Contributor: Samantha Bowman

If you are like me and love to bake, as you get into a fit lifestyle you miss that part of who you are. Whether it's for weight-loss or health intervention like diabetes there is very little room in healthy diets for cakes, pies, cookies, and candies. However, as a treat with guests or to take a cake to a family event, it helps to have a few good recipes that you can share and indulge in without feeling left out!

The key to giving your recipes a healthier spin are four part nutrition upgrades. First, eliminate sugars. You can replace some sweetness with zero calorie natural sweeteners like stevia or monkfruit as options. Second, replace refined wheat flour with a healthier carb option.

Refined bleached wheat flour not only a carb containing gluten which in itself is not a big deal to many, its biggest crime is being high in calorie and void of nutrition. When I think of that combination I imagine a food that is digested readily and loads unused energy in the form of high bloodsugar and bodyfat! Some ideas for replacing that ingredient are a combination of dry and wet nutritious options: Oatmeal or oatbran, sweet potato or pumpkin, squash or zucchini, Almond meal or cashew meal or protein powders. My best recipes tackle eliminating flour using a combined nutritional approach.

The third step in a healthier baked goodie is to take a better approach to the type and quantity of fats used like butter and oils! Applesauce adds moisture as do some of the wet carbs, Almond meal or flax seed, avocado or nutbutters, can also add healthy fats to replace your butter and vegetable oils.

The fourth and final step is the additional liquid ingredients. If you incorporate replacements using a vegetable carb with a high water content like pumpkin or applesauce, you will need less milk. Some recipes you may not need additional liquid ingredients at all! If you experiment, test the texture of your batter before adding additional liquid. If you need it, try using cashew milk or almond milk, unsweetened of course, in place of cow's milk. Cow's milk, even lactose free, has eleven grams of sugar! More sugars in the milk in many cases than the cereal I used to pour it on! That totals a breakfast with as much sugar as a candy bar. Not a good option either way!

One of my best recipe adaptations is Chocolate Bundt Cake with Ganache icing. It was a hit with family and company alike!

Ingredients:

1 Can of Pumpkin Puree

3 Whole eggs

2 Scoops of Chocolate protein Powder

1/4 cup unsweetened cashew milk

3 Tablespoons of Almond meal

3 Tablespoons of Cocoa

2 Tablespoons of oatbran or oat flour

1-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

2 packets of "Stevia in the Raw" singles

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon (optional)

Ganache:

3/4 cup of Lily's Stevia Baking chips

1/5 cup of coconut oil (or heavy cream)

Preheat oven to 325°

Spray bundt pan with coconut oil. Lightly dust with cocoa if desired.

Mix all cake ingredients with mixer.

Pour into pan.

Bake for 35 minutes or until just set. Don't over bake. Knife stuck in my not be clean, but should not be soupy!

Allow to cool outside of the oven 5-10 minutes before turning over onto a plate. Too soon and it will break. Too long and it will stick to the pan!

Ganache Topping: Melt chips together with coconut oil over low heat and pour over slightly cooled cake.

10 servings vs. the same 10 servings of regular Chocolate Bundt

163 calories vs. 200 calories in regular cake

11 grams of fat vs. 9 g

6.2 grams of protein vs. 3 g

15 grams of carbs vs. 22

3.7 grams of sugar (natural sugar in pumpkin and other ingredients:

0 added sugars) vs whopping 19 grams!

Not to mention additional fiber, vitamin A, and Calcium not normally in cake.

Trust me. NO ONE will know its pumpkin if you don't tell them. Enjoy!