Yes, you can bake healthier cakes and biscuits – here's how

• Yes, you can eat whole bananas, skin and all – here's how
• Dan Lepard's roasted peanut, rosemary and tomato cookies

Who doesn't love homemade baked goods? Muffins, banana bread and cakes made by hand are infinitely tastier than mass-produced treats typically found in cafes and supermarkets.

While baked items are tasty, they also tend to pack in the fat and energy, which few of us need in our sedentary lives.

Imagine though if you could make your favourite treats but with a whole lot less sugar, fat and energy.

The good news is that you can once you know a few super ingredients and how to use them in your baking to convert muffins and cake into much healthier snack and treat options.

Get your flour right

With myriad flour alternatives available in supermarkets it can be easy to think they are all healthier options but you really need to pay close attention to what is on the nutrition labels. Coconut flour and almond meal are both higher in protein and fibre than regular flour but also much higher in fat. Banana flour is extremely rich in fibre but does not bake as well as traditional flour.

As a starting point, swapping at least half the flour of your favourite recipe for a wholemeal variety will instantly increase the protein and fibre content of your baking without much change to the taste and texture of the recipe. Blended oats can work well as a flour alternative, and a mix of regular flour and oat flour will create a more nutrient-dense base to cookies and loaves. And for any banana-based recipes, blitzing a soft banana skin or two will significantly bulk up the fibre content of your recipe, and help to reduce food waste.

Opt for more natural sugars

While the recipe may not mention the word sugar, if the ingredient list calls for any syrup, honey or dates it still contains plenty of sugar. For recipes such as regular cakes and biscuits you can often get away with half the amount of suggested sugar. As a general rule for lowering the sugar content of your baking, try aiming for no more than half a cup of sugar for any recipe. And if using dates, honey and syrups, choose just one of these to sweeten your bake.

Another option is to seek out the growing range of lower sugar baking blends, which generally contain half sugar, half natural sweetener. Vanilla essence and cinnamon can also sweeten food without the usual sugar load, or you can try using apple puree or blended bananas instead of refined sugar. And remember, the less added sugar you have in your diet, the less you crave sweet treats – so if you gradually reduce the amount of sugar you use over time, the less likely your family will be to notice.

Be smart with your fats

Baking traditionally relies on eggs and butter to bind mixtures and provide flavour and texture. Butter is relatively high in saturated fat, but vegetable and coconut oils are not much better nutritionally speaking. One option you could try is only using a small amount of butter (say, 50-70g) and using Greek yoghurt, milk, avocado or nut spreads to thicken and flavour the recipe instead.

Consider the vegetables

While you may not automatically think of vegetables and baking, the moisture and density of a number of vegies including carrots, zucchini, beetroot, parsnip, pumpkin and sweet potato mean that they can be slotted into many sweet recipes to help bulk the mix and add extra dietary fibre. It's also a great way to slip extra vegetables into the diets of fussy children, or boost your own intake. As a general rule of thumb, start small, with just half to one cup of grated vegetables per recipe so you don't overpower the flavour of your baking.