Sweet Substitutions

You know the feeling. You go to grab an ingredient only to discover you’re out of it. Don’t panic. We have you covered. We scoured the internet to bring you sweet substitutions that will make your life easier.

Most baking mixes are interchangeable!

Pancake, baking or biscuit mixes contain almost the exact same ingredients as one another. It’s also not too hard to make your own! In a food processor, combine 5 cups flour, ¼ cup baking powder, 2 tablespoons sugar, a dash of salt and 1 stick cold butter cut into cubes; pulse until mixture is crumbly with some pea-sized clumps. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 months or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Makes 6 cups.

No sour cream? No problem.

Yogurt tends to be a lower fat, higher protein alternative, especially Greek style yogurt. Substitute equal amounts of yogurt for sour cream in recipes.

Substituting brown sugar is a breeze.

Just add 2 teaspoons molasses for light brown sugar or 1 tablespoon molasses for dark brown sugar to 1 cup granulated sugar for every cup brown sugar needed. Blend it in a food processor and that’s it!

Out of allspice?

Making your own is easy: Mix two parts ground cinnamon to one part ground ginger and one part ground cloves. Easy peasy.

Vegetable oil backups.

Butter is a perfect backup for vegetable oil at a one-to-one ratio. Or you can use another neutral-tasting oil, like avocado or coconut oil. You can also use mayonnaise instead since it’s just oil with an egg yolk. In a pinch, yogurt works too. Note: The substitution for oil with these alternatives will depend on the type of recipe and the amount of liquid may need to be adjusted when going from a liquid fat to a solid fat.

Egg-quivalent.

It’s not the end of the world if you run out of eggs. Substitute half a banana, or ⅓ cup applesauce, for one egg. Fruit can add a little bit of a different flavor to light breads and cakes, but trust us, it’s worth the try.

Need unsweetened chocolate?

Mix 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder with 1 tablespoon melted shortening for each ounce needed. Voila!

A powderful substitute.

When you’re out of baking powder but have baking soda, mix 2 parts cream of tartar to 1 part soda.

Looking for a cornstarch substitute?

Flour works great, simply use a bit more to get the same result. If you need 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, use 2 tablespoons of flour. Convenient, isn’t it?

No heavy cream on hand?

Combine ¾ cup milk with ¼ cup melted butter to replace 1 cup heavy cream.