I miss baking

  • I really miss baking, it's one of my favourite things to do in the kitchen, fortunately my other one is making soup, which is coming in handy.

    I have found some muffin recipes which fit into my plan (which is my own creation, following a low GI and low calorie diet) as long as I only have one for breakfast and put the rest in the freezer

    If anyone has any tried and tested diet friendly baking recipes I would be most grateful
  • Funny you would post this today, I am gearing up to test some oatmeal choc chip cookies this weekend, with splenda or brown sugar twin as some sugar substitute and perhaps applesauce or prunes for half the fat. I'll let you know how it works out, but I really miss sweets, and hope I can come up with an edible cookie.
  • You might take a look at the Splenda web site. Splenda can be used in baking, but only to sub for HALF the sugar, because sugar plays a role in the structure and chemical reactions of baked goods. So, they have a lot of recipes on that site with that in mind, and also some general rules and tips for subbing splenda on your own in other recipes. A lot of people report success with subbing applesauce or prune puree for oil or other fat in things like quick breads, although I've not tried it myself. Also remember that yeast breads are more diet-friendly than sweets since there is no sugar, and those are a lot more "therapeutic" to make when you knead by hand!
  • re. splenda, It depends on what you're making. I've made wonderful berry or apple crisps, banana cream pies, and other things and used only splenda, no sugar, since I was cooking them for my diabetic grandmother.
    cheers,
    Sue
  • I guess I was thinking of a "baked good" being bread, cookies, cake, etc. If the sugar is there JUST to sweeten, as with puddings, pie fillings, cobblers, etc., all splenda is fine. However in any type of baked good that has to rise, you need some sugar for stability and structure.
  • my mom uses apple sauce instead of sugar....
  • I wonder, when applesauce is used in lowfat recipes... is it the sweetened or unsweetened kind?
  • I've used it in some cookies with ground pecans and it worked fine. It actually makes a crumbly, shortbread-like cookie, which I like, presumably because there's not the moisture of sugar or the melting aspect of it. I also used it in a shortbread crust & it was great (not low fat though)
    cheerio, Sue
  • I've modified one of our favorite banana muffin recipes by substituting the sugar with Splenda, using reduced fat margarine instead of butter, and cutting the white flour by half and making the difference up with wheat flour. My kids couldn't tell the difference and they are quick to tell me if something doesn't taste just right.
  • I miss baking too! I used to like making bread and cookies and muffins. I do have a scone recipe from JC cookbook, haven't made them in a while though. I plan on making a chocolate cheese cake for V-D that I got from this site. Let me know if you're interested in the scone recipe, ky.
  • I generally use all Splenda in my recipes and though you can tell a little difference texture wise the result is still usually fine. I have found that there are many modifications you can make, i.e., with applesauce, pumpkin, splenda, etc and I still enjoy baking just in a lower fat way. And I have discovered the joys of making things into muffins instead of loaves of banana bread or pans of cake. Serving size is where it is at with me because it's a lot easier to nibble with a large pan of something instead of taking a whole other muffin/cupcake and devouring that.