You may already know that heart-healthy margarine spreads are great for topping foods to offer them a tasty, buttery flavor. But did you recognize that they're good for cooking and baking, too?
To check if a selection is heart-healthy, search for a cholesterol-free soft tub spread that's made up of 50 percent to 60 percent vegetable oils, has 2 grams or less of saturated fat, and contains no trans fat per serving.
Dana Jacobi, author of the “12 Best Foods Cookbook,” offers the following pointers for cooking and baking with margarine spreads:
* to live soft tub spread correctly, confirm to level the cup or spoon.
* When sauteing, use medium heat to take care of the flavor and to avoid burning the spread.
* For baking, chill the spread within the freezer before measuring it if the recipe involves creaming it with sugar.
* When melting a selection for baking, remember that it melts quickly. within the microwave, 3 tablespoons of tub spread melt in 15 seconds, versus 30 seconds for butter.
Now that you simply know which spreads to settle on and the way to cook with them, try it for yourself. the subsequent recipe uses a heart-healthy spread and produces perfect results.
DANA JACOBI’S OATMEAL-RAISIN COOKIES
(Makes 36 cookies)
1/3 cup chilled Promise Buttery Spread
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, at the temperature
1 tablespoon mild molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
3/4 cup sliced almonds
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and put aside.
Use an electrical mixer on medium speed to cream Promise Buttery Spread with sugar until it's pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Mix in egg, molasses, vanilla, and salt. employing a rubber spatula, stir in flour, oats, bicarbonate of soda, and cinnamon until almost blended. Add raisins and almonds, mixing gently until ingredients are combined.
Drop the dough 1 tablespoon at a time onto the baking sheet, spacing them 3 inches apart.
Bake for 12 minutes or until cookies is golden brown. Cool for 1 minute on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack and funky completely.
