Nothing tastes more delicious than piping hot homemade bread fresh from the oven covered in a generous serving of soft, creamy butter. Unfortunately, butter is not without calories and saturated fat. If you're trying to watch your diet or your cholesterol levels, eating butter on a daily basis may not be a wise choice from a health standpoint. If you're trying to limit your butter intake, what other options do you have to spread on that freshly baked piece of bread? While there's no real substitute for butter, there are some healthy butter substitutes that will give your bread some extra flavor. Here are some ideas:
Alternative butter and margarine products
If you're concerned about the calorie and fat content of real butter, you can cut them almost in half by using whipped or light butter. Land O'Lakes makes a tasty light butter mixed with canola oil that's half the calories of regular butter. You can also choose from a variety of margarine substitutes which may be lower in saturated fat and calories but also contain unhealthy trans fats. Read the label carefully before buying these products. There's no health benefit to substituting trans fats for saturated fat. The taste of the light and whipped butters tends to taste more “buttery” than most of the margarine substitutes.
Butter buds
Butter buds is a natural, fat-free product consisting of granules with a butter flavor. They can be added to recipes or reconstituted with hot water to form a buttery tasting liquid. Butter buds are a caloric bargain compared to regular butter at only five calories per serving. Although it won't be mistaken for the real thing, it can be a good substitute for butter in recipes. It can also be used as a topping on vegetables and popcorn. Most local grocery stores sell this product along with a variety of other “buttery” sprinkles in the spice section. As a generalization, Butter buds have a better taste than most of the competing buttery sprinkles and powders.
Roasted garlic
If you're serving Italian bread why not nix the butter entirely and spread your hot bread with warm, roasted garlic? To roast garlic, place fresh garlic heads on a metal pan. Sprinkle a few teaspoons of olive oil on top of each and spread to cover each head thoroughly. Cover the coated garlic heads with aluminum foil and bake until the cloves feel soft to the touch. This should take around forty minutes at 375 degrees. After they've cooled, cut the skin and gently squeeze the roasted garlic out from beneath the skins. Spread over warm Italian bread. Yum!
Mediterranean alternatives
Instead of butter, try spreading fresh hummus on top of warm bread. There are a variety of hummus types you can buy ready made or prepare yourself. A few are roasted pepper hummus, garlic hummus, and roasted eggplant hummus. Another alternative is baba ganoush, a Mediterranean roasted eggplant spread that tastes delicious on warm bread and crackers. Most supermarkets sell some form of these spread although it tastes better if you make your own.
Olive oil dip
Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats which make it a healthy alternative to butter. Although not low in calories, studies have shown that people who use olive oil regularly appear to lose weight while eating the same number of calories. Olive oil is thought to help with the breakdown of stored fat when consumed regularly. Simply mix herbs and spices in with several teaspoons of olive oil and use it as a dip for your bread. It tastes so good you won't miss the butter.
As you can see, there are healthy butter substitutes that won't pack on the calories or the saturated fat. Why not give them a try?
