Baking Substitutions Everyone Should Know

I am notorious for deciding that I MUST make a certain recipe before consulting my pantry and the time the grocery store closes. This means I have made a lot of dishes with substitutes or missing ingredients.

Not only is this about missing ingredients, but it can also be used for dietary restrictions. For example, you are having someone over who can't eat eggs, but you want to make them a cake...what can you use?

I have written down some of my most-used substitutes to share and hopefully help you when you are missing a key ingredient for your recipe.

Butter

Butter substitutes can be useful if you run out of butter, want dairy-free options, or are just looking to save some money.

• Vegetable oil – use ¾ cup oil for every 1 cup butter

• Margarine – substitute 1:1

• Coconut oil – 1:1 replacement

• Applesauce – replace 50%–100% of butter in cakes/muffins for lower fat

• Greek yogurt – ½ cup yogurt for 1 cup butter

Eggs

For 1 egg, use:

• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 tbsp water (let sit 5 min)

• 1 tbsp chia seeds + 3 tbsp water

• ¼ cup yogurt or sour cream

• 3 tbsp liquid from canned chickpeas (great for vegan recipes!)

Milk

Replace 1 cup of milk with:

• Almond milk

• Oat milk

• Soy milk

• Coconut milk

• ½ cup evaporated milk + ½ cup water

• ¼ cup heavy cream + ¾ cup water

Buttermilk

This is my most-used substitution!

For 1 cup buttermilk:

• 1 cup milk + 1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar (rest 5–10 minutes)

• ¾ cup yogurt + ¼ cup milk

• ¾ cup sour cream + ¼ cup milk

Granulated Sugar

1 cup white sugar:

• ¾ cup honey (reduce liquid by 2 tbsp)

• ¾ cup maple syrup (reduce liquid by 2–3 tbsp)

• 1 cup coconut sugar

• 1 cup brown sugar

Brown Sugar

For 1 cup brown sugar:

• 1 cup white sugar + 1 tbsp molasses

Baking Powder

For 1 tsp baking powder:

• ¼ tsp baking soda + ½ tsp cream of tartar

• OR ¼ tsp baking soda + ½ tsp vinegar or lemon juice

Cornstarch

For 1 tbsp cornstarch:

• 1 tbsp arrowroot

• 1 tbsp potato starch

• 2 tbsp flour

I do want to emphasize that some of these may change the taste of your recipes. Don't expect to have a decadent buttery cake when you sub butter for applesauce.

If you are a beginner baker, I would recommend learning with the correct ingredients and then experimenting. You want to know what it should taste like as written before changing it too much.

One last note with baking substitutions, do not try to sub more than 1 or 2 ingredients, or else you could come out with an entirely different dish! (unless that is what you are intending!)

What recipes have you tried where you substituted ingredients and had a great success or failure?