Baking Ingredients & Essentials

Whether you love to bake as a part time hobby; you make all your own bread, pasta and cakes, or you have never tried baking before, we have a great range of baking ingredients which are perfect for popping in your cupboards.

Here are some of our favourite baking ingredients to get your mouth watering:

Fruit based baking ingredients

There are lots of different fruits that can be used in baking and these usually come in a dried form, such as sultanas and raisins.

On of the best things about having a stack of dried fruits available in your cupboard is that you can also grab a handful for a tasty snack, if you start to feel hungry while you are baking!

Banana chips

Banana chips are sweet-tasting banana slices which have been fried or dehydrated in order to make crunchy chips.

Banana chips are high in potassium and fibre, just like a fresh banana.

Potassium helps to support normal muscle function.

Banana chips can be used in flapjack and cookies, to add an extra bit of crunch to these sweet treats.

You can also pop a handful into your breakfast cereal to give you a great start to the day.

Or just grab a handful for a snack as a great alternative to potato-based crisps.

Dates

Holland & Barrett Chopped Dates come ready-chopped to save you some time in the kitchen. Just pop them into your mixture as they are!

Dates have a very sweet flavour and are high in natural sugars, which removes the need for you to add extra sweeteners into your recipe.

You can also pop dates into cereal, eat them as an on-the-go snack or add them to recipes for a traditional sticky toffee pudding, or use in protein balls.

If you often find yourself with sweet cravings during the day, pop a pack of dates in your bag to keep these at bay.

Desiccated coconut

Coconut can be loosely defined as a fruit, a nut or a seed. It is technically a drupe, which is a fruit which has a hard covering, surrounding a seed.

Desiccated coconut is a traditional baking ingredient which is used in lots of recipes including cakes, flapjack and cookies.

Holland & Barrett Dry Desiccated Coconut is made from pure coconut and is rich in essential nutrients.

The drying process used to make this ingredient preserves most of the coconut’s nutrients.

It contains no cholesterol or trans fats and is rich in fibre

Nut products which can be used in baking

Adding nuts to your recipes is a great way to add more flavour and texture to your baking.

Almonds

Almonds are a great source of protein and fibre and can help to fill you up and keep you feeling fuller for longer.

They are also rich in potassium, vitamin E and calcium.

Flaked almonds are perfect for almond slices and blondies as well as adding to muesli for breakfast or as a topping for trifles to add a little bit of extra crunch.

Ground almonds are finely milled for mixing into tarts, cakes and puddings to add some extra sweetness and flavour.

Powdered peanut butter

Peanut butter is a well-known source of protein and fibre, popular amongst people who live an active lifestyle and who often work out.

PPB Powdered Peanut Butter Original keeps the great flavour of peanut butter but comes in a powdered form.

It has 70% less fat than its traditional spreadable counterpart and is certified gluten free.

Powdered peanut butter is great for adding to cookie mixture or for making delicious peanut butter cups.

As well as baking, powdered peanut butter can also be added to smoothies or mixed with water, to create a low fat peanut butter spread.

Powdered peanut butter is available in a vegan chocolate flavour and cinnamon flavour too, to add a little more sweetness to your baking. 

Pistachios

Pistachios are rich in nutrients and antioxidants and, like other nuts, are a good source of protein and fibre.

Holland & Barrett Pistachio Kernels come ready shelled for home baking,

Pistachios make a great flavouring for a light sponge cake. They can also be eaten as a tasty snack or added to your breakfast cereal or dessert.