I was hoping to start a thread with tips on how to substitute with whole foods. I can google recipes come up with all kinds of substitution suggestions, but they use ingredients I refuse to use.

I was thinking of things along the lines of Buckeyes. They're made with peanut butter, confectioner's sugar, butter and chocolate. I'd like to find a way around so much sugar, and maybe use less butter too.

I have found recipes for making this healthier, but it uses "fake" foods to do it.

I make my own peanut butter. I was thinking of playing with a mixture of confectioner's sugar and WW flour.

Along those lines, are there any guidelines for how to use WW flour in recipes instead of white? Is there a different ratio?

Anything you can think of to add to this topic would be awesome! No one cooks with real food anymore! It's all artificial sweeteners, powders and store bought processed junk.

Well I generally don't 'bake' or make sweets so I don't know about substitutions for those types of things. I think I'd make something more like a date nut bar though if I was going to try. Dates, peanutbutter, adjust to get right consistency. Maybe add oatmeal?


In terms of white flour vs whole wheat flour, I think you can use 1 for 1 whole wheat pastry flour but not regular whole wheat flour because it is too dense. Again, I don't bake, maybe use something that requires flour once a year.

Only thing I really know about is using things like applesauce to sub out oil.

Oh, I didn't think of oatmeal. You know, that sounds quite tasty actually. It may not quite LOOK right in a buckeye, but who cares? LOL!

Here is some "healthier" cookie recipes..

http://www.healthyfoodforliving.com/?p=5926

http://www.healthyfoodforliving.com/?p=11384

http://greenlitebites.com/2010/11/03...-cookie-balls/

That second recipe is what I was thinking although I would've just winged it, but I'd say try that second one. I might try that first one, that sounds like my kind of thing.

ahem..... close enough to buckeye ish- no? Not all that healthish though...

http://www.healthyfoodforliving.com/?p=6293

Evilwoman, I am in love!! Wow! Exactly, exactly what I was looking for!! I get to make treats again! I am so excited!!

Seriously, since starting this diet all "treats" recipes have artificial ingredients in them and I don't do that! This is amazing! My family might think I'm a good cook again.

Hey Eliana,
Glad I could help, the first link- the pecan pie version balls is figure friendly & perfect for New Years Eve or Turkey day dessert IMHO!

I find that cooking with whole grains and subbing in whole wheat flour means that sometimes baked goods are better after sitting a day - lets the moisture distribute well. I also think WW flour is good in this sort of application, as these items aren't supposed to be light and fluffy - a texture I find hard to achieve with WW flour.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this way - I'm currently in love with dates and figs because they are sweet, moist and go well with a number of things. The allow me to remove sugar. I have also used beets and pumpkin in place of some oil in pumpkin bread and chocolate bread.

I made the pecan date balls and the peanut butter pumpkin balls and both are yummy! Yes, the dates do sweeten them quite nicely and Runnerchemist, I was thinking figs would be awesome! I love the texture of figs.

I checked out other parts of the healthyliving blog site and really liked it. They're not all healthy as in good for a diet, but they're all natural goodies using less sugar and more natural unprocessed ingredients. I like that a whole lot.

This is definitely my way of cooking. I am absolutely tickled that I get to move beyond baked chicken and yogurt.

I was just getting so frustrated artificial sweeteners. These days all you can find are recipes that call for that or some kind of powder.

I substitute whole wheat flour for white flour in everything. Sometimes my husband doesn't like it, he's more sensitive to texture than I am. He is satisfied if I do no more than 1/2 whole wheat in some things, like breads. Experiment and see what kinds of results you get. Cake is the only thing I'm leery of substituting the flour. Sugar can be substituted with many things. I often use cup for cup of raisins. I throw them in the blender with any liquid ingredients. Depending on the recipes, oils and fats can be cut in half without detrimental effect or even eliminated. I've heard of people using moist fruits in place of oils. Personally, I don't find it necessary, though it does make cookies more chewy. If you do cut the oil in cookies, realize they won't melt the same way, so you actually have to shape and press your cookies on the pan. It's actually becoming second nature to me to look at a recipe and change it so I don't use sugar and only minimal fats.

For example, the Vanishing Oatmeal Cookie recipe from Quaker Oats (which you can find on their website, since I don't have linking ability yet, if you want to see it, just google it) becomes:

Heat oven to 350°F.
Blended in a blender or food processor:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1 1/4 cup raisins
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combined in a bowl:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Then add the stuff from the blender or food processor. Mix well, then mix in:

3 cups oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup raisins, craisins or mini chocolate chips

Shape tablespoonsful of dough on a cookie sheet, covered with parchment paper.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.


Another quick thing my kids and I do is mix unsweetened peanut butter with all fruit jam or honey, sometimes adding a little cocoa powder, and stir in oatmeal. Rolled into balls or sometimes we just eat it by the spoonful.

Lemontree -

Try subbing whole wheat PASTRY flour made from white wheat (instead of hard red wheat). It's much lighter and besides tasting like graham crackers a bit, you cannot tell with the texture.

I buy Bob's Redmill Whole Wheat Pastry flour and use it in everything. You can also substituite some of the flour for oats in most recipes. Sometimes I do this in muffins. I also sometimes replace some of the flour with ground flax or flaxmeal.


As far as the recipe for Buckeye's...are they baked or you eat them raw like that? I think cornstartch or potato startch might make up for some of the powdered sugar "bulk" and also ww flour would probably work, as well as oats (I like this idea the best!). The butter is probably the hardest thing to sub there...I'd maybe just use smart balance light (reduced fat margarine) for part of it. I don't think the regular applesauce thing would do much for replacing it if they are raw?

I'd also recommend whole wheat pastry flour. I made some pumpkin cranberry cookies with it recently and they were very light and cakey. I also used mashed banana in place of butter in a 1:1 ratio, and you can't really taste it at all. Some friends of mine devoured the cookies and they couldn't tell there was banana in there haha.

I created this recipe myself, it's a great Dark Chocolate Muffin Mix!

100 cals each muffin, 1 gram of fat.

3 cups of Whole wheat flour

3 egg whites

1 tsp of vanilla

1 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of flaxseed meal

1/4 cup of wheat bran

2 cups of AppleSauce

1/2 cup of DARK chocolate chip morsels

Add Walnuts if you want (if you do it will be extra cals/fat)

Here's a GREAT buttermilk substitution:

1/3 cup whole or 2% milk
1 tsp vinegar

Makes Buttermilk! Enjoy!

P.S. I've tried this sub when making the BEST pumpkin-raisin muffins and they turned out superb!