Tips and Tricks For Healthy Baking

We have seen that baking has become a part of our daily lives, knowingly or unknowingly we consume a lot of baked goods in our day to day lives, may it be the biscuits or Khari that go with our Chai. The cookie that accompanies our Coffee, the cake we use to celebrate every happy event in our lives, may it be our birthdays, Anniversaries, or a promotion, cakes have become an inescapable part of our life. I’m sure most millennials and Gen-Zs have uploaded at least one span of a cute cupcake, eaten a chocolate-loaded doughnut, or had those delectable brownies. Going to have breakfast and brunch outside and not having a croissant? Impossible. I think I have made the point, Baking and Baked goods have become an unmissable part of our lives, but what also comes with it is the guilt, the guilt of having almost everything that the doctors and dieticians of today advise us against, may it be sugar, Refined flour or maida, loads of butter, or even worse loads and loads of hydrogenated vegetable oils. A week of eating healthy finished with a super sugary loaded doughnut or cake ironically leaves a very bitter aftertaste, guilt, and a spot on our conscience. Although is it possible to leave something so important out of our lives, and not have something we might crave once in a while, I don’t think it is. Hence I will be telling you simple and easy steps which would lead you to have desserts that won't leave you with guilt but with a super satisfied sweet tooth. (Spoiler: a recipe at the end too!!)

1. Make your Baked goods at home

Yes, I know it might seem like something tedious and boring for now, but trust me it isn’t, additionally, I'm sure you guys must have seen reels of delicious baked goods, and surely know how therapeutic and satisfying it feels just to watch it, what if I tell you it's, even more, relaxing to do it. When you make something at home and you know you're the one eating it, you use the best quality ingredients and can also measure out everything that goes in, opposed to the restaurants and bakeries where their only motive is to serve you something tasty even though it might shoot up your cholesterol. You can make things catered to your needs, taste requirements and can also make them fresh and without any additives, artificial flavors, and preservatives, these are things we do not even pay attention to but are super duper unhealthy in the long term. A lot of local bakeries in India are known for not being very clean and I think the best way to avoid it is to make your food hygienically in your kitchen with your own hands.

2. Find Alternatives to Sugar

Sugar is our number one enemy, It is just like your sweet-talking friends who only seem sweet at the start but then leave bitter memories. In a recent scientific study, it has also been found that our brain reacts to sugar the same way it does to a dangerous drug like cocaine, making it addictive and the very reason we crave it. Hence we can use other alternatives like Brown Sugar, jaggery, Molasses, Agave syrup, or the best substitute which is stevia, Stevia is often touted as a safe and healthy sugar substitute that can sweeten up foods without the negative health effects linked to refined sugar. It's also associated with several impressive health benefits, such as reduced calorie intake, blood sugar levels, and risk of cavities. There are many other alternatives as well, but I have only listed the ones with no chemical process or minimal processing

3. Reduce the usage of Maida

Maida or refined wheat is white flour made from wheat. Finely milled without any bran, refined, and bleached, it closely resembles cake flour. Eating maida raises your bad cholesterol (LDL), makes you fat, clogs arteries, raises blood pressure, disrupts blood sugar, keeps you hungry, makes you crave sweets, causes mood swings, and ruins your health. I think the best way to still enjoy your sweets without the use of maida is to use alternatives, you can use alternatives such as Soy flour, Almond flour, Brown rice flour. Oat flour and Quinoa flour. If you even choose to replace your maida by 50%, by using 50% of these other flours it would be a wonderful change.

4. Use Ghee instead of butter or hydrogenated vegetable oils

Yes, you heard it right. The age-old Indian traditional ghee is the answer to all our greasy problems, using ghee instead of butter in making surely makes it a better for you dish, it might still be high in calories, but ghee provides a huge number of benefits as opposed to it other factory-made alternatives.

Recipe For Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie

· 1/2 cup ghee

· 1/2 cup jaggery powder/ coconut sugar

· 1 tsp vanilla

· 1 cup whole wheat flour (you can also use Oats or Almond flour)

· 1/2 tsp baking soda

· A pinch of salt

· 1/4 cup cocoa powder

· 1 tbsp cornflour

· 1/4 cup milk

· 1/2 cup Dark chocolate chips

· Sea salt to top

1. In a medium-size bowl, add jaggery powder, to this add your ghee. Keep mixing the mixture till it becomes slightly light and fluffy.

2. Add the vanilla extract and combine all three things.

3. To the same bowl, add in all the dry ingredients. This includes half whole wheat flour and one-half oatmeal flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and cornflour. Mix this well and your cookie dough will reach a coarse consistency.

4. To this, add in the milk and bring everything together.

5. Once the cookie dough is ready, let it rest in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.

6. While the cookie dough is resting, preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

7. Once rested, use a medium-sized ice cream scoop to out even-sized portions of cookie dough and place them on a baking sheet on your baking tray.

8. Flatten the dough a little and add chocolate chips on top.

9. Bake the cookies for 15 minutes. Once the cookies are out of the oven, sprinkle some sea salt on top and let them cool completely.