Many diabetics love to bake. Unfortunately, traditional ingredients such as white flour and sugar lead to high blood sugar levels. Diabetes baking methods are available to help you continue the practice that you love without risking your blood sugar levels rising too high. DiabetesHealth.com provides the following diabetes baking tips to help you keep your meals healthier:

  • Reduce the sugar amount in a recipe by one quarter, which is not noticeably differ, but cuts down the total carbohydrate count of your meal.
  • Replace sugar with agave nectar, which is lower on the glycemic index than sugar.
  • Use unsweetened applesauce instead of oil.
  • Throw in walnuts, flax seed, and/or wheat germ to increase the amount of healthy fats and add protein to your dish.
  • When possible, use whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, oats, or flaky cereal in place of white flour.
  • Do not replace butter with margarine. Try to cut fat in other ways like using an egg substitute instead of egg. Otherwise, you may compromise the taste and texture of your dish, as true butter is extremely important in baking.
  • For more diabetes baking tips visit DiabetesHealth.com

 

Diabetes Baking Recipe

 

Diabetic Chocolate Coconut Slices

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted
  • 6 tbsp. butter, softened
  • 1 ½ cups whole-wheat flour
  • 3 tsp. vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp. baking soda

 

Filling Ingredients

  • 1 cup flaked coconut
  • 1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
  • ½ cup chopped pecans
  • 1 cup flaked coconut

 

Instructions

Use a small bowl to cream together the confectioners’ sugar and the butter until the mixture is light and fluffy. Then, beat in the egg, vanilla, and chocolate. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda. Gradually add this mixture to the creamed mixture. Using another bowl, beat the cream cheese and vanilla until the mixture is smooth, and then add the coconuts and nuts. Refrigerate both of these mixtures for 1 hour.

After the hour has passed, shape the dough into a 8 x 6 inch rectangle. Next, take the coconut mixture and shape it into an 8 ½ in. log. Place this on the dough. Wrap the dough around the filling. Seal the seam. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 hours or until firm.  Afterwards, cut into ¼ in. slices. Coat 2 large cooking sheets with cooking spray, and spread the slices 2 in. apart on the sheets. Bake these at 375 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until they are set. Allow the slices to cool on wire racks.