Top 10 Healthy Baked Snacks!
There are several oily items in different cuisines which taste great but increase your waistline and chances of other disorders such as abnormal levels of cholesterol, diabetes etc. So why not find a healthy substitute for the same. Here’s a list of foods which taste delish even if they are baked and you will also get the goodness of the ingredients present in them.
- Baked Tortilla Chips!
Tortillas taste so yummy with the sauces and toppings. But they are fried and hence this tasty snack adds up to a whole lot of calories to your diet. Hence the solution is to bake the tortillas instead. Add little water to corn flour and flatten the dough. Cut out into wedges or any shapes of your choice, brush with a little vegetable oil and bake in the oven for about 10–12 minutes or till they change the color to golden brown.
2. Yummy Baked Kale Chips!
Kale is a nutrient rich green leafy vegetable. Plus its low calorie, making it an ideal choice for people looking out to lose the excess fats from the body.
So why make it calories dense by deep frying it. The alternative is baking kale leaves. Baking makes crispy kale chips you can either sprinkles some powdered dried herbs on top of it to season it before eating.
3. Nutritious Baked Spinach Chips.
Locations where kale is not available there are several other nutritious substitutes to it. One being baked spinach chips. They taste really good and add a fair dose of nutrients such as Vitamin A, iron etc. to your diet.
4. The “Tasty and Healthy” Baked Sweet Potato Chips.
Instead of having the regular fried potato chips, make a healthy swap with baked sweet potato chips. Sweet potatoes contain good amount of nutrients and also help in providing the necessary amount of energy through its starch.
Just brush the thin slices of sweet potatoes with a little olive oil and bake them in the pre heated oven for 5–10 minutes depending on the texture, crunchiness you want.
5. Energy-giving Baked Yam Chips!
Baked yam chips and baked purple yam chips. Both make a healthy and delicious snack or a side dish with a protein such as grilled chicken/fish/tofu/beans etc. Again brush it with a teaspoon of any healthy oil such as filtered ground nut oil and slide them in the oven to get crispy tasty wholesome chips!
6. Delicious Baked Plantain Chips.
Fried plantain chips are very common in many regions and savored as snacks. So let’s concentrate on baking them which may alter the taste just a little. But I bet once you eat the baked version, you are going to be a fan of it and continue with it for the rest of your lives, especially when you know they are guilt free!
Cut out thin or medium thick slices of raw plantain, add a bit of salt (if you want, or else they taste good even plain or by adding some pepper or chilli powder, you can avoid salt to avoid sodium) spray small amount of oil on them, place on the butter paper lined on a baking plate and bake the same. Baking time will depend on how thin/thick you have chosen to cut the raw plantain into. Thin slices would take around 10–15 minutes. For thicker slices, check after 10–12 minutes and then turn the side and bake again, as per requirement.
7. Yes, the “these too exist”, Baked Zucchini Chips!
Zucchini chips, what a wonderfully healthy treat, isn’t it?! You must have heard of zucchini noodles and how delicious they taste. Similar is the case with Zucchini baked chips. Cut zucchini into thin slices (or you can peel the thin slices with a broad peeler) and brush them with garlic infused oil and add a pinch of salt and pepper for taste. Bake it in the oven for about 8–10 minutes or so or as per your choice of texture. And ta-da, the innovative healthy yummy chips are ready to serve!
8. The “traditional with a tinge of modernity”, Multigrain flour Crispy Flat-Puris.
Okay, now what are flat puris exactly? They are quite somewhat like chips but slightly thicker, though not heavier and made out of grain flour. They are prepared out of grain flour and other ingredients depending on what variety of it you want to eat.
An example of this would be a mixture whole wheat flour, different whole millet flours
9. Wholesome Sorghum Millet Strips!
These crunchy thin strips have the nutrition of sorghum millet. Whole sorghum is milled into its flour. Add some water, salt, dried herbs/spice powder to the same. Again roll the dough to make flat strips with the help of a knife. Then bake the same for around 10 minutes or so.
10. The “even these can be baked!” Baked Fenugreek Crackers:
This is a very tasty snack especially to have in the evening time with tea, instead of the regular biscuits which are full of the unhealthy refined flour, saturated fats and sugar!
These strips are made out of whole wheat flour along with some gram flour (the ratio being 4:1). Add a little water, chopped fenugreek leaves, salt to taste, and some turmeric powder (optional). Adding carom (ajwain) seeds also called carom seeds and a little cumin powder alleviate its taste. Knead the dough and flatten it with the help of a roller.
Cut out thin small squares or rounds of the flattened dough. With the help of fork, prick these squares/round crackers and then bake them to get a lip smacking, nutritious snack.
Bake them in a pre-heated oven at 180ºc (360ºf) for 15 minutes, turn them over and bake again for 10 minutes.
Please note some important steps for Baking
For all the above recipes preheat the oven 180 degree Celsius or around 350–400 degree Fahrenheit.
Before baking lightly brush the goods with small amount of olive/groundnut or any other oil on both the sides.
Place the goods on the baking sheet or parchment paper which is already placed on the baking tray.
Then bake the goods, turn the chips/crackers etc. if necessary to cook evenly (this step should be followed only if required) Vegetable chips won’t require double baking, as the goods will be cooked and attain the right texture earlier and easily as compared to the grain flour containing goods.
Please Note
For any blood tests or various health checkups in Mumbai, please visit www.healthdekho.com
References: (Recipes inspired by)
https://www.tarladalal.com/Baked-Methi-Mathri-Healthy-Jar-Snack-42360r
http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/homemade-baked-tortilla-chips-370127
