I’m delighted to have partnered with Stevia In The Raw® on this blog post and digital cookbook. All opinions are my own.
The holidays are in full swing, and with it comes sweets and treats everywhere you look. So how do you enjoy the delicacies of the season without overdoing it? Here are some “sweet” tips I recommend this time of year.
Stock up on fresh fruit
First, keep the house well-stocked with fresh fruit for a naturally healthy sweet snack. Portable fruit like grapes, clementines, and pears are in-season and perfect for an on-the-go snack, providing important nutrients like vitamin C, fiber, and antioxidants.
Know your added sugars limit
My food philosophy is not about deprivation, which I think often leads to overindulgence and feeling out of control. My goal is to help my clients enjoy the foods they love in moderation and often times with a healthier twist.
When it comes to moderation in terms of added sugars, the American Heart Association recommends limiting the amount of added sugars you consume to no more than half of your daily discretionary calories allowance. For most American women, that’s no more than 100 calories per day, or about 6 teaspoons of sugar. For men, it’s 150 calories per day, or about 9 teaspoons.
Reduce added sugars in baked goods
One of the most common places you’ll find added sugars is in baked goods. Yes, those gooey, warm, decadent delights that make the whole house smell like heaven! Whether your go-to holiday dessert is chocolate chip cookies, apple pie, or pumpkin muffins, one simple substitution anyone can make is to replace some of the sugar in the recipe with the zero calorie sweetener, stevia, so you can have the treats you love without all the extra sugar and calories. Stevia is my preferred non-nutritive sweetener because it comes from the sweet leaves of the stevia plant.
But how can you trust this conversion will work? If you’re concerned you’re going to mess up the recipe by making a substitution (I know that always concerns me!) the good news is this one is pretty much foolproof.
To make the conversion easy, the In The Raw® brand created the Stevia In The Raw® Bakers Bag, which is formulated so 1 cup has the same sweetness as 1 cup of sugar. And swapping just 1 cup of sugar will save you up to 700 calories! The only tip I have when using stevia for baking recipes, is to only replace about half of the sugar in order to achieve the proper browning, rising and caramelizing that only sugar can provide.
Try these delicious reduced sugar baking recipes
For a deliciously sweet collection of reduced sugar baking recipes using half sugar and half Stevia In The Raw® Bakers Bag, check out the “Half Your Cake and Eat It Too” digital cookbook, which you can download for free. I had so much fun developing these recipes and testing how easy the “swap out” really is. In addition to being delicious, these recipes have up to 50 percent less sugar per serving as compared to the full sugar versions.
Some of my favorite recipes from the cookbook are also here on my website, like the Pistachio Coconut Lemon Squares, Saucy Peach Poppy Seed Muffins, Banoffee Breakfast Cookies with Espresso Drizzle, and Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins.
If you try any of these recipes or use the stevia substitution in any of your “tried and true” baking recipes please leave me a message below and let you know how you like it! Wishing you a sweet and healthy holiday!
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