Hi beauties!

As we enter into the holiday season, you may be spending more time in the kitchen with friends and family. The holidays are a wonderful time to enjoy delicious food with loved ones, but it can be tricky to stay on top of your healthy eating goals with all of the temptations. The good news is there are some simple swaps to make your holiday goodies a little more guilt-free.

In this post, I am going to share the top five healthy holiday baking swaps you can make this holiday season.

And stay tuned until the end for a FUN giveaway!

Use Pure Maple Syrup or Raw Honey vs Sugar

Skip the refined sugar and use a natural option instead. While pure maple syrup and raw honey are still very high in sugar, they contain some added benefits that table sugar does not. Both pure maple syrup and raw honey are rich in vitamins and minerals, and raw honey is also an excellent source of antioxidants.

Make the Swap: For every 1 cup of sugar, use ½ cup of raw honey or ⅔ cup of pure maple syrup. If you opt for pure maple syrup, you may find that you need to reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe by about two to four tablespoons, but this may vary from recipe to recipe, so reduce it by more or less as needed.

Use Coconut Oil vs Butter

Try making your recipes dairy free by using coconut oil instead of butter. Coconut oil makes a great healthy swap as it contains some powerful digestive and immune-boosting health benefits.

Make the Swap: Substitute coconut oil at a 1:1 ratio, so use as much coconut oil as you would butter in your recipe.

Use Almond Flour vs White Flour

To make your holiday recipes gluten-free, try using almond flour instead of white flour. This will help prevent sudden blood sugar spikes as almond flour has a low glycemic index. Almonds are also a rich source of magnesium, giving your holiday desserts a little added nutritional boost.

Make the Swap: Almond flour can often be substituted at a 1:1 ratio when swapping out white or wheat flour, but it can be dependent on the recipe. If your recipe seems to have too much moisture after adding the almond flour, you can add 1/4-1/2 cup of additional almond flour until the batter comes together as it traditionally would.

Use Pure Vanilla Extract vs Imitation Vanilla

Some holiday recipes may call for imitation vanilla. Any extract that has the word “imitation” in front of it means that it’s not the real thing and is artificial and filled with additives. Skip the artificial version, and use pure vanilla extract instead! Not only will you avoid artificial flavoring, but your recipes will taste better! 

Make the Swap: Simply look for a pure vanilla extract instead of a flavoring with the word “imitation.”

Use a Dairy Free Milk vs Regular Milk:

Try using dairy-free milk like unsweetened almond or coconut milk in your holiday recipes instead of dairy milk. Dairy can be inflammatory and many people react to it. You won’t even notice the difference in taste, but your health will thank you for it!

Make the Swap: If a recipe calls for regular milk, choose unsweetened almond milk or even cashew or coconut. If a recipe calls for heavy cream, try using unsweetened coconut cream.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season that’s filled with fun, love, and delicious food! Let me know if you use any of these healthy holiday baking swaps to make your sweet treats just a little healthier this year.

GIVEAWAY!

I love using my slow cooker during this time of year – so many delicious recipes for the fall + it’s so easy during busy seasons! My friend, Madeline Given, has a brand new cookbook, The Anti-Inflammatory Diet Slow Cooker Cookbook, and I want to give a copy away to one of you! 

You all know how much I love and recommend her first cookbook, and this is one is no different.

In order to win, head over to my instagram profile + find the photo above for all the details.

Good Luck!

xo,