Ingredients Matter
Although many ingredients are vegan, choosing healthy vegan ingredients are obviously better, and they taste even better. So, you don’t need oils, sugar, brown sugar, cane sugar, vegan butter, powdered sugar, margarine, white flour, coconut butter, cacao, granulated sugar, corn syrup, agave nectar, turbinado sugar, or brown rice syrup to bake with. There are so many better options that taste a million times better.
Instead, there is applesauce, flax seeds, chia seeds, monkfruit, stevia, coconut nectar, molasses, blackstrap molasses, coconut sugar, pure maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, dates, bananas, shredded coconut, coconut flakes, healthier flours, coconut yogurt, vanilla extract, pumpkin, sweet potato, zucchini, baking powder, baking soda, plant milks, nut butters, and dried fruit to bake with. Your baking will turn out so much better using these healthier options.
Milks, Flours, Fruit, and Nuts
There are many plant milks to choose from (almond, coconut, soy, cashew, pecan, walnut, hemp, flax, Brazil nut, hazelnut, rice, oat, etc.), and there are also many flours to choose from (teff, coconut, almond, rice, oat, garbanzo bean, cassava, hazelnut, quinoa, kamut, spelt, tapioca, sorghum, corn, amaranth, barley, buckwheat, potato, millet, etc.).
Fruit is amazing to bake with. The only fruits that digest well with other foods are bananas and dates, so keep that in mind. Dried fruits are really great to use in baking. Just make sure if you’re getting dried fruit that the only ingredient is the fruit itself.
There’s many different nuts to choose from, but some are more commonly used in baking than others. Pecans, walnuts, pistachios, and almonds are used the most in baking. There’s also the option of nut butters (cashew, pecan, walnut, peanut, almond, etc.). Just like dried fruit, make sure that when getting nut butters that the only ingredient is the nuts. Sea salt is ok in nut butters as well, and some have that in them.
Follow Recipes For Best Results
With baking, you need to be a little bit more exact and precise than you do with cooking. You can use a scale to make sure you’re using the right amount, and make sure to use what the recipe calls for. Thankfully, there are a lot of recipes that have substitution or alternative notes to suggest other ingredients if you don’t have the ingredients that the recipe calls for or if you need to use something else in place of certain ingredients.
Anything Can Be Vegan
Cakes, pies, cookies, bars, muffins, breads, cupcakes, pancakes, waffles, tarts, crisps, granola, donuts, crusts, brownies, blondies, cinnamon rolls, etc. can all be made vegan in a healthy way. There’s even vegan chocolate chips and vegan chocolate that are sugar-free. Either way, don’t worry about missing out on all of your favorites. Every single baked treat can be customized and made so much better.
Check out The Vegan 8, Detoxinista, From My Bowl, and Fragrant Vanilla Cake for the best vegan baked recipes. There are tons of others as well. I just know that these particular four have lots and lots of options that are healthier and amazing. The Vegan 8 has a super helpful blog post about how to cook and bake without oil. So, check it out if you’re concerned about oil-free baking. The Glowing Fridge has some sugar-free vegan baked recipes, and all of these recipe blogs have plenty of gluten-free options, too.
Ending Thoughts
Whether you want a healthier delicious vegan bread, cookie, donut, pie, or cake, it’s absolutely doable! There’s so many options for you to use and so many awesome recipes for you to try. You can definitely even go sugar-free and oil-free with baking if you want to. It works out beautifully that way, also! You’ll want to do it this way with baking from now on once you find out how much better it all tastes and is the healthy vegan way. Some options, ingredients, and recipes are healthier than others, but either way, just know that there’s something or more out there in vegan baking that you’ll love.
