Hi Everyone,
Sometimes when baking for my family I like to add some yummy yet nutritious additions to the recipe. My kids don’t realize these added extras are healthy, which makes it even better.
For example when making a pan of brownies or chocolate cake you can throw in ½ cup of dried cherries. Cherries are a great source of antioxidants. They help prevent or repair the damage that is done to the body’s cells by free radicals. Queritrin–a flavonoid–is rich in cherries, and has been found by researchers to be one of the most potent anticancer agents, as well as ellagic acid and perillyl alcohol (POH) also connected to help fight against cancer.
If you are making a white or yellow cake you can throw in fresh or frozen raspberries or blueberries. The best way to add fruit is to first roll it in flour; this absorbs the extra liquid the fruit contains and helps it not turn your entire cake red or blue and keeps the berries from sinking to the bottom. Raspberries and blueberries share several nutritional similarities — they both contain anthocyanins, a class of antioxidants that may protect against gastrointestinal cancer, as well as manganese, a mineral important for bone health.
If you are making a spice cake or dark colored muffins you can add ½ cup of carrots. Carrots contain Beta carotene a rich source of this powerful antioxidant.
To oatmeal cookies or light colored muffins you can add ½ cup of golden raisins or apricots which are also very high in antioxidants.
You can take any recipe and substitute ½ a cup of white flour for whole wheat.
You can also substitute Iron rich molasses to replace some of the sugar in dark baked goods.
Which additions did your family enjoy?
~Love From Our Kitchen to Yours
A Taste of Home in Israel