In theory, baking seems simple enough; you identify the necessary ingredients, follow the recipe, and then enjoy a delicious pastry. Given that the ingredients are the base of all recipes, home bakers should always strive to acquire the exact ones in the recipe they follow, right?
Well, not necessarily. While using the right ingredient is essential to a successful bake, you can find effective substitutes for most components. These alternatives will offer excellent results without sacrificing quality.
If you’re wondering what substitutes you can use in baking, I’ve got you covered. I’ll show all the most used alternatives for common ingredients, helping you master the art of substitutions.
Egg Substitutions
Whether it’s cake, brownies, or cookies, professional bakers always advise people to add a few eggs to their baking recipes. That’s only natural, given how they contribute to the structure and texture of pastries.
So, they’re indispensable, right? Wrong! You can find numerous alternatives for eggs that will give you similar results for a more affordable price.
Avocados
You’ve probably only used avocados in sandwiches and salads. Well, now you know there’s more to that fruit than that.
The creamy texture? The high moisture content? All the protein it offers? Talk about an egg duplicate. Besides, avocados are effective emulsifiers.
That means they can properly mix all your ingredients no matter how unmixable they are, helping you get a homogeneous batter.
There’s one small catch that you may not like, though: Avocados have a mild flavor, meaning they’ll affect the taste of your baked goodies. Most people agree that flavor improves baked recipes’ taste, but not everyone will like it.
Now, for the million-dollar question: How can you replace eggs with avocados? Simple. All you have to do is add ¼ cup of avocados for each egg your recipe calls for.
Yogurt
Do you know how eggs add that unique flavor to any recipe you add them to? The fat content in the yolks. It boosts the taste and texture of the ingredients, creating a rich batter.
Well, let me tell you that yogurt doesn’t fall short when it comes to fat content. So, rest assured it’ll offer the same flavor and texture boost that eggs do.
As effective a substitute as it is, yogurt doesn’t have the leavening effects associated with eggs. So, if you want your cake to rise while in the oven, adding some baking soda or baking powder might do the trick.
Pro tip: Don’t add the yogurt as a whole to your batter. Whisking it first will make it easier for you to blend it in.
To replace eggs with yogurt, add ¼ cup of yogurt for each egg you need to add.
Butter Substitutions
Like eggs, butter adds flavor, texture, and moisture. Well, like eggs, butter has several alternatives that offer the same characteristics.
Margarine
Margarine is the most common butter substitute out there, with good reason. Both ingredients are pretty much identical to butter in consistency and flavor.
Besides taste, margarine’s high water content provides a soft texture. If you want your pound cake to be lighter than air, margarine is the way to go.
The best part? Margarine is derived from vegetable or nut oil, making it a vital option for those who don’t like consuming animal products.
The biggest downside to margarine is that it’s an ultra-processed component. So, you don’t want to go overboard with it.
Luckily, replacing butter with margarine is as easy as it gets. Just add as much margarine as you would butter, and you’ll enjoy a delicate pastry.
Bananas
Who would’ve thought such a common fruit could be an effective substitute for butter? The culinary world never ceases to surprise me.
So, what makes bananas a good butter substitute? Well, not only do they add a creamy texture to your recipes, but they also retain a lot of moisture. Sounds familiar?
Flavor and texture aside, bananas are a healthier option than butter. So, if you feel like having a healthy pastry, throw a banana in your batter.
You know what they say, though: Nothing is perfect. As you might have guessed, bananas will change the flavor of your batter. If you don’t like their taste, you might want to look for another substitute.
Like margarine, you can add the same amount of bananas as you would butter to substitute it.
Milk Substitutes
So, you’re making cake, muffins, or pies. Halfway through the recipe, you realize you don’t have milk. Should you quit?
Of course not! You can find numerous alternatives for milk that will offer a similar texture and mouthfeel.
Heavy Cream
Yes, you can substitute milk with heavy cream. After all, it’s another dairy product that adds richness and creaminess to recipes.
Here’s the catch: Cream is rich in fat, so you want to dilute it with water before adding it to your batter.
For every cup of milk your recipe requires, add half a cup of cream and half a cup of water.
Final Thoughts
There you go. You’ve mastered the art of substitution in baking. I know you probably didn’t know most of these ingredients made such effective substitutes, but, as I already established, the culinary world is full of surprises.
So, whenever you realize one of the primary ingredients of your recipes is missing, just open your laptop and Google potential alternatives.
Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.