Opalene Stroud didn’t always bake with health in mind. In fact, she started as a classic home baker—lots of butter, heaps of sugar, and the belief that a good dessert had to be indulgent to be worth eating. “I loved the ritual of it,” she recalls. “Flour on the counter, the smell of vanilla, the first warm bite out of the oven.”
But when she transitioned to a vegan lifestyle and began cutting back on added sugar, she feared she’d have to give that all up. “For a while, my baking felt like science experiments gone wrong,” she laughs. “Dense muffins, bitter cookies—it was rough.”
Still, Opalene was determined to make it work. She knew there had to be a way to keep the soul of baking alive without the sugar rush or animal products. So she went back to basics—rethinking not just ingredients, but intention. “I stopped asking, ‘How do I replace this?’ and started asking, ‘What do I want this to taste like, and how do I get there in a better way?’”
She found her rhythm in ripe bananas, applesauce, almond butter, and oat flour. Natural sweetness, soft textures, and subtle flavors replaced sugar bombs and frosting-heavy cakes. She discovered the joy of restraint—how just a hint of maple syrup could bring a brownie to life when paired with cocoa and a dash of sea salt.
Now, baking is still her ritual. But it’s slower, more intentional—and better aligned with how she wants to feel. “I don’t need to crash on the couch after eating a muffin,” she says with a grin. “And honestly, I don’t miss the sugar at all.”
