How To Guide to Healthy Baking: No Butter, No Sugar, No Milk, No Eggs | Vegan, Gluten Free, Unprocessed

Growing up in a home with a perpetual aroma of freshly baked bread and an ever-replenishing plate of homemade muffins, cookies, or brownies, I could never give up milk, butter or eggs. No way. How could I? Oh, and I definitely could not ever give up muenster cheese. The divine moldy cow teet fluid suffocated in sodium and grease, in between sour dough smothered in 100% cow fat, and grilled.  Divine. Delicious acne. Heavenly mood swings, bouts of depression, energy crashes, and stomachaches.

Although I am not a French trained gourmet baker, my taste buds do not lie.  There are certainly ways to enjoy baking, without the harmful baggage.  Here, you will learn how to make scrumptious baked goods taste the way you like, and make you feel that glowing radiant health that you deserve.  What is life without energy. Only alive radiant energy in my baked goods. peace sign

1.    Flour

“The whiter the bread, the sooner you’re dead.” ~Dr. Joel Fuhrman.

Ideally, we want to transition from white flours to more wholesome flours or products.

Instead of 100% white flour, try:

• ½ whole grain or bean flour + ½ white flour
• Make your own oat flour: blend rolled or quick oats in the blender or food processor until flour consistency

Does what you are making really require flour? I used to think that cookies and brownies needed flour until I tried white bean snickerdoodles and black bean brownies that use beans for a base instead.

2.    Eggs

Little cholesterol and saturated fat bombs. There are lots of healthier alternatives.

The tried and true is the flax or chia egg:

• 1 Tbsp ground flaxseeds + 3 Tbsp water
• 1 Tbsp chia seeds + 3 Tbsp water
• Mix until well combined and let sit until it forms a gel.

For a light and fluffy product, instead of 1 egg, try:

• 2 tsp baking soda + 2 Tbsp warm water
• 1 tsp aluminum free baking powder + 1 tsp. vinegar
• 1 tsp. baker’s yeast dissolved in ¼ cup warm water

Mix until well combined and gelatinous

For thick and dense products, like brownies and cookies, instead of 1 egg, try

• ½ cup mashed ripe banana
• ¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce
• ¼ cup canned pumpkin or squash
• Ener-G Egg replacer product
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch + 2 Tbsp water
• 2 Tbsp potato starch + 2 Tbsp water
• 2 Tbsp. instant mashed potatoes
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch + 2 Tbsp water

Mix until well combined and  gelatinous

Tip: if you need to replace just an egg white, try:

Aquafaba: Don’t pour the canned bean liquid down the drain!  Aquafaba in latin means “water bean”. It is the bean water from a can or from cooking beans.

Use a hand mixer or a stand mixer to whip it up and after beating for five minutes, the liquid will start to form stiff peaks, just like egg whites.  To stabilize the aquafaba, add an acid such as lemon juice, vinegar, or cream or tartar.  Use ½ teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar or ¼ teaspoon of cream of tartar for ¾ cup of bean liquid.  Adding an acid is especially helpful when you are making something that will not be eaten right away as it helps the aquafaba to remain aerated.

Aquafaba in Recipes:

• 1 tablespoon for one yolk
• 2 tablespoons for one egg white
• 3 tablespoons for a whole egg

Another egg white alternative:

•  1 Tbsp plain agar agar powder dissolved in 1 Tbsp water, whipped, cooled, and whipped again for each egg white.

There are lots of other egg replacements out there. Have you tried tofu scramble? For quiches and custards ¼ cup of pureed soft tofu works tremendously.

3.    Milk

For a cholesterol, hormone, and unfavorable protein-free alternative try unsweetened and unflavored varieties of plant milks.  Soy, almond, and rice milks are common neutral good ones.

Instead of buttermilk, try:

• 1 cup unsweetened soy milk + 2 Tbsp lemon juice or vinegar.
• Combine ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until well combined and creamy.
• Equal to 1 cup buttermilk

4.    Butter / Oil

Solid or liquid, animal or plant, it is still 100% fat, absorbed way too quickly, very calorie dense, and not health promoting.  Usually, these are added to moisten the product.  What’s fabulous about vegan baked goods, is that they do not need to be cooked all the way since the ingredients do not harbor food born illnesses like salmonella.  So, they will certainly be ooey, gooey, and moist.  Yet instead of doing so with butter or oil, replace with applesauce, mashed banana, or another chia egg.

5.    Sugar

White sugar is stimulating, like a drug.  It excites us and gets us addicted so we can’t stop thinking about it.  After we have a hit of white sugar and our blood glucose levels spike, a crash follows.  Leading to fatigue, depression, anxiety, and even headaches post-sugar hit.  My recommendation? Stay away from drugs. Crack. Cocaine. White sugar. Etc.

Whole fruit is sweet enough! Dates are loaded with potassium (more potassium than bananas), fiber, and even have great iron and calcium too!  Instead of sugar, blend pitted dates into your recipe.  Make sure they are moist enough by soaking them in warm water for at least 15 minutes before using if they are too hard.  They should be nice and mushy and combine easily.

Baking healthy vegan is the best. It’s super easy cleanup, no grease, no scrubbing, no flour everywhere.  I love it.  You actually feel like you did a service sharing these goodies with people too.  No more giving away stomach aches and post-eating purging episodes. This is a real issue people.  Now’s the time to inspire others with how delicious healthy baked goods can be! Your homework: Fail. Try and try again.  I am certain you will make some incredible things. And I am certain some things won’t be the bees knees.  That’s ok.  Don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game. Have fun!

SNICKERDOODLES: click here for recipe video

Makes 10-12 cookies

Equipment:

• 2 baking sheets
• parchment paper
• food processor
• oven

Enjoy 😛