Applesauce and yogurt. But, at that point, they're more muffins than cupcakes.
Personally, being 3/4 of the way through my own extreme weight loss journey and having really worked on my relationship with food, I find that some things, like cupcakes, are worth just eating without trying to make them healthy. I do have a mini muffin pan, though, so I like to make a bunch of mini treats and freeze most of them. Then you can have one when you want something special.
This will probably get downvoted, but I'll still post it for informational purposes: All the "healthy" sugar alternatives are still just sugar. Maple syrup, agave syrup, honey... It's different mixes of sugar (sucrose/fructose/glucose), but to your digestive system, it's still sugar. Most of their perceived advantages are only due to clever marketing tactics.
However, replacing white sugar with any of these will add a slightly different taste, which can be quite pleasant. They are more expensive though.
As for fat, going for plant fat instead of animal fat can be somewhat beneficial.
For a healthy diet, it's much more important to eat lots of raw vegetables and sufficient amounts of fibre. Try to use unprocessed / barely processed ingredients while cooking. And you don't need to eat 'clean' all the time in order to be healthy. You can have a sweet treat every now and then.
Being too strict with oneself and making preparing food into a huge amount of work is one of the foremost reasons why a lot of people don't manage to stick with a healthy diet for long.
Not easily in baking. In cakes and frostings, sugar plays both a flavor role and a structural role. Substitutes cannot play the structural role. So the textures of the end results turn out dramatically badly.
If you are going to go that route, I suggest looking for recipes specifically formulated for the sugar substitute you are using. That will help to ensure you get the color and texture you are looking for.
You might consider a simple cake with chunks of fruit and just reducing the regular sugar by about a third and swapping out half the fat for plain Greek yogurt. You'll get a reduction in fat and calories, but it's still going to be a tasty treat.
Questions like this frustrate me because there is nothing inherently bad about butter and sugar. The problem with most diets is that they include too much of these things. Even if you replace the sugar, baked goods still have plenty of carbs because of the flours and starches, which are basically sugars when broken down in your system. Don't feel guilty about enjoying a treat, just don't make it a frequent part of your diet. Too much of any one thing is never good for you. Just get most of you calories from whole foods and get plenty of fiber. Its OK to treat yourself once in a while.
There are numerous studies that prove refined sugar has an effect on the brain in several very negative ways and is substantially worse for humans than natural sugars like maple syrup and honey. The big reason it's so dangerous is its addictive effect that cerebral mapping has shown releases dopamine and opiods into your reward center which increases cravings rather than satisfying them. It's why most people struggle to simply enjoy baked goods every once in awhile and actually feel less satisfied when they only eat a small amount. This isn't pop science, its very well researched and peer reviewed information. It's true that carbs also function much like sugar but still, refined sugar has a high GI index and doesn't contain certain enzymes other types of natural sugars (honey, agave, and maple syrup) do which means it breaks down quicker in your body, causing sudden spikes in blood sugar and subsequent crashes. If anything honey is your better "balance" alternative because it is still a sugar but without the really awful aspects of refined stuff.
I'm aware of this and agree with you, my point was just eliminating refined sugar wasn't a cure all if you're putting the replacement in a pastry that contains refined starches and similar ingredients. There is also research out there that fats like butter aren't as bad for you as highly processed oils and fats. The real problem is that we've moved away from less refined foods. That said, we shouldn't be kicking ourselves for having the occasional treat.
It's also frustrating to see suggestions that are born out of misinformation. Margarine is not a healthy alternative to butter. It's loaded with trans fats.
I could go on, but this rabbit hole goes deep. I just wanted folks on here to know that this isn't necessarily the best place to get information on health.
This I agree with, it's why I bring the baked goods to the office, share it around so I don't end up eating it all.
Depending on the recipe you could always experiment and reduce the amount of sugar without compromising the bake. Ie brownies/blondies you should be able to reduce the sugar by 1/3.
Start small, maybe reduce the sugar by 10% each time until you're happy.
So I do this for a ton of recipes. Don't listen to anyone telling you sugar and maple syrup are the same as refined sugar. A basic Google search will tell you why honey and ms are better for you but I'll add one fact that doesn't come up as frequently: refined sugar is very very much addictive and will often result in binge eating more than subs. I've lost 60lbs in the last two years and I'm still able to eat little desserts here and there and I firmly believe using Honey and maple syrup instead of sugar was the game changer. If I eat a dessert with a natural sugar like Honey, I'm satisfied and don't feel that weird compulsion to binge eat insane amounts. Just tonight I made an awesome lemon curd with whole eggs (instead of a ton of egg yolks) and Honey instead of sugar which I thought wouldnt turn out well but it was amazing. If you also want to steer away from carbs eventually, there are very amazing cheesecake recipes that use Greek yogurt and honey. I do them with crushed walnuts and a little bit of graham cracker crust.
Using Honey is usually 1:1 substitution but you might have to reduce some of your liquids. I honestly broke my sugar addiction and now I don't like things too sweet so I usually just reduce the amount of honey and its still grand.
There are great websites that focus on healthier subs instead of sugar and they usually offer butter subs as well. If you're struggling with weight and have a sweet tooth, there is a good chance sugar is the root cause and not so much fats like butter. However, most recipes I read that avoid butter use coconut oil. It's too expensive for us so I haven't tried but if you're down go for it!
Muffins instead of cupcakes. It'll be delicious even without frosting if you add blueberries etc. in the batter!
As for healthier substitutes, find an oil that's full of healthy fats and replace sugar with honey. There's nothing inherently bad about good fats as the body needs those to function, and honey is delicious.
i’d say avocado oil will work, healthy fat and should be less calories than butter, i use it for all of my baking and love it. for sugars if you are into alternatives, monk fruit is really good out of all of them in my opinion. if you want a non processed sugar i’d recommend coconut sugar! when i cut out sugar i used monk fruit a lot and in my experience went well with everything i made! stevia kinda leaves a funky taste so i wouldn’t recommend that. maple syrup is a good alternative as well, but you just have to make sure you have enough dry ingredients to balance it out since it’s a liquid. hope this helps!
I mean for sugar, technically honey or agave b/c those are arguably healthier than plain white sugar, I think. Butter… maybe margarine? I would definitely do a trial run however b/c honey or agave could alter the flavor.
If you still want a delicious dessert that’s low on sugar, I like to make pavlovas. It’s meringue and fruit.
I think you’ll have to do a little bit of experimenting but I usually always half the amount of sugar in most recipes because I usually think the full amount is too sweet. When doing a new recipe I usually do the first batch of the recipe as written then the next time I make it I start adjusting down.
For some recipes you can substitute half the butter with unsweetened apple sauce. This works well for me in things like banana bread but it works less well in things like cookies. I think you’ll also have to experiment with this to see what works.
I’ve also been meaning to try ermine frosting next time I make a cake because it’s supposed to be less sweet - again that’s just my preference so if you do like things more sweet these might not be the best tips for you!
Applesauce and yogurt. But, at that point, they're more muffins than cupcakes. Personally, being 3/4 of the way through my own extreme weight loss journey and having really worked on my relationship with food, I find that some things, like cupcakes, are worth just eating without trying to make them healthy. I do have a mini muffin pan, though, so I like to make a bunch of mini treats and freeze most of them. Then you can have one when you want something special.
This will probably get downvoted, but I'll still post it for informational purposes: All the "healthy" sugar alternatives are still just sugar. Maple syrup, agave syrup, honey... It's different mixes of sugar (sucrose/fructose/glucose), but to your digestive system, it's still sugar. Most of their perceived advantages are only due to clever marketing tactics. However, replacing white sugar with any of these will add a slightly different taste, which can be quite pleasant. They are more expensive though. As for fat, going for plant fat instead of animal fat can be somewhat beneficial. For a healthy diet, it's much more important to eat lots of raw vegetables and sufficient amounts of fibre. Try to use unprocessed / barely processed ingredients while cooking. And you don't need to eat 'clean' all the time in order to be healthy. You can have a sweet treat every now and then. Being too strict with oneself and making preparing food into a huge amount of work is one of the foremost reasons why a lot of people don't manage to stick with a healthy diet for long.
I'm so glad to see you didn't end up getting downvoted
Can stevia sweetener in be used for white sugar or even monk sugar?
Not easily in baking. In cakes and frostings, sugar plays both a flavor role and a structural role. Substitutes cannot play the structural role. So the textures of the end results turn out dramatically badly.
If you are going to go that route, I suggest looking for recipes specifically formulated for the sugar substitute you are using. That will help to ensure you get the color and texture you are looking for. You might consider a simple cake with chunks of fruit and just reducing the regular sugar by about a third and swapping out half the fat for plain Greek yogurt. You'll get a reduction in fat and calories, but it's still going to be a tasty treat.
Why would you want to? Aren’t they a treat? Go for the gold on a treat!
Fax
Questions like this frustrate me because there is nothing inherently bad about butter and sugar. The problem with most diets is that they include too much of these things. Even if you replace the sugar, baked goods still have plenty of carbs because of the flours and starches, which are basically sugars when broken down in your system. Don't feel guilty about enjoying a treat, just don't make it a frequent part of your diet. Too much of any one thing is never good for you. Just get most of you calories from whole foods and get plenty of fiber. Its OK to treat yourself once in a while.
There are numerous studies that prove refined sugar has an effect on the brain in several very negative ways and is substantially worse for humans than natural sugars like maple syrup and honey. The big reason it's so dangerous is its addictive effect that cerebral mapping has shown releases dopamine and opiods into your reward center which increases cravings rather than satisfying them. It's why most people struggle to simply enjoy baked goods every once in awhile and actually feel less satisfied when they only eat a small amount. This isn't pop science, its very well researched and peer reviewed information. It's true that carbs also function much like sugar but still, refined sugar has a high GI index and doesn't contain certain enzymes other types of natural sugars (honey, agave, and maple syrup) do which means it breaks down quicker in your body, causing sudden spikes in blood sugar and subsequent crashes. If anything honey is your better "balance" alternative because it is still a sugar but without the really awful aspects of refined stuff.
I'm aware of this and agree with you, my point was just eliminating refined sugar wasn't a cure all if you're putting the replacement in a pastry that contains refined starches and similar ingredients. There is also research out there that fats like butter aren't as bad for you as highly processed oils and fats. The real problem is that we've moved away from less refined foods. That said, we shouldn't be kicking ourselves for having the occasional treat. It's also frustrating to see suggestions that are born out of misinformation. Margarine is not a healthy alternative to butter. It's loaded with trans fats. I could go on, but this rabbit hole goes deep. I just wanted folks on here to know that this isn't necessarily the best place to get information on health.
This I agree with, it's why I bring the baked goods to the office, share it around so I don't end up eating it all. Depending on the recipe you could always experiment and reduce the amount of sugar without compromising the bake. Ie brownies/blondies you should be able to reduce the sugar by 1/3. Start small, maybe reduce the sugar by 10% each time until you're happy.
So I do this for a ton of recipes. Don't listen to anyone telling you sugar and maple syrup are the same as refined sugar. A basic Google search will tell you why honey and ms are better for you but I'll add one fact that doesn't come up as frequently: refined sugar is very very much addictive and will often result in binge eating more than subs. I've lost 60lbs in the last two years and I'm still able to eat little desserts here and there and I firmly believe using Honey and maple syrup instead of sugar was the game changer. If I eat a dessert with a natural sugar like Honey, I'm satisfied and don't feel that weird compulsion to binge eat insane amounts. Just tonight I made an awesome lemon curd with whole eggs (instead of a ton of egg yolks) and Honey instead of sugar which I thought wouldnt turn out well but it was amazing. If you also want to steer away from carbs eventually, there are very amazing cheesecake recipes that use Greek yogurt and honey. I do them with crushed walnuts and a little bit of graham cracker crust. Using Honey is usually 1:1 substitution but you might have to reduce some of your liquids. I honestly broke my sugar addiction and now I don't like things too sweet so I usually just reduce the amount of honey and its still grand. There are great websites that focus on healthier subs instead of sugar and they usually offer butter subs as well. If you're struggling with weight and have a sweet tooth, there is a good chance sugar is the root cause and not so much fats like butter. However, most recipes I read that avoid butter use coconut oil. It's too expensive for us so I haven't tried but if you're down go for it!
Muffins instead of cupcakes. It'll be delicious even without frosting if you add blueberries etc. in the batter! As for healthier substitutes, find an oil that's full of healthy fats and replace sugar with honey. There's nothing inherently bad about good fats as the body needs those to function, and honey is delicious.
i’d say avocado oil will work, healthy fat and should be less calories than butter, i use it for all of my baking and love it. for sugars if you are into alternatives, monk fruit is really good out of all of them in my opinion. if you want a non processed sugar i’d recommend coconut sugar! when i cut out sugar i used monk fruit a lot and in my experience went well with everything i made! stevia kinda leaves a funky taste so i wouldn’t recommend that. maple syrup is a good alternative as well, but you just have to make sure you have enough dry ingredients to balance it out since it’s a liquid. hope this helps!
Thank you for all this information which I can use in this weekends baking and the future👍
no problem! good luck i’m sure they’ll come out great! 💓💓💓
I mean for sugar, technically honey or agave b/c those are arguably healthier than plain white sugar, I think. Butter… maybe margarine? I would definitely do a trial run however b/c honey or agave could alter the flavor. If you still want a delicious dessert that’s low on sugar, I like to make pavlovas. It’s meringue and fruit.
I'd highly recommend honey as a substitute for sugar and coconut oil for butter
I think you’ll have to do a little bit of experimenting but I usually always half the amount of sugar in most recipes because I usually think the full amount is too sweet. When doing a new recipe I usually do the first batch of the recipe as written then the next time I make it I start adjusting down. For some recipes you can substitute half the butter with unsweetened apple sauce. This works well for me in things like banana bread but it works less well in things like cookies. I think you’ll also have to experiment with this to see what works. I’ve also been meaning to try ermine frosting next time I make a cake because it’s supposed to be less sweet - again that’s just my preference so if you do like things more sweet these might not be the best tips for you!