Create a Heart-Healthy Holiday Menu

The traditions of the holidays often include family-favorite meals and seasonal sweets, but enjoying those beloved treats doesn’t always mean giving up health-conscious eating.

This year, before you decide what to prepare for holiday get-togethers, consider the benefits of recipes like this Apple Coffee Cake that follow heart-healthy eating plans. One such plan, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) plan, offers benefits for the heart and helps prevent and treat high blood pressure, too.

Developed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), DASH takes a flexible, balanced approach to eating that can help boost your health for the long haul.

• It requires no special foods and instead provides daily and weekly nutritional goals.
• It can lower two major risk factors for heart disease – high blood pressure and high LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, according to NHLBI-funded research.
• It can help you lose weight if you follow the plan and increase your physical activity, research shows.
• If combined with reductions in salt and sodium, it often provides greater health benefits than the eating plan does alone.

To learn more and find DASH-friendly recipes, visit nhlbi.nih.gov/DASH.

Watch video to see how to make this recipe!

Apple Coffee Cake
Recipe courtesy of The Heart Truth program, part of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Servings: 20

• 5          cups tart apples, cored, peeled and chopped
• 1          cup sugar
• 1          cup dark raisins
• 1/2       cup pecans, chopped
• 1/4       cup vegetable oil
• 2          teaspoons vanilla
• 1          egg, beaten
• 2 1/2    cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2    teaspoons baking soda
• 2          teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly oil 13-by-9-by-2-inch pan.
2. In large mixing bowl, combine apples with sugar, raisins and pecans; mix well. Let stand 30 minutes.
3. Stir in oil, vanilla and egg.
4. Sift together flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Using about 1/3 of mix at a time, add to apple mixture, stirring just enough to moisten dry ingredients.
5. Turn batter into pan. Bake 35-40 minutes until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.
6. Cool cake slightly before serving.

Sponsored by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute