Fat-free Baking (Paperback)

by Sandra Woodruff (Author) "Sometimes you can have your cake and eat it too . . . and your bread, and your muffins, and your cookies..." (more)
Key Phrases: Fruit Source, Prune-the-Fat Pie Crust

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The book features over 130 recipes that use fat substitutes such as fruit purees and juices, apple sauce, honey, nonfat yoghurt and buttermilk, and even mashed sweet potatoes and pumpkin.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Avery Trade (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895296306
• ISBN-13: 978-0895296306
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #207,927 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You CAN Have Your Cake and Eat It Too!, January 23, 2001

By	M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Sandra Woodruff, RN, is a nutritionist. Her book is informed by her personal experience that "healthy foods serve no purpose if they aren't eaten." Woodruff states that this "is the perfect book for those who want to reduce the fat in their diet, maximize their nutrition, and still enjoy great-tasting sweet treats."

After the introductory chapter on the importance of limiting fat, she presents 130 no- and low-fat recipes, often using creative fat substitutes such as fruit, yoghurt, buttermilk, corn syrup, jam, pruunes, sweet potatoes, and date sugar. (She's also mindful of salt and cholesterol.)

The recipes vary from Cherry Apple Scones (0.3 grams of fat per serving) to Buttermilk Chocolate Cake (1.3 g), pumpkin gingerbread (0.3 g), Pear and Walnut Bundt Cake (0.7 g), Plum Delicous Bran Muffins (0.7 g), and old favorites like oatmeal raisin cookies (0.3 g).

As you can see above, the fat content is indeed low, which sometimes sacrifices the flavor and texture found in higher-fat recipes. (Though I think one reviewer here went a little too far in criticizing the taste). This is a good beginner's book with a variety of recipes, and offers useful cooking tips, a list of stores selling low-fat ingredients, nice old-fashioned color photos, and an index. For a little more flavor (and perhaps a little more fat?), take a look at "Let Them Eat Cake." For those who want to eat their favorite sweet things with minimal fat, this is an excellent book.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Like Goodies, But Can't Eat Fat?, February 19, 1998

By	Robert Derenthal "bucherwurm" (California United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

A heart problem requires that I eliminate fat from my diet. This book allows me to contine eating a lot of yummy bakery products. I have used a variety of the included recipes, and have been quite pleased. Its great to have delicious, fresh scones for breakfast that contain not a bit of cholesterol or fat in them.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent recipes, although her larger cookbook is better, October 13, 2003

By	Emily R. Mccalib (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent cook book for those who need to cut out as much fat as possible (I make many of the dishes for those in my office who have had heart attacks) and with care the baked goods are great. For those who can afford a bit of fat I prefer the recipes in Sandra Woodruff's larger all-purpose Secrets of a Healthy Kitchen cookbook, which use a little bit of oil in the baked goods. Her quick breads are excellent and the muffins really hearty; a great way to start the morning. I own both this book and the larger green cookbook and bounce back and forth between the two, often combining recipe elements and experimenting.