Add good nutrition to a box cake and cut some of the fat to make a healthier box cake! This Healthy Kitchen Hack is perfect for when you don’t have time to make a cake from scratch.
It’s Healthy Kitchen Hacks Wednesday – the day we share our favorite time-saving kitchen tricks and cooking shortcuts to help you make healthy and delicious meals.
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Now…onto today’s featured Healthy Kitchen Hack:
Make a Healthier Box Cake
I rarely bake box cakes for home. But the baking season for potlucks and bake sales is heating up.
And since the cake with the most sprinkles fetches the highest price at my kids’ school bake sale, I was looking for a healthier way to make bake sale treats – with minimal effort.
Deanna’s Banana Rescue article for Food & Nutrition Magazine held the key:
Substitute mashed bananas for up to half the oil in pancake, waffle and cake batters, but reduce the cooking temperature by 25 degrees F to keep them from drying out.
First I knew I wanted to start with the healthiest cake mix. My friends over at Eating Well did the legwork for me to find cake mixes which were per serving:
- Calories: 280 or less
- Sodium: 350 mg or less
- Sugars: 22 g or less
Check out the Eating Well post for all the cake mix recommendations. But the mixes I tried this Banana Rescue Healthy Kitchen Hack with great success were:
- Pillsbury Moist Supreme Classic Yellow
- Pillsbury Moist Classic White
- King Arthur Flour Deliciously Simple Chocolate (yummy chocolate-covered banana flavor!)
I’ve made these Petit Fours several times and received rave reviews from everyone from my kids’ friends to the elderly (expert-baker!) church ladies. They go quickly at bake sales because they are something a little different – but not too different – and are covered with lots of colored sugar, or sprinkles! No time to bake from scratch? Make a Healthier Box Cake! #HealthyKitchenHacks via @TspCurry Click To Tweet
These Petit Fours would also be perfect for Valentines Day. Find a heart-shaped box if you can.
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How to Make a Healthier Box Cake
Description
Use a healthier cake mix and substitute bananas for some of the oil to make a healthier cake mix cake. Perfect for bake sales or sweet treats for your sweetheart.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup mashed banana (about 1/2 of large banana)
- 1/4 cup light-colored olive oil like Pompei or canola oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 (15.25 oz) box cake mix (see note for healthier box mixes)
Instructions
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Pour into your preferred cake pan or muffin cups for cupcakes.
Bake at a temperature 25-degrees F lower than specified on the box recipe.
Notes
We liked these healthier cake mixes:
King Arthur Flour Deliciously Simple Chocolate, Pillsbury Moist Supreme Classic Yellow, and Pillsbury Moist Classic White
For Petit Four, pour the cake into a 10×15-inch cake pan. Bake 19-23 minutes. Frost with this frosting recipe, substituting honey for half of the corn syrup.