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Basic Ingredient Swaps

Ever find yourself making a recipe and realize you don’t have an ingredient it’s calling for? Here are a few ingredient alternatives that you might have on hand instead.
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Mayonnaise

For 1 cup of mayonnaise, use 1 cup of sour cream OR 1 cup of plain yogurt, plus a pinch of salt.

Honey

For ¼ cup of honey, use ¼ cup maple syrup or light corn syrup.

Buttermilk

For 1 cup of buttermilk, use 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice mixed with enough milk or plant-based milk to reach 1 cup.

Butter

If the butter is used for baking or in a solid form, solid coconut oil is a good 1 to 1 substitution. If it’s melted or for cooking, olive oil can be used.

Oil

When it comes to oil for baking, applesauce is a great substitute. For 1 cup of oil, use 3/4 cup of applesauce mixed with ¼ cup melted butter. In cooking, any neutral, refined oils like canola, olive, vegetable, corn, and peanut oils are interchangeable.

Breadcrumbs

For 1 cup of breadcrumbs, use 1 cup of cracker crumbs, finely crushed potato chips, tortilla chips, or pretzels pulsed in your food processor.

Brown Sugar

For 1 cup of light brown sugar, use 1 cup of white sugar plus 1 tbsp of molasses. For 1 cup of dark brown sugar, use 2 tbsp molasses. The sugar and molasses should be mixed together thoroughly.

Baking Powder

For 1 tsp of baking powder, stir or sift together ¼ tsp of baking soda plus 5/8 tsp of cream of tartar.

Follow these swaps to get back to making that delicious recipe. Have any swaps you use? Leave a comment!

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