Baby Steps: Making Better Choices in Baking

Are you desiring to make healthier choices for your family but aren't quite ready to grind your own flour or soak your grains? Do you think that eating better means giving up your favorite treats? Don't know where to start? Well, here's your chart! Just begin replacing your less-than-healthy ingredients with better choices and baby step your way to health.

Average Choice	Better Choice
Margarine	Unsalted butter or extra virgin coconut oil
Vegetable shortening (Crisco)	Non-hydrogenated shortening (Spectrum) or extra virgin coconut oil
Milk	Organic milk, plain almond milk, rice milk, coconut milk
White sugar	Rapadura, sucanat, or turbinado sugar (1:1) * Honey, agave nectar, brown rice syrup, maple syrup (*adjustments need to be made when using in baking)
Confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar)	Organic confectioner’s sugar J
Baking powder	Aluminum-free baking powder (Rumford)
Table salt	Sea salt
Bleached white flour	Unbleached or naturally white flour, white or regular whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour
Vegetable oil	Extra virgin coconut oil, cold-pressed canola oil, applesauce
Quick oats	Old-fashioned rolled oats
Artificial flavorings	Pure vanilla, almond, lemon, & peppermint extracts
Milk chocolate chips	Semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (made with real vanilla, not vanillin), carob chips, grain sweetened baking chips
Boxed gelatin (Jello)	Unflavored gelatin made with 100% fruit juice
Boxed pudding	Homemade
Boxed cake & brownie mix	Homemade
Frosting	Homemade (butter, confectioner’s sugar, milk)