What, No Margarine? Healthy Parve Baking

I talk a lot about using healthy fats. And avoiding margarine.

Even the newly-formulated trans fat-free margarines are not what I’d call healthy. They’re basically mixtures of vegetable oil and food additives. And when manufacturers get rid of the trans fat in margarine, many of them substitute highly saturated palm oil.

But there are healthy alternatives.

Olive oil is at the top of the list. Tasty, versatile and good for you. Most people are fine with using olive oil on salads and on vegetables.

Canola oil is a good choice. It’s affordable and mild tasting. Since it can withstand higher temperatures than most olive oil, it's good for cooking.

Parve baking can still be problematic.

In most cases, you can’t just take a recipe that calls for margarine and substitute an equal amount of oil. It just won’t work well.

And the type of fat you use is only one consideration when you want to bake healthier desserts. It’s also important to cut back on total fat as well as sugar. At the same time, why not try to incorporate healthy ingredients, like nuts, seeds, whole grains and fruit?

There are many cake recipes that use oil rather than margarine. Carrot cake and apple cake are two examples. A variety of tortes use ground nuts, dried fruit, cocoa and chocolate. Angel and sponge cakes don’t use any fat (except for eggs), and chiffon cakes are made with oil.

I’m a big fan of fruit desserts like “crisps”, baked fruit and compote.

There are delicious parve cookie recipes that use olive oil. And biscotti filled with dried fruits and nuts are a tasty choice. Some of my favorite cookies are based simply on nuts and egg whites, like almond macaroons and chewy pistachio cookies.

These two parve cookie recipes prove that baking without margarine can produce delicious (and healthier!) results. Though both are based on almonds, they are as different as can be. The first is a whole-grain “thumb-print” cookie filled with jam. It doesn’t use eggs, so it’s even suitable for vegans. The second is an elegant wafer-like cookie made with just four ingredients. (o.k., five if you choose to add a coating of chocolate)


Thumbprint Linzer Cookies (Parve)

1 cup whole almonds
1 cup uncooked rolled oats
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup canola oil
½ cup maple syrup
¼ cup good quality raspberry jam

Preheat the oven to 300 F (150 C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place the almonds and oats in a food processor and process with the metal blade until the mixture is very fine. Add the flour, cinnamon and salt and pulse several times to mix. Add the oil and maple syrup and pulse again until combined and the mixture forms a soft dough.

Shape the mixture into small balls with your hands, using a scant tablespoon of dough for each. Place the balls on the baking sheet, leaving space between each.

Using your finger, make a small indentation in each ball of dough. Fill the holes with a small amount of jam.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until lightly brown.

Remove from the oven and cool on the pan for 5 minutes. Then remove the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Approximately 3 dozen cookies

Faux Florentine Cookies (Parve)

2 ¾ cups sliced almonds
1 cup powdered sugar
2 egg whites
Finely grated zest of one orange
Parve bittersweet chocolate (optional)

Preheat the oven to 300 F (150 C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and spray the paper with non-stick baking spray.

In a medium size bowl, gently combine the almonds, sugar, egg whites and orange zest.

Drop scant tablespoons of the mixture on the baking sheets, leaving plenty of space between each one. Dip your fingers in water and flatten each cookie into a very thin disc. It should be as flat as possible, but still cohesive. Each cookie will be about 2 ½ inches (6 cm) wide.

Bake for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before carefully removing each cookie with a spatula.

For chocolate coated cookies, gently melt the chocolate in a double boiler or microwave. Brush one side of each cooled cookie with the warm chocolate. Cool them on a rack, chocolate side up, until the chocolate hardens.

Store these cookies in an air-tight container.

Makes about 40 small cookies