John Myers
Christmas cookies often contain large amounts of butter, sugar, and white flour. If you want to bake healthily, you can replace these ingredients with healthier ones – they taste at least as good.
For example, spelled flour, coconut oil, maple syrup, dates, tiger nuts, and cashew nuts ensure that the Christmas cookies taste good. However, there are a few things to consider when baking with healthier alternatives.
Substitute wheat flour in baking
These ingredients are a good alternative to wheat flour when baking:
- Tigernut flour contains plenty of fiber that fills you up and keeps your blood sugar level constant. Tigernuts also contain a lot of calcium for the bones and heart and magnesium for the muscles. Tigernuts are suitable for nut allergy sufferers and people with gluten intolerance.
- Oatmeal contains a lot of vegetable protein and zinc, which is important for wound healing. Of all oats, it has the most vitamin B1, which the body needs to convert food into energy. Oats also contain a lot of vitamin B6, which is important for the endocrine system.
- Spelled flour is slightly better tolerated than wheat flour and contains more vital substances.
Save calories with sugar substitutes
For the sweet taste of baked goods you can use these ingredients instead of sugar:
- Date sweetness consists of finely ground dried dates, which contain a lot of tryptophan. The body converts the amino acid into melatonin, which calms nerves and helps with insomnia.
- Honey and maple syrup aren’t much healthier than processed sugar. But: You need a little less of it because they have a greater sweetening power.
- Birch icing sugar has 40 percent fewer calories than conventional icing sugar and causes blood sugar levels to rise more slowly.
- Coconut blossom sugar gives baked goods a malty note. It contains many enzymes and minerals and causes the blood sugar level to rise only half as much as conventional sugar.
Bake with healthy fats instead of butter
The fat ensures a round taste in the baked goods. Instead of butter, you can use coconut fat when baking, which the body does not store in fat deposits and activates circulation.
Other healthy fats for baking are found in nuts and grains, for example:
- Almonds and almond butter are high in fiber and healthy vegetable fats. They can lower blood sugar levels.
- Hazelnuts score with their vitamin E, which protects the cells from free radicals.
- Cashews have the fewest calories of any nut. They contain phosphorus for bones and teeth.
- Ground chia seeds contain omega-3 fatty acids, which have an anti-inflammatory effect and ensure a juicy texture in baked goods.
- The grain quinoa makes brittle crispy and provides all the amino acids that humans need, as well as the building blocks for the happiness hormone serotonin.
