Vegan Baking Substitutions

It took me a while to learn how to use different ingredients to replace animal products in my baking.  I wanted to outline everything so my readers would have an easy way to find this information before they start baking.  Reference this post if you need help finding a suitable replacement for eggs, milk, sugar and oil.

Egg substitutes

Eggs are a binding and leavening agent in baking.  But they are a definite no for vegans as well as people who are allergic to eggs.  Here are easy replacements:

I usually replace eggs with applesauce in all my recipes.  Use 1/4 cup of applesauce for one egg.  You can either buy organic applesauce or make applesauce yourself by peeling a few apples and putting them in your blender or food processor for a few minutes.  You definitely want to peel the apples first and process them until there are no chunks.  You can even add cinnamon if you want that flavor for your baked goods.  If you use applesauce instead of eggs, increase your baking time slightly.  Stick a fork or knife in your baked good to see if it's done.

Other pureed fruits such as bananas, prunes, peaches, etc.  Use 1/4 cup to replace 1 egg.  Use 1 banana to replace 1 egg.

You can also use 1/4 cup of silken tofu to replace 1 egg.  Puree the silken tofu first.  The tofu is best used in more dense recipes such as breads.

You can also use 1 teaspoon of baking soda plus 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to replace 1 egg.  You can use this substitute to make your baked goods fluffy so use in cupcakes.

White Sugar Alternatives

Stay away from white sugar.  It's highly processed and your blood sugar spikes and then crashes when you consume it.  Try to substitute lower glycemic sweeteners for white sugar.  I love maple sugar.  I also love agave nectar.  I've used brown rice syrup too.

3/4 cup of maple sugar replaces 1 cup of white sugar
2/3 cup of agave nectar replaces 1 cup of sugar but reduce the liquid in your recipe by 1/4 cup.  So, if you use water or milk in the recipe, reduce by 1/4 cup.
1 1/4 cup of brown rice syrup for 1 cup of sugar and reduce liquids by 1/4 cup.

You can drizzle brown rice syrup or agave nectar on your pancakes if you run out of maple syrup.  You can also sweeten iced tea with both.  I add maple sugar to my hot chocolate and oatmeal.

Oils

Stay away from canola oil and vegetable oil because they are not as healthy as olive oil or coconut oil.  They may also contains GMO's  Sesame oil and flaxseed oil are also good.  Coconut oil comes as a solid at room temperature so you need to heat it slightly for it to liquefy.  Coconut oil is also good for high temperature cooking.  Olive oil is good for baking as well as adding to salads or drizzling over pasta.  But try to only buy organic oils. 

Flour

I've just begun experimenting with different flours.  I have not purchased bleached white flour in a long time; I replaced it long ago with whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour.  I started using coconut flour, brown rice flour and garbanzo bean flour for recipes.  I'll post them as they come.  Don't be afraid to try different, more healthier flours.  A lot of them are gluten free, have lots of fiber and are nutrient dense.  A lot of times, they will say on the package how to use if you're using in place of white flour.  They will also say on the package how they taste and what recipes to use them in.  Bob's Red Mill sells a lot of different, great tasting flours.  So does Arrowhead Mill.  You can find them in health food stores or organic sections of the big grocery stores.

Butter

Earth Balance whipped butter is vegan.  It is sold in Trader Joe's, Giant, small health food stores, Wegman's and Whole Foods.  It comes in different flavors depending on what oil blend they use.  It tastes exactly like butter but it's dairy free.  Replace butter with Earth Balance in your recipes.  I use Earth Balance in cookie recipes as well as my icing recipe.

Milk

Cow's milk can be replaced with so many plant based milks.  More and more people are turning to plant based milks because of the taste and because it contains no dairy.  I love almond milk-I find Trader Joe's to be the tastiest but Blue Diamond is a close second.  I've also tried soy milk, coconut milk and rice milk.  Try a lot of different ones and buy the one that tastes the best to you.  You can buy vanilla and chocolate flavored ones or unsweetened ones that contain only 40 calories per cup.  I buy vanilla unsweetened almond milk and I love it.  Almond milk is very thick and creamy and adds richness to baked goods.