Quick Substitutes

Have you ever been in the midst of making something and realized that you were missing a key ingredient? With the holidays so near, many of us will be doing a lot of extra cooking in the coming weeks, and this sort
of thing is bound to happen at least once. There are lots of handy substitutes
for most things.

If you need 1 tsp of allspice, use ¼ tsp cinnamon and ½ tsp ground cloves.

If you need 1 tsp baking powder, use ½ tsp cream of tartar and ½ tsp baking soda.

If you need 1 c brown sugar, use 1 c white sugar and 1½ tbsp molasses.

If you need 1 c buttermilk, use 1 c plain yogurt or 1 c minus 1 tbsp warm milk plus 1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice.

If you need 1 c cake flour, use 1 c sifted all-purpose flour minus 2 Tbsp.

If you need 1 square semi-sweet (or bittersweet) baking chocolate, use 1 tbsp shortening or oil and 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder plus 1 tbsp sugar.

If you need 1 tbsp cornstarch, use 2 tbsp all-purpose flour.

If you need 1 c heavy cream, use ¾ c whole milk plus ¼ c melted butter.

If you need 1 whole egg, use 2 tbsp oil plus 1 tsp water.

If you’re missing the last egg in a recipe, you can substitute 1 tsp vinegar or 1 tsp baking powder.

A whole large egg is approximately ¼ c. If you have only small or medium eggs, you can use a liquid measuring cup to make sure you have an equal volume.

Finally, as a healthy substitute, you can use an equal amount of applesauce to replace the oil or butter called for in most baked goods.

Rae Bates is an Independent Consultant and Team Leader with The Pampered Chef. She welcomes questions about food, nutrition, and entertaining, as well as suggestions for future blogs.