10 WAYS TO LIGHTEN UP DESSERTS
You don't have to kiss your favorite recipes goodbye because they call for high-fat ingredients. Just make these easy swaps:
1. Replace the semisweet chocolate chips in treasured cookie classics with half the amount of mini semisweet chips (they'll scatter through more of the dough than big chips, but still have that authentic richness). Or try using the full amount of low-fat baking chips; the impostor effect is not quite as noticeable when the cookies are eaten warm from the oven.
2. Omit up to half the butter, margarine, or oil in cakes, muffins, or quick breads, and substitute applesauce, prune puree, or a fruit-based fat replacement (such as Lighter Bake). These switches are especially successful in coffee cakes and bar cookies.
3. Substitute plain nonfat or low-fat yogurt or reduced-fat sour cream for regular sour cream. The flavor comes very close to the original in muffins and cakes.
4. Eliminate the bottom crust in fruit pies to significantly reduce calories and fat -- spoon filling into pie plate, add top crust, serve cobbler-style. (You don't even need to grease the plate -- the saucy fruit will spoon right out.)
5. Cut back the amount of nuts in a recipe to a few tablespoons, finely chop, and sprinkle on top of cookies, brownies, cakes, and breads before baking -- they'll get a nice toasty flavor in the oven, and you'll see and taste them first,
6. Slip light cream cheese (Neufchatel) into cheesecakes rather than using full-fat cheese -- you'll save about 6 grams of fat and 60 calories per slice.
7. Use 1/4 cup no-cholesterol egg substitute in place of each whole egg in quick breads, muffins, and cakes. Or substitute 2 whites for each egg up to 2 eggs (too many whites can make the texture a bit rubbery).
8. Count on lower-fat dairy products. Instead of whole or 2 percent milk, use 1 percent or skim. Rather than heavy cream -- unless it must be whipped -- pour in light cream or half-and-half (either will perform perfectly in most frostings, glazes, and doughs). If a pie or cookie calls for canned evaporated or sweetened condensed milk, get the fat-free or low-fat kind.
9. For mock whipped cream, beat evaporated skimmed milk. Chill milk, bowl, and beaters in freezer for at least 15 minutes; beat in 1 tablespoon lemon juice to stabilize the mixture, and sweeten to taste. Serve immediately, because it collapses quickly. We won't lie to you; it's no double for the real thing; but it is creamy-looking, white, and fluffy.
10. Don't grease baking pans with butter or margarine -- try new nonstick pan liners, kitchen parchment, or a spritz of cooking spray.
Source: Good Housekeeping Best Recipes, 1998
You don't have to kiss your favorite recipes goodbye because they call for high-fat ingredients. Just make these easy swaps:
1. Replace the semisweet chocolate chips in treasured cookie classics with half the amount of mini semisweet chips (they'll scatter through more of the dough than big chips, but still have that authentic richness). Or try using the full amount of low-fat baking chips; the impostor effect is not quite as noticeable when the cookies are eaten warm from the oven.
2. Omit up to half the butter, margarine, or oil in cakes, muffins, or quick breads, and substitute applesauce, prune puree, or a fruit-based fat replacement (such as Lighter Bake). These switches are especially successful in coffee cakes and bar cookies.
3. Substitute plain nonfat or low-fat yogurt or reduced-fat sour cream for regular sour cream. The flavor comes very close to the original in muffins and cakes.
4. Eliminate the bottom crust in fruit pies to significantly reduce calories and fat -- spoon filling into pie plate, add top crust, serve cobbler-style. (You don't even need to grease the plate -- the saucy fruit will spoon right out.)
5. Cut back the amount of nuts in a recipe to a few tablespoons, finely chop, and sprinkle on top of cookies, brownies, cakes, and breads before baking -- they'll get a nice toasty flavor in the oven, and you'll see and taste them first,
6. Slip light cream cheese (Neufchatel) into cheesecakes rather than using full-fat cheese -- you'll save about 6 grams of fat and 60 calories per slice.
7. Use 1/4 cup no-cholesterol egg substitute in place of each whole egg in quick breads, muffins, and cakes. Or substitute 2 whites for each egg up to 2 eggs (too many whites can make the texture a bit rubbery).
8. Count on lower-fat dairy products. Instead of whole or 2 percent milk, use 1 percent or skim. Rather than heavy cream -- unless it must be whipped -- pour in light cream or half-and-half (either will perform perfectly in most frostings, glazes, and doughs). If a pie or cookie calls for canned evaporated or sweetened condensed milk, get the fat-free or low-fat kind.
9. For mock whipped cream, beat evaporated skimmed milk. Chill milk, bowl, and beaters in freezer for at least 15 minutes; beat in 1 tablespoon lemon juice to stabilize the mixture, and sweeten to taste. Serve immediately, because it collapses quickly. We won't lie to you; it's no double for the real thing; but it is creamy-looking, white, and fluffy.
10. Don't grease baking pans with butter or margarine -- try new nonstick pan liners, kitchen parchment, or a spritz of cooking spray.
Source: Good Housekeeping Best Recipes, 1998
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Thank You To All Who Contribute
- Do not use the message boards for advertising or solicitation of our visitors.
- Do not post personal data about yourself or others such as resumes, phone numbers, addresses, etc.
- Be kind. Rude or offensive posts are not acceptable. If you should find a posting that is objectionable to you please do not post a response. E-mail a message to: help@recipelink.com If a complaint is made against a message it is removed.
- Choose the board topic that best suits your post. Off topic messages may be moved or removed. Posts of the same request to more than one message board will be deleted.
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- E-mail all site-related questions and comments to:help@recipelink.com
-
The message
boards are monitored and not all posts are accepted. We reserve the right to
modify, move, use or remove (or not remove) information posted at our discretion
and without prior notification or explanation. Failure to follow the guidelines
may result in loss of access. These guidelines are subject to change without
notice.
Not required, but a request:
Please take a moment to post a thank you to those that take the time (sometimes hours) to find the recipe or information you requested!
Thank you for participating!