Hi! I’m Regan Jones, RDN…
…a registered dietitian nutritionist and lifelong lover of good baked goods: the full-butter, full-sugar kind and the lighter kind. This Baking Life is where I share both.
For more than 25 years, I’ve worked where food and nutrition meet. I started in the test kitchen testing recipes for Southern Living cookbooks, then spent years as an editor at Cooking Light and Weight Watchers Magazine. More recently, I edited recipes for Dotdash Meredith brands like Southern Living and EatingWell. In other words, I’ve spent my career making sure recipes actually work in a real home kitchen.
What You’ll Find Here
I bake for the people I love, and for myself, and we don’t all eat the same way. Two members of my family eat gluten-free. Another is an athlete with plenty of room for extra calories. And then there’s me, at midlife, balancing my love of baking with some less-sugar treats that help me keep things in check. That’s why This Baking Life covers so many kinds of recipes: they’re what I actually bake for my own table. Here you’ll find:
- Less Sugar, Smarter Carbs: recipes that cut back on sugar and refined carbs without tasting like a compromise
- Sourdough discard: easy ways to turn leftover starter into something delicious
- Gluten-free baking: recipes that hold their own next to the originals
- High-fiber baking: muffins, scones, and breads that deliver a meaningful amount of fiber, which is rare for baked goods
- Everyday baking: the classic, indulgent favorites, no apologies needed
How I Develop and Test My Recipes
My recipes are developed and tested in my own kitchen, held to the same standards I learned in the Southern Living and Cooking Light test kitchens. They need clear instructions, reliable results, and ingredients you can actually find.
When I share specific nutrition numbers, like grams of fiber or carbs per serving, my standard is to verify them against USDA nutrition data rather than relying on estimates. Some of my older recipes used app-based nutrition estimates, and I’m re-checking those as I update each post. When I call a recipe “high fiber” or “less sugar,” I explain exactly what that means, so you can decide what fits your needs.
A Little More About Me
- B.S. in Nutrition & Food Science from Auburn University; dietetic internship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) and former ACSM Certified Personal Trainer
- Recipient of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Media Excellence Award
- Featured by The Today Show online and quoted in national publications including The Wall Street Journal and USA Today, with more than 500 media interviews
- Speaker at FNCE, BlogHer Food, and Today’s Dietitian events
- Co-founder of Healthy Aperture, The Recipe ReDux, and the Blog Brûlée conference for food creators
Let’s Bake Together
The best way to keep up with new recipes is to join my email list. You can also find me on Instagram at @ReganJonesRDN. Make something? Tag me. I love seeing what you bake.
Are you a brand interested in working with me? Let’s talk.