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7 Steps to Healthy Baking & Homemade Desserts Written by John Joseph Immel, Asheville, NC

Take the Ayurvedic approach this holiday with this 7-step healthy baking program that will allow you to indulge in your favorite cookies and desserts without provoking kapha, bogging down your circulation or causing excessive mucus and weight gain.

1. Sugar Coat Your Cookies - This tip will reduce the amount of sugar by half in most dessert recipes. Sprinkle a bit of sugar on the top on bottom of cookies before baking. When taste buds contact the sugar coating, the whole cookie tastes sweet.
2. Choose Raw Sugar - Fruit and natural sugars are much less aggravating to the doshas than refined sugar. Use raw sugar, agave, maple syrup, date sugar, bananas, or raisins to sweeten your holiday treats.
3. Try Spelt Flour - Similar in taste to wheat flour, spelt flour is an ancient variety of wheat that contains less gluten, a type of protein that's sticky and clogs your GI tract. Still, a small amount of gluten is required for proper leavening or rising of your dough, and you can follow these simple tips to utilize it effectively:
   • Stir in one direction only to lengthen the strands of gluten.
   • Let the dough sit twenty minutes after mixing.
   • Then mix again for five minutes.
4. Use Ghee - Ghee raises your cholesterol only slightly compared to butter and is lighter and easier to digest.
5. Enhance With Sweet Spices - Sweet spices increase blood flow to your stomach, balancing the heavy, dull, cold, and gooeyness feeling dessert foods may provoke. This makes for a more digestible cookie with a tantalizing flavor and depth. Some examples of sweet spices include:
   • cinnamon
   • cardamom
   • ginger
   • nutmeg
   • fennel
   • saffron
   • cloves
6. Serve Warm - Warm foods improve circulation and are easier to digest.
7. Take Small Bites - This will allow your blood sugar levels to rise and reduce food cravings while you fully enjoy the experience.

Here are some healthy dessert options on Joyful Belly.

Eating Out & Healthy Holiday Indulging