Healthy Food Hacks: Swap Butter for Prunes + More Delicious Substitutions

Be honest: You love butter. All of that rich, melting, golden goodness that runs in delicious little rivulets down the sides of your favorite baked goods and makes dessert the best part of pretty much any meal? It’s basically ecstasy for your taste buds.

Unfortunately, it’s also really freaking bad for you and hits your arteries with a cholesterol-raising punch after every indulgent bite. Not wanting to die young is a pretty great motivator to turn your back on butter forever, but let’s be real: A life without pastries is a life not worth living. That’s where the prunes come in. Turns out that substituting prunes for butter in cookies, cake, and brownie recipes significantly cuts down on fat and sugar while still keeping the flavor factor in check. And the best part? It’s not just prunes. The folks over at Greatist have compiled a master infographic of all the different substitutions your average healthy baker can make to reduce the death-by-cholesterol factor in all of your favorite baked goods. You might side-eye the idea of substituting beans for flour or using flax meal instead of eggs, but at the end of the day you’re chowing down on some delicious chocolate cake and your arteries can party on for a few more decades. Sounds like a win/win situation to us. Peep the infographic below:

H/T + PicThx Greatist