Butter adds richness and creaminess to many recipes — but it also packs on saturated fat. Just one cup of butter in a recipe provides close to 6 times your daily recommended saturated fat value and 160 percent of your recommended daily cholesterol!
Try replacing half the butter in your recipe with a fruit puree instead. “There’s going to be a little bit of a taste change, but [the swap] significantly cuts down the amount of calories in the product as well as the fat,” said Thayer.
Different fruits work best for different recipes; unsweetened applesauce works well if you’re making something lighter in color and spongier in texture (like a cake), and a prune puree works for denser recipes that are darker in color (like a chocolate brownie). Fruit puree tends to make the final product a bit softer, so if you’re baking something harder in texture (like crispy cookies), replacing the butter is not recommended.
Bonus: This swap isn’t just a way to cut the fat; it also provides a natural sweetness that allows you to reduce the amount of granulated sugar you use by about ¼ cup.