10 Healthy Baking Tips for People With Diabetes

Having diabetes doesn’t mean you have to swear off baking completely. In fact, a few smart strategies can make sweet treats part of a diabetes-friendly diet, helping you avoid the pitfalls of an all-or-nothing mentality when it comes to food.

Enjoy the occasional treat and keep your blood sugar stable with these expert-backed, diabetes-friendly baking tips.

1. Trade Unhealthy Sources of Fat for Healthy Ones

Use these oils in place of butter with a 1:1 substitution ratio. Just know that liquid fats don’t always perform the same as solid fats in some baked goods like pie crusts. “You might not get the light-and-fluffy texture you would expect with butter,” says Brittany Poulson, RDN, CDCES, a nutritionist and diabetes educator in private practice in the Salt Lake City area.

If you prefer not to use oil, try mashed avocado, pumpkin puree, Greek yogurt, nut butter, unsweetened applesauce, or even pureed prunes. “The avocado is particularly suited to chocolate baked goods because the chocolate helps hide the green of the avocado, and it pairs well with the chocolate flavor,” says Poulson.

2. Get Creative With Natural Sweeteners

It can be difficult to bake without sweeteners. Thankfully, there are better baking options than table sugar for people with diabetes.

Honey and maple syrup are still sources of sugar and therefore can raise blood glucose levels just like white or brown sugar. However, unlike white or brown sugar, which only provide empty calories, they offer antioxidants like flavonoids and phenolic acids, says Poulson.

3. Experiment With Sugar Substitutes

“Unlike substitutions of applesauce, bananas, or honey, [some] artificial sweeteners (excluding sorbitol and maltitol) don’t add any sugar or carbohydrates to baked goods,” says Poulson.

With that said, there are drawbacks to using artificial sweeteners. They may change the taste of your treats slightly, and baked goods may not brown as much because they lack the sugar to caramelize. For that reason, Jill Weisenberger, RDN, CDCES, a nutritionist and author based in Virginia, recommends combining sugar with a sugar alternative. Instead of using a full cup of sugar, try half a cup of sugar and half a cup of a sugar alternative. Or use a third of a cup of sugar and two-thirds of a cup of the sugar alternative.

Keep in mind that some sugar alternatives may cause gastrointestinal upset if eaten in large quantities. “You still want to watch portion sizes when consuming baked goods made with them,” says Poulson.

4. Try Alternative Baking Flours

There are other types of flour you can try, too, such as almond flour and coconut flour.

5. Use Dark Chocolate or Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

When a recipe calls for chocolate, opt for dark and unsweetened varieties instead of white or milk chocolate.

Another tip: Use mini chocolate chips in place of standard-sized ones. “What I do is use a little less of the minis, so maybe three-quarters of a cup instead of 1 cup,” says Weisenberger. This strategy is a stealthy way to cut back the chocolate (and therefore added sugar and calories) in a recipe without feeling deprived. “It doesn’t seem like less because there are so many dots of chocolate in my dessert,” she says.

6. Add Vegetables for Extra Moisture and Nutrients

Depending on how much moisture there is in the vegetables, you may want to cut back on oils and fats a bit. Check the consistency of the batter as you go.

But Weisenberger doesn’t typically adjust her recipes too drastically when incorporating produce. “I add vegetables as a booster and don’t subtract much else,” she says.

7. Try an Open-Face Fruit Pie

You can cut the amount of carbohydrates, sugar, and butter in a pie by simply leaving the top crust off. “You could even forgo crust altogether and make a simple crumb topping with olive oil, whole-wheat flour, oats, chopped nuts, ground cinnamon, and a small amount of your sweetener of choice,” says Poulson.

For an even healthier pie, make it a fruit one. “Making a fruit pie, like apple or mixed berry, and using less sugar can incorporate more vitamins, minerals, and fiber into your dessert while still giving you the sweetness you might be craving,” says Poulson.

Generally, riper fruits are sweeter, which means less sugar is needed, she adds.

8. Downsize Your Portions

Portion size matters — and it’s not “just one cookie” if that cookie is the size of a salad plate.

Avoid the temptation to overeat by creating smaller portions from the get-go. Consider cutting a treat like a cookie in half to eat one portion with lunch and one portion with dinner. Even though you still end up eating the whole cookie, this method could help moderate its effect on your blood sugar.

Try using mini cookie cutters, mini muffin and cupcake tins, or tiny ramekins (which work great for custard or flan). “You could even take little shot glasses and make mini trifles in them,” says Weisenberger. “Take a little piece of cake, a bit of whipped cream, some syrup and nuts, and make something tiny.” As you eat, focus on the feeling of your food and really relish it.

9. Think About Your Meal Plan That Day

If you know you’re going to indulge in something sweet for dessert, Poulson suggests planning ahead by cutting back on the carbohydrates you eat at other meals and for snacks throughout the day.

10. Pick Treats You Really Enjoy

If you’re baking tons of goods for a gathering or you know you’ll be in a space where various desserts will be offered, think ahead about which treat really matters to you, then plan on having only that one.

“Let’s just say that apple pie is what you dream about having all the time — that’s what you should have,” says Weisenberger. “But maybe you skip the brownies and cookies because they don’t mean as much to you,” she adds.

Enjoy your slice of pie knowing that you can always have a brownie or cookie another day.

Additional reporting by Vanessa Caceres.