About Sweet Smart
For over 15 years I've been trying to avoid eating foods with refined flour and sugar. It's helped me immensely as you can read below in the About Kathleen section, but I did miss the comforting taste and texture of a home baked treat.
That's when I began pulling out my favourite cookbooks and adapting the recipes - replacing refined sugar with naturally sweet fruit or unsweetened applesauce, and white flour with whole grain flours.
My aim with these recipes is not to replicate traditional sweet baked goods, but to offer them as an alternative healthy snack. Think of them like scones, they are delicious as a snack with tea or coffee, but don't have to be super sweet to be enjoyable.
Some of the recipes in this collection are sweeter than others. The pies are sweeter, as they have lots of fruit in them; some of the quick breads are on the less-sweet end of the scale. Which recipes you enjoy will depend on how much sweetness you like or are used to.
I've included a nutritional breakdown of each recipe which includes the sugar content per serving, which you can use as a guide as to how sweet the product will be. My recipes contain anywhere from about 2 to 10 grams of sugar per serving, which is the equivalent of about 1/2 to 2 1/2 teaspoons of sugar per serving.
Read more about the recipes and sweetness levels
If you are new to a sugar free diet and are afraid you won't find these recipes sweet enough, you can always try the Sweeter option, and/or serve the finished muffin or quick bread with a drizzle of honey or maple syrup.
I really hope you enjoy making and eating some of these treats, and please let me know how they work out for you in your kitchen!
About Kathleen
I have been following a mostly sugar free diet for over 15 years, and it has made such a huge difference in my life. I had always suffered from depression on and off during my life, and when I hit my mid-30s it got to the point where I finally decided I had to do something about it.
Although I didn't want to, I considered going on anti-depressants. Then I remembered a book I had read a few years back called Sugar Blues. I had lent it out to someone, so decided that day to pick up another copy and read it before I took the Prozac plunge.
They didn't have any at the bookstore I visited, but instead saw a book called The Sugar Addict's Total Recovery Program
To make a long story short, I followed the eating program outlined in the book and over the course of the year gradually eliminated the refined sugars in my diet.
I was no longer depressed, teary and unmotivated, and I no longer was constantly gaining and losing the same 15 pounds. I finally felt happy and in control of my life, and no more depression.
