Common Ingredient Substitutions Every Baker Should Know

Don’t let your ingredient list throw you off in the middle of a recipe. Make every
dessert a success with these ingredient substitutions bakers should know.

In a perfect world, you always have every ingredient you need for a recipe on hand
in your kitchen. Anyone who’s ever baked, however, knows that simply isn’t the case. It’s incredibly frustrating to get halfway through a recipe only to find that you’re
missing something vital.

Luckily, there are plenty of common baking ingredients that you can swap in a pinch.
But if you’re going to make substitutions in your recipe, you need to know exactly
how each ingredient works and how your substitutions will interact with the rest of
your recipe. Take your baking knowledge to the next level with these common
ingredient substitutions every baker should know.

Leavening Agents
Leavening agents, such as baking soda or baking powder, are crucial to making your
baked goods rise. If you don’t want flat, dense, or collapsed cakes, you need to use
the perfect amount of baking powder or baking soda. But what if you don’t have the
right one? You can swap baking powder and soda for each other, but there are a few
key things to keep in mind.

For one, it’s important to understand the difference between baking powder and
baking soda. Baking powder is both a base and an acid, while baking soda is just a
base. If a recipe calls for baking powder and you want to substitute baking soda, you
also need to add an acid, such as lemon juice, buttermilk, or yogurt. Remember that
this adds extra liquid to the recipe, so you’ll need to adjust to make sure your dough
or batter doesn’t become too runny.

Additionally, baking powder is less concentrated than baking soda. Follow a 3:1 ratio
when substituting. For example, if a recipe calls for one tablespoon of baking
powder, you’ll need one teaspoon of baking soda.
Eggs

Whether you’re trying to make your favorite recipes vegan or simply looking at an
empty egg carton, it’s handy to know the best egg substitutes. A quarter cup of
applesauce or mashed banana can be great alternatives for one large egg.
If you don’t have that, you can use a quarter cup of carbonated water. Alternatively,
combine two tablespoons of water, two teaspoons of baking powder, and one
teaspoon of vegetable oil for every egg the recipe calls for.
Sweeteners

Luckily, sugar is something you almost always have in the pantry. But on the rare
occasions you do run out, it’s handy to know a few common baking ingredient
substitutions for different types of sweeteners.

You can swap brown sugar for granulated sugar in a 1:1 ratio. If you have molasses
or maple syrup, add two tablespoons to every cup of granulated sugar and blend it to
make a spot-on brown sugar substitute.
This also works in reverse. You can use a cup of brown sugar in place of a cup of
white sugar. Honey is also an excellent substitute for sugar. It gives your baked
goods a little extra nutrition while acting as a delicious natural sweetener.
Use about two-thirds of a cup of honey for every cup of sugar. Just remember that
honey contains water, so you want to decrease other liquids in the recipe by about a
quarter of a cup.