Healthier Baking

I love baking, but now I am trying to lose a bit of weight. I'd still like to make some nice muffins and loaf cakes/breads to eat for breakfast or whenever. Does anyone have any good recipes? I'm not against putting in some sugar, butter and eggs, just want to make things a bit less calorific if possible. I've got some frozen pumpkin puree I should probably use, so that might be a good place to start, but any suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

(PS... Andee, what happened to your apple cake recipe? I never printed it out and still want to give it a go. Did you put it on FB?)

I use all natural apple sauce, no added sugar, as opposed to oil, but it is really hard to get a hold of here. 

The only place I have seen it is Whole Foods and natural food stores.  But you might be able to use pumpkin instead.  Hmmmm.

I do love love love turkey pumpkin chilli, but that doesn't help with baking.   

Maybe try vegan recipes? Such as http://www.vegancupcakerecipes.com/ (Can't vouch specifically for this site)

Substituting dried fruit, grated vegetables and oil for butter and sweetness can make moist cakes. Also sour milk for butter milk, soy milk, skim milk or yoghurt for cream and so on. You can also easily make your own applesauce.

Maybe give us an idea of what you make already - like a specific recipe. I am used to converting meat / fish based recipes into vegetarian ones.

Good luck and have fun! 

(PS... Andee, what happened to your apple cake recipe? I never printed it out and still want to give it a go. Did you put it on FB?)

My computer is messed up--will pm you.

My computer is messed up--will pm you.

Got it!

I found a recipe for pumpkin bran muffins that I am planning to try this weekend, I have everything except for the bran, which I can order online at Tesco. Normally, I enjoy making muffins and loaf cakes that are sweet, but not overly rich or sugary (things like zucchini bread, banana nut bread, blueberry muffins, honey-nut loaf cake, etc.) and gingersnaps and other cookies on occasion. So some of those things should be fairly adaptable to make them higher in fiber and lower in fat, at least. (Of course, I would still need to exercise moderation, which is a problem in itself! )  I'm going to try Andee's apple cake recipe, too. I was just thinking some healthy muffins or granola bars or something might be nice to grab in the mornings when I don't have much time to eat breakfast at home. Preferably with a bit of protein in to keep me full until lunch!

One of the things I do with baking is make smaller things and give away or freeze lots, so we can enjoy them but not gorge on it all. I do mini muffins/cupcakes, cookies I make smaller etc. I also try to plan on my baking when I know we will have company and send extra away with the guests.

I know it isn't exactly what you are asking, but I find portion control is more important to me than actual ingredients.

I know that, at least here in the US, they sell prune puree as an oil substitute for baking.  It's supposed to work the same way as applesauce, plus it adds fiber, which is good if you're trying to go for healthy.

I don't know if they sell the same thing there, but it occurs to me that, if you can find strained prunes in the baby food aisle, those might work.  It'd be worth playing around with, anyhow. 

Yeah, I'd go for applesauce in place of oil. If you're doing low carb, I'd save the fats for cheese, butter and good things like that!

Making homemade applesauce is easy enough to do and you can freeze it in small portions specifically for baking (assuming you have freezer space!). You can also buy it as baby food, but you'll pay for the privilege - baby food is expensive there!

I'd also try looking at food blogs that are dedicated to lower cal baking. I'll see if I can find a few - I used to have some bookmarked.

One of the things I do with baking is make smaller things and give away or freeze lots, so we can enjoy them but not gorge on it all. I do mini muffins/cupcakes, cookies I make smaller etc. I also try to plan on my baking when I know we will have company and send extra away with the guests.

This is totally what I do.

Me too.  I actually bought a cookbook called 'Small Batch Baking,' by Debby Maugans Nakos.  The recipes all make just 1-2 servings. 

It can be a little fiddly, because the recipes are so small that they'll call for 1 T. of egg, etc., and you sometimes need to be creative with making small-sized pans for things.  But, the book is really helpful, and has instructions for stuff like baking cakes in empty tin cans.

The recipes themselves aren't really healthy, but at least you can't eat a dozen of whatever in one sitting.  I think of it as damage control.

Cooking Light and Spark Recipes both have huge amounts of healthy baking recipes. I use both pretty heavily and like them a lot! I really like adding carrot or zucchini/courgette into muffins and quick breads to add tasty healthies. I've tried grated beetroot in chocolate stuff, but you can still really taste the beetroot, whereas the carrot and courgette are pretty undetectable.