Thursday 21 February 2013

This week: sugar-free baking


I've been experimenting a little with some sugar-free baking this week. I've given up refined sugar for Lent and yet with a couple of half-term play dates, still wanted to bake something that I could eat with our guests too! My first experiment was a recipe for some fairly plain biscuits, the kind that are good for dunking in a cup of tea. They don't have tons of sugar in them anyway, but I omitted all sugar and instead added some agave syrup. They turned out ok but with no hint of sweetness at all. I should have added more agave.

Next I tried some apple and banana cakes and was pretty happy with the outcome. The two fruits add their own sweetness and again, I added some agave syrup (you could even leave it out though). The fruit keeps the texture moist and they taste really rather nice. They are quick and easy to make and children can help out with the mashing of the banana, mixing etc. Here's the recipe for anyone who fancies trying them:

Apple & Banana Cakes 
Makes 12 small cakes
  • 100g self-raising flour
  • 50g butter
  • 1 level tablespoon agave syrup (optional)
  • 2 medium bananas, mashed
  • 1/2 apple, peeled & grated
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Pre-heat oven to 190C.
Line your cake/muffin tin with cake cases.
Beat butter, egg and agave syrup together until smooth.
Add in the mashed banana and grated apple.
Sift in the flour and cinnamon and combine everything.
Divide cake mixture into cake cases and bake for 12-15 mins.
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I spotted this recipe for Honey Almond Biscotti, which I may try next.... Do you have any sugar-free recipes you like to make for a healthier sweet treat?

4 comments:

  1. Ooh! I nearly bought some agave syrup in Tesco last night! I too want to experiment with some sugar free baking for my daughter's lunch box.

    Recipe looks lovely - it's got fruit in it too. Bonus!!

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    1. You should get some next time. I really like the flavour and it's not sickly sweet at all, we have it in our porridge and over breakfast pancakes too :-).

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  2. We love agave these days. I'm going to try making these next week... do you think they would freeze well? Seems like they would but wondering if you have tried it. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Natalie, I wish cakes could stay around long enough to be frozen in our house but that's rarely the case! I don't know about these but I think they'd probably be ok to freeze and certainly worth a try. Hope you enjoy them :-)

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Thank you for reading. I'd love to have your comments and thoughts!