom of the totem pole, fast. Perhaps the holiday parties make it the hardest to stay on track. There is good (and caloric dense) food all around, what is one to do?! Check out my guidelines on how to bake healthy goods during this time of year (and really any time of year!).
TOP 5 WAYS TO MAKE HEALTHY COOKIES!!
1) Swap out the white flour! Do you know how many alternatives there are for flour? Perhaps you could use whole wheat flour or oatmeal flour to decrease the spike in insulin. OR my all time favorite, nut flours! Try using a mix of coconut flour, almond flour or hazelnut flour. There are also flours made from chickpeas which can make a great base for cookies!! All are A-OK in the CW Kitchen!
2) Say no to the butter! I am always so shocked when I see recipes that require absurd amounts of butter! To be honest, I always cut it in half because it never needs as much as it says (and no one ever notices). It wasn’t until late that I started swapping out butter for coconut oil though. Coconut oil is a great substitute for butter and you’ll need way less!
3) No refined sugar! Refined sugar is so 2005. No one uses it anymore. Plus as much as we hate to use it, it doesn’t like us back (there’s no nutritional value, sorry). Try using coconut sugar or apple sauce (or both!). Both coconut sugar and apple sauce will give baked goods the sweet taste without the massive amounts of refined sugars. Did you know that coconut sugar has a lower sugar content and it doesn’t spike insulin levels as quickly as regular sugar? Now you want to try it, don’t you?!
4) Egg whites only, sorry yolks! Did you know 2 yolks a day is your total cholesterol intake for ONE day? EK! That’s not good. So why not ditch the yolks and eat up the egg whites (typically add one extra egg white depending on the recipe). This will NOT change the flavor of the cookies but it will make them healthier!
5) Recipe call for chocolate? No problem! Who doesn’t love a homemade chocolate chip cookie (especially Santa)?! Opt for 70-80% dark chocolate chips when making these cookies AND for an extra touch, sprinkle in some cocoa powder (great antioxidant). This will help decrease the sugar content and increase the taste! Now we are talking..!
Try these tips out for some healthy baking and happier waistline this holiday season! Send us your recipes and pictures! We would love to share your baking tips and tricks on our social media. Email cwphysique@gmail.com!
In good health,
Cristina Panagopoulos
Owner of CW Physique