When people feel anxious, they look for something to do, a distraction of sorts, and baking provides just that for many people. During these challenging times, it seems that people are baking more at home than previously and psychologists have coined the baking frenzy as “coronavirus baking” or “stress baking”, according to Iowa State University Extension and Outreach AnswerLine.
With people staying at home, the urge to bake may strike only to find that ingredients needed are not on the shelf. Or, even more unimaginable, with more people baking, there is a shortage of baking supplies in some areas.
When this happens, we look to other ingredients to substitute for what is missing. Bear in mind, that baking is more of an ‘exact science’ so when substitutes are used, baked products will perhaps be slightly different in taste, texture, appearance, and quality, but will result in an edible baked product that can be enjoyed.
Most good cookbooks along with online resources provide a listing of emergency substitutions. But sometimes we may need to use less common substitutions that may not be in the usual emergency lists as noted here.
Egg Replacers: Replace 1 egg with:
- unsweetened applesauce, yogurt, silken tofu, or mashed bananas – ¼ cup of any.
- vinegar and baking soda – 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 tablespoon vinegar combined.
Baking Soda: replace 1 teaspoon baking soda with:
- baking powder – 3 teaspoons baking powder; reduce salt, and replace acidic ingredients (buttermilk, yogurt, lemon juice, etc) with non-acidic ingredients, if possible.
- club soda (sodium bicarbonate) – replace any liquid in the recipe with club soda.
Baking Powder: replace 1 teaspoon baking powder with:
- baking soda – 1/3 teaspoon baking soda and ½ teaspoon cream of tartar.
- buttermilk, sour cream, plain yogurt – ¼ teaspoon baking soda and ½ cup buttermilk, sour milk or yogurt. Decrease liquid in recipe by ½ cup. (Sour milk can be made by adding ½ tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice to ½ cup sweet milk.)
White Granulated Sugar – replace 1 cup sugar with:
- honey and maple syrup – ¾ cup honey or maple syrup. Reduce liquid in recipe by 3 tablespoons. Add a pinch of baking soda to honey to reduce acidity.
- powdered sugar, brown sugar, maple sugar – 1 cup of any.
Brown Sugar – replace 1 cup packed brown sugar with:
- sugar and molasses – 1 cup white sugar and ¼ cup unsulphured molasses.
Butter Replacers: replace 1 cup butter with:
- nut butters – Nut butters need to be combined with an equal part oil to get a 1:1 butter replacement. (i.e., combine 1/2 cup nut butter with 1/2 cup oil to equal 1 cup butter.)
- oil – ¾ cup. Choose an oil with a light flavor.
- cooked beans – 1 cup mashed beans; use black beans for chocolate baking and light beans such as cannellini for light backing.
- unsweetened applesauce or pumpkin / squash puree – 1 cup sauce or puree; reduce liquid in recipe slightly if possible.
Click here for more information on ingredient substitutions.
Article released April 24, 2020
