Baking with Fruits in the Mix

Baking with Fruits in the Mix

If you love to bake, chances are you have baked all kinds of sweets and treats with sugar and high fat ingredients as well. If you have children, you probably also want them to eat more fruits and vegetables. One way to strike a balance is by incorporating fruits into your baking. Adding fruit – whether it’s baked, fresh or frozen – makes for sweet and tasty treats. Chances are your kids will not even notice that you have snuck them into their favorite baked goodies.

Caramelized pears and apples are excellent ways to introduce something different to your family other than brownies and cupcakes. Caramelized apples and pears leave the natural essence of juicy flavor in the mix. Once added to pies and muffins, you get the best of both worlds. You get to incorporate fresh fruits and your family gets to enjoy baked treats.

With apples alone, you can create dozens of recipes:

• Mile High Apple Pie
• Apple Pie French Toast
• Apple Breakfast Tarts (instead of those store bought ones)
• Baked Apples
• Caramel Apples

The best thing about caramelized apples and pears is that you can add some low-fat ice cream or low-fat yogurt and have yourself a sweet, juicy, low-fat treat without sacrificing taste. Caramelized apples and pears also make an excellent insert for muffins or mixing into pancakes.

When it comes to baking with fruits in the mix, what’s better than seasonal fruits like pear and cranberry? Typically, most individuals will stick with apple or pumpkin for example during fall season, but try different combinations of fruits such as mixing apple and cranberry or orange and peach.

When it comes to fruit, there are no bad combinations, just family favorites. Perhaps your children will not eat raisins out of the box – but throw them into some cranberry orange, nut and raisin cookies, and they will never know what hit them.

How about making your own morning treat breakfast bars? Apple cinnamon fruit bars with nuts (if there are no allergies) and raisins mix up the best of everything. This is the perfect opportunity to give your family a fabulous head start out into their worlds.

And don’t forget that there are lots of dried fruits you can bake with as well. Cranberries, mulberries, cherries, apricots, prunes, dates and figs are great in a wide variety of dishes. You can either toss them in as is or rehydrate them first on the stove. Just add enough water to cover the fruit, bring it to a simmer and continue to simmer about 5 minutes.

As you can see, there are many unique ways to bake with fruits in the mix and not just your standard cherry chocolate cheesecake. Adding fruit makes your baked goods that much more nutritious… and also delicious. Why not give it a try?