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| Olive oil is a healthy substitute for butter in holiday baking - Here's why! Follow Foods For Long Life on Facebook and Pinterest. Check out my eBook, Health Begins in the Kitchen. |
Holiday Baking
Before you start baking holiday goodies for your family, friends, and neighbors, consider substituting some or all of that butter with extra virgin olive oil. Here's why!
First of all, it takes less olive oil than butter. Here's how it converts:
Butter Oil
1 tsp = 3/4 tsp
1 TB 2 1/4 tsp
2 TB 1 1/2 TB
1/4 C 3 TB
1/3 C 1/4 C
1/2 C 1/4 C + 2 TB
2/3 C 1/2 C
3/4 C 1/2 C + 1 TB
1 C 3/4 C
For example, if your recipe calls for 1/2 cup of butter , you would only need 6 tablespoons of olive oil. Nutritionally, this means:
* you would save 100 calories,
* the recipe would have 47 fewer grams of saturated fat,
* you would save 244 mg of cholesterol,
* the baked item with olive oil would have 260 mg more beneficial omega-3 and 4,811 mg more omega-6 fatty acids.
In addition, olive oil contains anti-inflammatory polyphenols which lower the body's overall inflammation. So give it a try!
Can't Give it Up?
If you absolutely cannot give up that buttery flavor, try using some ghee. Ghee is traditionally used in Indian food and is made by cooking butter until all the moisture is removed and the milk solids are caramelized and filtered out. Ghee has many advantages over butter.
Although it's not vegan, people like myself who cannot eat dairy, can tolerate ghee because it does not have lactose or the milk protein, casein. It also doesn't spoil and can last for several months without refrigeration, so it's nice and soft when you need it.
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| Always buy organic ghee made from grass-fed and pasture-raised cows |
But despite the numerous health claims you may read about ghee, it is still a saturated fat so if you do eat it, do it sparingly.
It's amazing how very little butter or ghee it takes to bring a buttery taste to your recipe. So if you don't want to replace all of your butter with olive oil, convert most of it and add just a little ghee.
Happy Baking!
