Discovery of Vegan Baking – Easy and Healthier!

This year one of my goals was to encourage more dietitians to get involved in writing. Because that way I look at it, the more dietitians that are out there (dispelling the myths and giving out the right dietary advice), the less confusion there will be when it comes to nutrition! Today I'd like to introduce you to Mary, my mentee, who has kindly offered to guest post on all things vegan.

Mary Lin

Mary Lin is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian after successfully completing the Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics at Monash University. Mary is passionate about exploring food possibilities to promote health and wellbeing. She has a special interest in heart health, vegetarianism/veganism, and food intolerance. Mary's hobbies include cooking, baking, and playing music.

Connect with Mary on LinkedIn

Connect with Mary at her blog Food is a Many-Splendoured Thing

I have always loved baking; I especially love sharing my finished products with my friends and loved ones. This all became a pickle when I acquired a vegan mister. I wanted to share baked goods with him but I had never attempted vegan baking before. I was uncertain at first as I didn’t know what crazy substitute ingredients I’d come across. However after some research, not only did I discover that vegan baking can be just as easy as normal baking, it can be healthier, and just as delicious!

What’s vegan?

Being vegan is a lifestyle that does not involve eating or using any animal products. Diet-wise, this means no meats, no dairy products, and no food additives that contain animal products (such as red food dye, which is made from Cochineal – an insect!).

From a nutritional point of view

The vegan diet can be much lower in fat, especially saturated fat (the “bad” fat) as it is mostly found in animal products. In this day and age where fatty foods are oh-so-common, and high saturated fat diets are contributing to some of the major chronic diseases (e.g. heart disease, type 2 diabetes), a vegan diet can be a good for health. However, it is important for vegans to consume adequate amounts of legumes (e.g. pulses, lentils) and soy products (e.g. soy milk, tofu) to substitute meat and dairy so they’re getting all their nutrients. If you are vegan or decide to make the swap, make sure you have your vitamin and mineral levels checked by your doctor as vegans are more at risk of developing a deficiency, particularly vitamins B12 & iron. And an Accredited Practising Dietitian can help you to make the right choices when it comes to your diet.

Non-vegan baking ingredients

The most common ingredients used in baking that are animal products, are milk, buttermilk, eggs, and butter, which can all be substituted for vegan alternatives:

Milk à Soy milk, rice milk, almond milk

Buttermilk à Milk and vinegar

Eggs à Apple sauce, lemon juice

Butter à Margarine, oil

Vegan vs. non-vegan baking

One of my favourite vegan cupcake recipes is the lemon and poppy seed cupcakes. So I found a non-vegan counterpart to compare it to (the links for both recipes can be found at the end of this blog):

Lemon and Poppy Seed Cupcakes (Icing not included) - Makes 12
Vegan	Non-Vegan
Ingredients: ·        1 cup flour ·        1 1/4 teaspoons baking     powder ·        1 teaspoon baking soda ·        1/2 teaspoon salt ·        1/4 cup oil ·        1/2 cup sugar ·        1 tablespoon lemon juice ·        1 lemon, zested ·        1 teaspoon vinegar ·        1 cup soy milk ·        1 tablespoon vanilla ·        1 1/2 tablespoons poppy      seeds	Ingredients: ·        225g self-raising flour ·        175g golden caster sugar ·        Zest 2 lemons ·        1 tbsp poppy seeds,       toasted ·        3 eggs ·        100g natural yoghurt ·        175g butter, melted and       cooled a little

Although there are more ingredients in the vegan cupcakes, most are commonly found in a kitchen and all can be easily purchased from the supermarket (Tip: try using apple cider vinegar). The directions for the vegan cupcake recipe are just as easy, if not even simpler than the non-vegan recipe (refer to links).

I put both cupcake recipes into FoodWorks, a program often used to nutritionally analyse food and diets. From the results, the vegan cupcakes have 50% less fat, 88% less saturated fat, and 20% less sugar (per 100g) compared to the non-vegan cupcakes! And how do the vegan cupcakes taste? You can’t even tell that they’re vegan!

So next time you’re making cupcakes, why not have a go at making vegan cupcakes instead? They taste just as good and are a healthier option! Vegan recipes are easy to find, just have a search on the internet and away you go!

 Other Healthier Baking Tips

·        Use low fat options when available. E.g. for milk and cream cheese

·        Use margarine instead of butter

·        Substitute part or all flour with a wholemeal equivalent to increase
   dietary fibre

·        Cut down sugar. When the recipe says 1 cup, try being not so accurate
   and put in a little less than 1 cup. You’ll find that this doesn’t change the
   finished product

·        Cut down on the icing. I often make half the amount of icing on recipes
    for my cupcakes and I find it’s more than enough

Links

Vegan Cupcake Recipe - (vegweb.com also has all sorts of other vegan recipes)

Non-Vegan Cupcake Recipe
The Vegan Society



Editor's note:


Thanks Mary. What better an introduction to vegan baking than from someone that loves getting their hands dirty in the kitchen themselves! I look forward to more delicious recipes from you, and FYI, I would never say no to some samples of your cooking if you ever happened to bring some in at our next meeting! ;)