I find that certain weekend mornings are practically tailor-made for a muffin-and-coffee breakfast.

Sipping freshly brewed coffee and biting into homemade baked good on a cloudy autumn morning, watching the colorful foliage slowly float down from tree branches, is simultaneously comforting and delectable.

While many commercial baked goods are nutrition horror cliches (copious amounts of white flour, sugar, and unhealthy fats), homemade varieties can get a nutritional boost in a variety of ways.

These tips can be used when making muffins, brownies, and cookies:

1) Go whole or go home

Gone are the days when “whole grain baked goods” meant a dense, rubbery concoction akin to an E-Z Bake Oven creation.

The key to making light and fluffy 100% whole grain baked goods is to utilize either whole wheat pastry flour or whole wheat white flour.

You can fully replace a recipe’s white flour with either of these varieties.

Not only will the end result be higher in fiber, it will also contain more selenium, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium.

2) Go alternative

Alternative flours can be quite pricey, but they’re a lot more affordable if you make them yourself!

Instead of purchasing oat flour (which, depending where you live, can be hard to track down), make your own by processing quick oats in a food processor.

FYI: One and a half cups of quick cooking oats yields one cup of oat flour.

Oat flour is high in soluble fiber (the kind that helps lower cholesterol and provides a feeling of fullness more quickly) and rich in phytonutrients.

One other FYI: oat flour can only replace, at most, half of the wheat flour in a given recipe.

Another favorite alternative flour of mine is almond meal.

You can also make this at home by pulverizing raw almonds in a food processor or coffee grinder until they achieve a powdery consistency.

Like oat flour, almond meal can replace up to half of the wheat flour in a given recipe.

Like whole almonds, almond meal is a good source of fiber, protein, vitamin E, and heart-healthy monounsaturated fats.

You can even replace half a cup of flour in a recipe with half a cup of pure wheat germ for added fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

3) Get saucy

Unsweetened applesauce is a healthy baker’s ally.

You can replace anywhere from one half to three quarters of the fat called for in a recipe with unsweetened applesauce and no one will be the wiser.

The applesauce won’t disrupt flavors, but will add plenty of moisture to your baked goods.

4) Sprinkle away

Whenever I make pancake or muffin batter, I like to add two or three tablespoons of oat bran and ground flaxseeds.

Not only do they impart a hearty and nutty flavor, they also add extra nutrition in a pinch.

5) Sugar?  Think Beyond The White Stuff

When it comes to sweetening, think natural first.

Raisins, blueberries, bananas, and fresh pineapple add sweetness — and great flavor — to recipes while also delivering nutrition.

In my experience, you can halve the added sugar (whether in the form of white sugar, brown sugar, agave nectar, maple syrup, etc.) in conventional recipes and still have a tasty baked good.

When reducing sugar, make up for it by adding nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla, almond, and/or coconut extract to the batter.

4 Comments almond meal, applesauce, baking, fiber, flaxseed, fruits, oat bran, oat flour, wheat germ, white whole wheat flour, whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour

I have a question [in regards to your recent post] about oat flour.

I can tolerate wheat just fine, but if I were to replace whole wheat flour with oat flour in my baking, would I end up with a more nutritious product?

– Nicole Clanham
(City withheld), CO

Let’s first do a simple comparison.

One cup of whole wheat flour contains:

• 407 calories
• 15 grams fiber
• 16 grams protein
• 121% Daily Value of selenium
• 228% Daily Value of manganese
• 14% Daily Value of potassium
• 41% of manganese

A cup of oat flour, meanwhile, provides:

• 444 calories
• 12 grams fiber
• 15 grams protein
• 57% Daily Value of selenium
• 258% Daily Value of manganese
• 12% Daily Value of potassium
• 81% Daily Value of manganese

Alas, no mind-blowing differences.

There are, however, some added bonuses to oat flour (especially if you make your own by grinding rolled oats in a food processor).

1. More soluble fiber than any other grain.  Remember, soluble fiber helps lower cholesterol levels and triggers fullness more quickly.  Insoluble fiber — which whole wheat flour contains lots of — helps keep things moving through our digestive system.
2. Exclusive antioxidants and polyphenols believed to promote heart health and lower diabetes risk.

As great as that is, you can not fully replace the whole wheat flour in a recipe with oat flour.

Since oat flour does not contain gluten, a baked good made entirely with it will not rise.

“Wait a minute,” you may be saying.  “I thought you said oats were not safe for people on gluten-free diets!  What do you mean it doesn’t have gluten?”

Allow me to explain.  Oats are intrinsically gluten-free.  However, many are cross-contamined in factories that also process wheat.  While the minimal contamination is significant enough to cause problems for an individual with celiac, it is not enough to have an effect on the baking process.

Feel free to substitute half the wheat flour in a recipe with oat flour, though.

As I always like to say, keep nutritional context in mind.  Oat flour in an otherwise unhealthy recipe (loads of sugar and calories) is a moot point.

The best way to get oat’s health benefits is by preparing unsweetened oatmeal (and adding your own fruit and nut toppings) or adding quick-cooking oats to yogurt or a smoothie.

2 Comments You Ask/I Answer, baking, calories, fiber, insoluble fiber, magnesium, manganese, oat flour, oatmeal, oats, potassium, protein, selenium, soluble fiber

Are oat and spelt flours whole grain?

I have celiac disease, so I am looking for ways to make whole grain baked goods without using whole wheat flour.

– Christine Adler
(City withheld), DE

As with wheat flour, these flours are only whole grain if the word “whole” or “whole grain” appears on their packaging (or the ingredient list of a food product).  Never assume!

I am slightly confused by your question, though, since spelt is a form of wheat and certainly NOT gluten-free!

As far as whole oat flour goes — you can make it at home by grinding unflavored and unsweetened quick-cooking rolled oats (which are, by virtue, 100% whole grain) in a food processor.

One word of caution: although oats are gluten-free, many of them are processed in facilities that also handle wheat.  Consequently, cross-contamination is very common.

Fortunately, companies like Gluten Free Oats provide oat products that are certified as gluten-free.

Keep in mind that oat flour by itself will not result in appealing baked goods.

Gluten-free baking is all about combinations of flours — especially quinoa, brown rice, amaranth, and almond meal — as well as the addition of thickeners like xantham gum and guar gum (both of which can be purchased at health food stores).

It is encouraging to see the rise in production and availability of gluten-free all-purpose flours, too.

2 Comments You Ask/I Answer, celiac, gluten, oat flour, spelt flour, whole grains