by A. Sc.

Created on: January 16, 2008   Last Updated: October 25, 2008

Baking can be a wonderful way to express creativity, relieve stress, and make something delicious to eat. However, baking can also be an easy way to put on extra pounds and really chunk up. So if you've decided to start watching what you eat, low-fat is probably the best baking method.

In basic bread and dessert baking there are four main ingredients that add on bunches of fat. Eggs, butter, milk, and oil are needed in almost every one of these baking recipes, and are serious offenders when it comes to reducing fat intake. So replacing these ingredients can really help drop the overall fat.

This "Low Fat Baking" can be a difficult puzzle to figure out, since most baking requires at least a little fat to cook properly. It takes trial and error to make a low-fat baked goody taste just right. Here a few tricks you can use, though, to bake wonderful creations without all the unwanted extras.

EGGS

- If a recipe calls for eggs, there are many alternatives that can be tried. Instead of using one whole egg, just use the whites from two eggs. There are also many egg products on the market that help reduce the harmful properties of eggs, like "Egg Beaters."

- For some cakes, one large banana can be directly substituted for one egg and still taste great. Most recipes need a little egg, so never completely replace this ingredient with non-egg items. If you need three eggs, try replacing two with bananas and keeping one egg in the mix.

BUTTER

- If a recipe calls for butter there many handy products, like "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter", a popular brand. Margarine can also be used, though it's basically shortening and oil, so not much help in most low fat baking. Low-fat yogurt, especially flavored, can work well instead of butter in some baking.

- Applesauce can also be used in place of butter, though in baking you always need a little fat, so 3/4 the portion in applesauce and 1/4 the portion in butter works well. If the butter is needed for topping or garnishing, and not for an actual baking ingredient, you can try substituting non-fat yogurt or a little olive oil.

MILK

- If a recipe calls for milk, then obviously, low-fat or skim milk are much lower in fat than whole milk. Depending on the item being made, non-fat milk can work too, as can non-fat evaporated milk with a little water.

- If cream in needed, try evaporated skim milk with a tiny bit of water. Or mix up 1 cup low-fat butter milk and 1 Tbsp cornstarch. If the cream in needed for something other than baking sweets, try

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