Recipe: Baking Substitutions

Baking Substitutions

From Sharon Reidy

As Sharon points out, many times we have things in our pantries which might help us when short of ingredients, but we just don’t realize it. Here are some possible substitutions you can use in most cases when a called-for ingredient is missing.

Have more suggestions? Email us at communications@opentable.org with your ideas!

• Brown Sugar (1 cup) = 1 cup white sugar with 2 tablespoons molasses
• Powdered Sugar (1 cup) = grind in food processor 1cup white sugar plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• Baking powder (tartrate or phosphate) = 1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar.
• Baking powder (1 teaspoon) = 2/3 teaspoon double-action type.
• Arrowroot (1 tablespoon) = 2 tablespoons flour (as thickening)
• Chocolate (1 oz square) = 3 tablespoons cocoa plus shortening (1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon)
• Pastry flour (1 cup) = 1 cup all-purpose flour (or bread flour) less 2 tablespoons
• Potato flour (1 tablespoon) = 2 tablespoon flour (as thickening)
• Fresh Whole Milk (1 C)
  • 1/2 cup evaporated milk plus 1/2 cup water OR
  • 1/2 cup condensed milk plus 1/2 cup water (reduce the amount of sugar in recipe) OR
  • 1/4 cup powdered whole milk plus 1cup water OR
  • 1/4 cup powdered skim milk plus 2 tablespoons butter and 1cup water
• Fresh Skim Milk (1 cup) = 1/4 cup powdered skim milk plus 1 cup water
• Sour Milk (1 cup) = 1 cup lukewarm fresh milk (less 1 tablespoon) plus 1tablespoon vinegar. Let stand 5 minutes.
• Other Milk Substitutes:  Use another dairy product in your fridge, like yogurt or sour cream, as a one-to-one substitute.
• Heavy cream can be approximated
  • Substitute the same amount of evaporated milk, or coconut cream, OR
  • Whisk together 1/4 cup of melted butter with 3/4 cup whole milk, half-and-half, or coconut milk, OR
  • Half-and-half can be substituted for the cream (or vice versa).
• Buttermilk (1 cup) = 1 cup milk soured with 1 tablespoon lemon juice (or white vinegar)  You can also use yogurt or sour cream for milk (thinned out with water until it’s pourable
• Sour Cream = Use equal amount of yogurt, mayonnaise, or pureed cottage cheese.
• Honey can be replaced measure for measure with maple syrup, agave syrup, molasses (as long as it’s not blackstrap molasses, which is often too bitter for this use), or corn syrup.
• Butter
  • Can be replaced with margarine, vegetable oil or coconut oil.
  • If you have butter but are a little short, add a bit of Greek yogurt to the butter to help stretch it.
  • Or you can take a page from the vegan cooking playbook and swap in half a cup of applesauce for every cup of butter you need.
• Vegetable Oil: use another neutral-tasting oil, like avocado oil, coconut oil, or a milder olive oil. Use butter for vegetable oil at a one-to-one ratio, or swap out the oil for an equal amount of mayonnaise (after all, it’s just oil with an egg yolk), or yogurt.