Our editors baked 5 Healthline sweet recipes and gave their feedback. Learn more about each recipe — and vote for your favorite — below!
The holidays are here, and you know what that means: baking!
Ever wondered what it’s like to make one of our recipes? Look no further: we asked 5 of our editors to each bake a sweet recipe, take photos, and give their feedback on the process.
Not every recipe is a dessert; some make for great breakfasts or snacks. Continue reading to discover what the process was like and their advice if they were to make it again.
“I made this recipe with my partner and his son, and we all loved the scones!” said newsletter editor Ginger Wojcik.
“The flavor of the lemon and cranberries was excellent, and I especially loved the crispy edges,” she said. “We tried not to eat them all in one sitting, but we failed! They were also super easy to throw together.”
She said that the step that called for 1 tablespoon of baking powder gave her pause, as she’s never used that much baking powder at once in a recipe.
“I thought it might be an error, but I googled it, and it turns out that’s a thing for scones!”
“I definitely will make this recipe again because of how easy it was to make them and how yummy they turned out,” she said.
“Both my partner and I liked the crunch that the oats and walnuts gave, and the ginger gave it a really good kick,” said senior editor Veronica Zambon. “We also liked that it wasn’t too sweet, and that it uses a lot of natural ingredients and fruit.”
“The only thing I didn’t have on hand was enough strawberries, nor did I have any coconut sugar. However, my local supermarket had both, so it was pretty easy to get.”
She noted that the ratio of strawberries to the crumble on top favored the strawberries. You may wish to evaluate the ratio based on your own preferences if you make this yourself, making adjustments as needed.
She also recommends making this recipe when strawberries are in season (late spring through early summer) to be more cost-effective.
“Now that I’m 40+, I’ve started to appreciate recipes higher in fiber, especially desserts,” said director Siobhan Deremer.
She created this dessert using organic canned peaches, as fresh peaches were not in season at the time of writing. She rinsed them before use to remove any added sugar.
She said that since this was a Whole30 recipe, the recipe didn’t have any sweetness to it.
“It’s possible that fresh peaches could help this a bit, or even more salt, as they’d add a tartness that canned peaches don’t provide. We also mentioned adding ice cream or Greek yogurt might sweeten the deal.”
She said she would make this recipe again, but recommends adding a sweetener, such as agave syrup or brown sugar, to enhance the flavor of the fruit and balance out the other ingredients.
She also doubled the crumble topping to fully cover the fruit.
“One of the things I loved about this recipe is that I already had almost all of the items on hand,” said senior director Rita Mauceri.
“The only thing I had to purchase was fresh strawberries. Because they aren’t in season at the moment, I had to look for decent ones, but [they’re] not hard to find.”
She said that the final product was tasty, but not sweet. If you have a sweet tooth or are looking for something sweet, this is not the recipe to follow.
She recommended adding a scoop of vanilla Greek yogurt on top, as well as adding a little more cinnamon than called for.
“For anyone who’s interested in eating low sugar, I think this is a great, super-easy starter recipe that you can customize. Add blueberries or some other fruit combo, play around with toppings, and that kind of thing.”
“This is a very simple recipe that uses few ingredients and is easy to follow,” said editor Naomi Wilde.
She used a NutriBullet blender instead of a food processor. She also recommended crushing the walnuts for the top layer so that they are around 1/4-inch in diameter, as pieces larger than this tend to fall off.
She noted that the final product had a similar taste to banana bread.
“It was a bit mushier than I was expecting, but it was good,” she said. “I did add a few pieces of crushed dehydrated strawberries to the top for color and to go with the strawberry jam.”
She said that if she makes the recipe again, she would add protein powder into the mix, as it would be easy to blend in.
“These were fun, and you could totally make your own versions by switching to almonds or cashews instead of walnuts, and choosing any kind of jam you like best.”
If you’re on the fence about making one of our many recipes, let this article be the push you need to go ahead! Our editors tried these recipes so that they could provide you with personalized tips for your own run through.