There’s a lot of baking going on right now in our holiday kitchens! Whether it’s Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas or New Year’s, we are celebrating with homemade treats from breakfast breads to apple-cranberry pies. We’ve been busy discovering great ways to improve the delicious flavors and textures of baked goods by adding wheat germ to recipes.

The easiest way to incorporate wheat germ into baked goods is to replace part of your all-purpose or whole-wheat flour in items like muffins and dessert breads. Replacing anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour with Kretschmer Toasted Wheat Germ will blend effortlessly into your recipe and usually bump up the nutritional value of the bread or cake.

Pastry crusts are a little trickier. To bake properly, pie crusts rely on precise ratios of flour, butter and water so they are workable and come out tender and flaky. We created an amazing crust using wheat germ for our holiday pumpkin pie, Pumpkin Pie with Wheat Germ Crust. Try using the crust recipe for apple pies and tarts, too.

Cornbread is a winter staple that pairs well with chili, soup and stew. Substitute 1/4 of the flour in your cornbread recipe with wheat germ and get a great-tasting bread with a nice toasty flavor. Also try sprinkling a bit of toasted wheat germ on top of the batter before you pop it in the oven.

The rule of thumb for baking with wheat germ? Give it a try. You may find your perfect ratio after one or two batches, and then you’ll have a whole new stock of delicious holiday baking recipes with a healthy boost.