Healthy Twinkies?????
What comes to mind when you think of unhealthy foods?
Right away, I picture two things: Big Macs and Twinkies. While the latter is certainly not the most unhealthy food in existence (Hello double doughnut bacon cheeseburgers!), Twinkies have earned a bad rap thanks to their high sugar content, long list of artificial ingredients, and their creepy ability to stay fresh for 100 years.
(As it turns out, that last point is just an urban legend. Twinkies don’t really last 100 years.)
During the Great Twinkie Shortage of 2012 (It has a name… Who knew!), when Hostess declared bankruptcy and stopped producing Twinkies, I thought it might be fun to create a healthier recipe for homemade Twinkies. Paying homage to the original Twinkies—which were filled with banana cream until the US rationed bananas during WWII—I’ve opted for a banana-flavored filling in these homemade and healthy Twinkies.
You can easily make them banana-free if you prefer.
Homemade Healthy Twinkies
(makes 8)
- 1 cup spelt or all-purpose flour (130g)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/3 cup xylitol or sugar of choice (60g)
- 1/16 tsp pure stevia, or 2 extra tbsp sugar of choice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp vegetable or coconut oil (30g)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp white or apple cider vinegar
- 2/3 cup milk of choice (160g)
Homemade Healthy Twinkies Recipe: Preheat oven to 300 degrees F, and grease a canoe pan if you have one. (For Twinkies without a canoe pan: Shape tin foil, double folded for sturdiness, into 8 canoe-shaped wells. Lightly grease the insides of each well, and position on a baking tray.) In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients and stir very well. Whisk all liquid ingredients in a separate bowl, then pour wet into dry and stir until just evenly mixed. Immediately portion into the molds. Bake 16 minutes, then take out of the oven and let sit 5 minutes before removing from the molds. Let cool completely before filling.
Filling: (Feel free to fill with something else, such as Suzanne’s Ricemellow Crème, if you can’t have nuts.)
- 1 cup raw cashews or macadamia nuts (120g)
- 1 banana (omit for a banana-free version)
- pinch salt
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- pinch stevia extract, or 2 tbsp sweetener of choice (liquid or granulated both work here)
- milk of choice as needed, to achieve a pastry-cream texture
In a cereal bowl, cover the nuts with water and let sit at least 3 hours (no longer than 8). Drain completely, then combine all ingredients in a Vita-Mix or a good food processor (adding a little milk of choice until the correct consistency is reached – you’ll need more if omitting the banana and/or if using a dry sweetener). Blend until very smooth and creamy, occasionally scraping down the sides if using a food processor. To fill the homemade Twinkies, poke three holes in the bottom of each, using a chopstick or the non-pronged end of a fork, and move the instrument around inside the pastry to make room for the filling. Pipe filling into the healthy Twinkies with a pastry bag, or a plastic bag with a tiny portion of one of the edges cut off, or the filling injector that comes with a canoe pan.
View Healthy Twinkies Calories and Nutrition
Question of the Day:
What are some of the unhealthiest foods you can think of?
There are always Cheesecake Factory desserts… and the Wendy’s Triple Baconator (as scary as the name implies)… There’s also a casserole recipe making the rounds on Pinterest that consists of nothing more than tater tots, ground beef, bacon, cream of something soup, and three different types of cheese. Not a green vegetable in sight. You look at something like that and it’s no wonder modern society is plagued with so many health problems.
Link Of The Day:
We usually eat very healthfully and don’t like the really sugary things. One time my Daddy said we should try a Twinkie sometime, for the cultural experience! Maybe I could make these.
When I look at pinterest it makes me realize why America is so overweight, almost all of the recipes are really unhealthy. Crazy. How do people think it’s ok to eat things like that??
Also, the most unhealthy thing I can think of is that “sandwich” from KFC, where the “buns” are made out of fried chicken and the filling is just bacon and cheese.
That sandwich though… mm protein!
I feel like I missed out on a lot of childhood unhealthy classics considering I haven’t tried so many things. I guess that’s what being a picky eater does to you. I’ve never tried a twinkie, or a ho-ho or any of those things!
Ahh I’m so glad you posted this recipe!!! I remember last year when we were talking on Twitter about you trying this out! Haha 🙂
That casserole sounds like a death sentence. Don’t even try to veganize that one. It’ll be an empty baking dish. Haha!
That casserole is definitely not a death sentence. I agree that vegetables are really important, but meat has it’s place too. I eat lots of saturated fat and haven’t died yet! In fact, I’m really healthy!
Sadly, the animals that suffered and died for your meal can’t say the same. But that was their purpose, right?
Ah, nothing like hatred from a group of people who claim to love God’s creation with all their hearts … hypocrites <3
Um how exactly is it “hatred” when she’s simply stating a fact?
people, people… enhance your calm.
gloria estefan????
I think it is only your guilty conscience that is making her simple factual statement sound like ‘hatred’ to you. Unless you are one of those people who thinks someone who just says “hello” is ‘creepy’, that someone who merely eats a healthy meal in front of you is ‘preachy’, etc.
Meat industry … killing the planet <3 horribly cruel <3
Caroline, it’s sad that you and most vegans can only think of the suffering of animals and not the immigrant farmers who suffer while picking your vegetables under unethical practices and for almost no money. The double standards of vegans…
I agree that meat has its place. some people need that type of protein…some more than others. there are many expressions of life out there, and yes, that includes cooking animals for food (it doesn’t mean they should be treated wrongly though…). even fruits and veggies have life in them. I think you have to choose what’s right for you really. even junk food has its place…I think really it’s more about the intention of what you’re eating and how much is right for you, etc…
I have only read the twinkie recipe. But I feel the need to put my 2 cents in.
To those of you who stay away from meat – unless you are taking daily B12 & zinc supplements – red meat is the only natural way to get enough of both micronutrients. Just because someone buys meat doesn’t mean that it is derived from CAFOs. There are organic meats and truly natural meats that are certified humanly raised & not given antibiotics or grain. You can also purchase beef locally. Whether or not you consume the animal, it is going to die. Banning hunting/raising equals overpopulation.
You can kindly disagree w/ a recipe w/o attacking someone’s dietary choices.
Anyone who is vegan cannot tell me our ancestors ate only plants & was able to obtain adequate amounts of B12 & zinc. Supplements are not ancient.
AMEN! You can choose your own diet but don’t preach to anyone else what they “should” be eating. We all have choices to make in our lives that we don’t need other’s to speak on. I’m sure that there are things that a vegan chooses to do that would turn my stomach but good manners prevent me from lecturing to them. Why do they think that other’s care of their opinions? Keep it to yourself.
They look so fluffy. We don’t have twinkies here in the UK, not that I’ve seen. Always wondered what they were.
What the heck is a canoe pan? Never heard of it! Maybe I can try this with my trusty old madeline pan instead and call them ‘les twinkies’. PS I am a cancer dietitian and health educator with a major cancer support charity, and we certainly emphasise a plant-centred diet, as research supports it. We don’t push vegetarian or vegan diets but do try and encourage people to eat more colourful and seasonal plant foods. But portion-minded treats such as those that Katie blogs, are a joy
ah-HA — reading through all the replies looking to see if anyone has spotted the Canoe Pan…. Thank you Kelly!
Yes… what in the heck is a canoe pan?.
Well, I guess I’ve figured it out by now, that a) they exist and b) they’re for making twinkie-shaped rolls-to-fill (even come with the contraption to do that part!)
Off to Amazon.com I go…!!
Cheers Katie. I think I’ll make them chocolate with chocolate cashew-
cream…
Now you’re talking! I love using cashew cream and have recently experimented with dessert gyozas stuffed with it and blueberries, among other things. Always great easy ideas here. Thanks Katie.
Could you make these in a muffin pan and pipe the cream inside? If so, do I need to change the baking time? I so want to make these but not the idea of making 8 tin foil canoe boats.
Actually, I did do this recipe in a muffin tin, because I didn’t feel like forming aluminum canoes. It turned out quite nicely. Place about 2-3 Tbsp of batter in each well.
Ha! I TOTALLY did a vegan tater tot casserole. Probably still not crazy healthy, but not bad.
http://thequiltingdoberman.blogspot.com/2013/01/tater-tot-casserole.html
At least there were veggies. It is kind of funny but I have a limited memory of ho-hos and twinkies and I didn’t like them. But of course I want to try these.
I find cake, frosting, and baked goods to be the worst things for me. At least in a baconadar their is protein something that the body can use. In most baked goods it is sugar and carbs..not something that my body likes.