Guest Author - Christina T. Schlachter, PhD
Make dessert recipes healthier, without losing the taste! One of my favorite stress relievers is to go into the kitchen, pull out a recipe, and bake, bake, bake. I have a fondness for cakes & puddings, but most of these traditional recipes are healthy eating mine fields. Here are some tips and ideas on how to make any recipe a healthier one, some you may already use, others may become great alternatives to your favorite recipes.
If the recipe calls for instant pudding...
Instant pudding is deceivingly horrible for your body and health. Most sugar free puddings have food coloring and ingredients I cannot even pronounce. It takes about 5 minutes more to make your own, and you can make it healthy. This one is a great for banana pudding cake and parfaits.
3 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 cups 1% milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix together cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a oven safe pan. Turn heat to medium and add milk and egg in small patches, stirring constantly. Stir until thickens. Once pudding is thick, take off the heat, and stir in vanilla. Pour into dishes or a bowl and chill for at least 30 minutes. If you do not like the �pudding skin� cover with plastic wrap. Mix in berries, bananas, or organic graham crackers for a yummy dessert.
Make your own heathy dessert by replacing some of the butter in traditional recipes. Here is how.
Alternatives to butter rich cakes and cookies.
If the recipe calls for butter, you can lighten the fat and calories but not lose the taste or texture with two alternatives.
Baby steps: If a recipe calls for soften butter, using 1/4 butter, 1/2 half and half, 1/4 canola oil, maintains the moisture, texture, and cuts approximately 10% of the fat and calories without missing a beat.
Step it up: Replace butter with a mixture of 1/2 butter and 1/2 applesauce. Best in cakes and brownies, as the texture will be more moist and edges do not crisp up, but a great everyday alternative.
