Baking Substitutions Guide
Baking substitutions save the day when you've run out of an ingredient or you want to make a healthier choice. Substitutions, however, can alter the taste, texture or appearance you want to achieve with your final product. The key to making the right baking substitutions is understanding what they’re use for—binding, flavoring or rising, for example—and then choosing the right amount of comparable ingredients that result in the same or similar effect.
The Science of Baking Substitutions
When most people think about substitutions for cooking and baking, they’re halfway through a recipe only to discover they’ve run out of butter, milk or flour. Other cooks take a more conscious approach to recipe alteration in order to reduce fat or sugar or avoid food allergens.
Whether you need to make a change on the fly or you’re planning your holiday baking, the rules are the same: know what each ingredient does in the recipe before you choose a substitution.
Flours, for example, give structure to baked goods, define their texture and during the mixing process, help bind ingredients together. The component in flour that makes this possible is protein and different types of flour have different levels of protein. Choosing one at random is a risky proposition unless you understand how to compensate for the difference in protein content.
Vegetable Oil Substitutes
One of the most common substitutes people make is for vegetable oil and when it comes to baking, you have more options available to you than you would for a sauté. While it’s possible to substitute a cooking oil that’s higher in monounsaturated fats for vegetable oil, be sure you choose an oil that has a neutral taste (you may not notice a taste difference with canola oil, but you’ll know if you baked brownies with olive oil).
The most widely used substitute for vegetable oil in baking is applesauce. It can be used in a wide variety of recipes, cuts the fat and doesn’t compromise the moistness you’re looking for in muffins or brownies. Unsweetened applesauce is best and the general rule for substitution is ½ the amount of oil the recipe calls for. If cakes don’t rise as high as you’d like when you bake with applesauce, try adding a teaspoon of baking powder to the recipe.
Baking Tips Articles, Videos & HowTos
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