I'll be baking up a storm next week...

Making my to-die-for Ginger Cookies, Almond Chocolate Freezer Fudge, and of course, Healthy Sugar Cookies for Santa! 

As always, there are candy, cookies, and sweet treats everywhere you look this time of year...

And you might call me a Grinch for saying this, but I do something very unconventional to protect my health:

I avoid refined sugar whenever possible (yes, even during the holidays). 

That doesn’t mean I skip dessert or suck the joy out of Christmas. It just means I’m more intentional about the treats I choose and how I bake.

Here's the truth about refined sugar...

• White sugar, brown sugar, and powdered sugar are all ultra-processed forms of refined sugar.

• They’re boiled, filtered, bleached, and stripped down until nothing is left but a cheap, dead sweetener with no nutritional value. Every natural mineral and plant compound is taken out. What you’re left with is pure stimulation for your taste buds and nothing your body can actually use.

• Brown sugar begins as white sugar. It simply has molasses added back in to make it “brown” again.

• Corn syrup is also ultra-processed. It’s made by breaking GMO corn starch down with enzymes and chemicals, then heavily refined and filtered into a clear, concentrated sweetener where all natural nutrients and minerals have been stripped out.

• Unless a sugar says it is “cane sugar” on an ingredient label it's probably made from GMO sugar beets. Any sugar (including Cane Sugar) that is NOT organic could have been sprayed with Roundup, Atrazine, and other harmful pesticides. 

When you eat refined sugar, it hits your system fast. Your blood sugar spikes, insulin jumps, and your body starts working overtime to bring things back into balance.

That whole process creates extra acidity in the body. And since refined sugar doesn’t have any minerals to buffer it, your body has to use its own mineral stores.

This diminishes your immune system, makes you more tired, anxious, and wreaks havoc on your skin.

You truly can minimize or avoid so many health issues simply by replacing refined sugar with healthier (unrefined) options! 

You see, I don't believe that treats need to be unhealthy. There's a way to make fun and festive treats that don't demolish your health and taste incredibly delicious.

I've also found after years of avoiding refined sugar, I prefer desserts made without it. My palate has adjusted and my body knows what is best for it (I can literally feel the difference if I eat something with refined sugar - and it makes me feel awful). 

Here are several ways I replace refined sugar in my baking, and they even pack in nutrition: 

Organic Coconut Palm Sugar – It’s an easy 1-to-1 substitute for baking recipes that call for regular sugar and brown sugar, and works great in most cookie recipes. It’s completely unrefined, helping to preserve all of its vitamins and minerals, and it has a lower glycemic index than refined sugar.

Organic Maple Syrup – This can replace things like corn syrup, white sugar, or even powdered sugar in glazes and baking.  Because it's a liquid, you usually use a little less than you would refined sugar and slightly reduce other liquids in the recipe so the texture stays right. It’s not refined or bleached, and it still contains natural minerals from the tree.

Organic Date Sugar – Date sugar doesn’t dissolve so it’s great for sprinkling on top of baked goods in place of powdered sugar (though not as sweet). It’s produced by grinding dried dates into a powder, so it’s unrefined and still contains fiber and naturally occurring nutrients.

Food Babe’s Sweet Blend – I make a delicious blend with organic raw pitted dates, prunes, bananas and sometimes applesauce or maple syrup together in the blender along with some fat – either organic coconut oil or melted organic butter. It makes the most deliciously sweet cookies or cakes! No processing and all nutrition.

It’s all just about making better choices, and this same philosophy applies any time of the year.

Some of my favorite holiday treat recipes without refined sugar: 

• Forever Cookies - This recipe uses my “sweet blend”, so you can refer to this to get the exact proportions of ingredients that I use. You can then substitute this blend in many other recipes that call for a butter/sugar blend.
• Almond Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies - Look fancy, but only take about 15 minutes of your time.
• Classic Real Ginger Cookies - Sweetened with a small amount of real maple syrup and organic molasses. 
• Healthy Sugar Cookies - Sweetened with coconut palm sugar and almond flour. 
• Raw Cacao Candy Crunch - Full of antioxidants!
• Almond Chocolate Freezer Fudge - Just the right amount of sweetness, fat and protein to seriously satisfy a sweet tooth. 
• Candied Ginger - Moist, chewy, sweet, spicy and has tremendous health benefits! 
• Brownies or Cookies In-A-Jar - A great edible gift idea!

I hope these tips help you enjoy holiday treats without health-wrecking refined sugar. Happy baking! 

Xo,

Vani

P.S. If you're still looking for last-minute gifts, I put this Healthy Holiday Gift Guide together to help you. But hurry, before shipping windows close! 

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