Decrease Dairy Fats Through Substitutions

If you can get a handle on butter and become aware of when you are using it, that will help control your fat intake a great deal. And if you find yourself buttering a pastry, such as a toasted croissant, which is made with tons of butter, than maybe you should reconsider or at least use half of what you normally would.

I like to bake and although I try to avoid shortening with its extra calories (7% more calories than butter) and vegetable oil (17% more calories than butter), sometimes it is difficult. However, with access to so many recipes, surely you can find one that uses less fat. Often I substitute real butter for a non-hydrogenated alternative in the 60-65% range, thus reducing the fat content. I've been using reduced fat butter to make cookies for so long that when I eat cookies at restaurants, I can tell they are packed with hydrogenated shortening. I find the extra gooey fat off-putting. I can almost feel my hips expanding as I chew.

When a recipe asks for heavy cream with 36% to 40% milk fat, I might use whipping cream or even half and half, which can range from 10-18% milk fat. You can even use a cup of evaporated milk at 4% milk fat, instead of an equal amount of half and half and, thus, cut the fat by a significant amount. Substitute light sour cream, low fat cream cheese or low fat yogurt in recipes calling for sour cream, cream cheese or yogurt. I have found that it makes little difference in the flavor or consistency. Using a no fat yogurt can be problematic, however.

Don't feel obligated to follow a recipe exactly, especially if there is no baking involved. Even with baking I have had a lot of luck with using lower fat substitutes. I use reduced fat cottage cheese (1-2% milk fat), which I mash with a fork, instead of sour cream (18-20% milk fat), when making bread. I find I like the results better. And when it comes to salt, since even the reduced fat butters have salt in them, I often don't include salt in a recipe calling for it.

If reducing fat and salt intake is not a concern now, it may become one in the future. Establishing better habits while you are young, mitigates that middle-age spread that is just around the corner. If anything, I think reducing fat and salt helps you taste the other ingredients that much more and gives those taste buds more of a work out.