Baking

Lots of Christmas baking threads here on the forums!!

And I do love to bake... and try to make it as healthy as possible. (so it doesnt turn out as delicious or beautiful as your normal cake/cookies... not always presentable :P but its my idea of compensation)

However, I rarely bake because I lack self control. I will definitely and always eat it all right afterwards.

My family doesn't eat sweets either :( especially not mine haha, which don't exactly look delicious. (which is why I can't exactly give them to friends either)

Anyone else in a similar situation?? What do you do?

 Kashi makes a high fiber cookie that you bake.  I read about it in Mens Fitness, they gave it a thumbs up.

I just make the normal stuff and only eat a little. Made turtles, truffles, and biscotti the other day, have not gone crazy or anything. If you have a bit of a self control issue try making things that are normally a little lower calorie like meringue cookies, the peppermint ones are rather awesome.

Make sure you make really small batches; make the dough for something and only bake 4-6 cookies worth and keep the rest to bake later.

i used to make a lot of cheesecake, but it was so fattening, so i swapped the ingredients for lower-fat and low-cal alternatives, and its still as delicious as it was before.  it helps that i'm bordering on being lactose intolerant, i dont eat as much b/c i know i'll make myself sick if i do =]

I love baking as well, but I've pretty much given it up. I bake for special occasions and I really enjoy it, but I only do it if I have an event to go to. Otherwise I'll either eat it, or have to pawn it off on someone else who probably would be better off not eating it. Even the healthy versions of yummy baked goods aren't all that healthy.

What I have done is develop a serious love of cooking instead. That way, I'm spending time cooking dinners and meals that we actually need, and not little extras that will sit around and tempt us. Plus, it's easier to do healthy cooking than healthy baking.  

This was the first year I didn't make a huge variety of Christmas cookies - everyone in my family is trying to lose weight and I didn't want to feel guilty about sabotaging anyone (including myself!). We did make gingerbread houses and made cookies out of the scraps, but not too many. I miss the baking, but I like having the extra time to do some super fancy gift wrapping instead.  

1. make the dough

2. bake 3 or 4 cookies

3. freeze the dough

4. Thaw dough and repete steps 1-3 next time you want a cookie