Missing an ingredient for a recipe? No problem! This list of the Ultimate Baking Substitutions will take care of you in a pinch!
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Ever want to make a recipe and then stop immediately when you realize you might only be missing one or two ingredients? I’ve been there and done that!
This list of Best Kitchen Baking Substitutions is for those times when you can’t run to the grocery store or simply don’t have the time and energy to just get one additional ingredient.
The Ultimate Baking Substitutions!
No Heavy Cream? No Problem!
Use Milk and Butter!
- Simply whisk together ¼ cup melted unsalted butter (make sure its room temp) with ¾ cup whole milk. That will make you 1 cup of heavy cream!
No Cake Flour? No Problem!
Use All Purpose Flour and Cornstarch!
- Check out my full recipe for how to make your DIY Cake Flour HERE!
No Self Rising Flour? No Problem!
Use All Purpose Flour, Baking Powder and Salt!
- For every cup of self rising flour you need, whisk together 1 cup of all purpose flour, 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt.
No Butter? No Problem!
Use Shortening in a pinch!
- For 1 cup of unsalted butter, use 1 cup of shortening, lard, or vegetable oil.
- For 1 cup of salted butter, use 1 cup of shortening, lard, or vegetable oil and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
No Block Chocolate? No Problem!
Use Cocoa Powder & a few more ingredients!
- For 1 ounce of Unsweetened Chocolate, use 3 tablespoons of natural cocoa powder and 1 tablespoon of shortening, vegetable oil or unsalted butter.
- For 1 ounce of Sweetened Chocolate , use 3 tablespoons of natural cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon of shortening, vegetable oil or unsalted butter, and 1 tablespoon of sugar.
- For 1 ounce of Chocolate chips, use 1 ounce of unsweetened chocolate and 1 tablespoon of sugar.
No Brown Sugar? No Problem!
Use Granulated Sugar and Molasses in my Tutorial Here!
- If you want to make light brown sugar, combine 1 cup of granulated sugar with 1 teaspoon of molasses. If you want dark brown sugar, use 2 teaspoons of molasses!
- Simply combine the ingredients in a bowl until well mixed or even add to a food processor to combine quickly!
No Vinegar? No Problem!
Use lemon juice as a replacement!
- Use it measure for measure in cooking and baking!
No Eggs? No Problem!
Use bananas or apple sauce!
- For 1 egg, combine 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder with either half a pureed banana or 1/3 cup of applesauce.
No Baking Powder? No Problem!
Use Baking Soda, Cream of Tartar & Cornstarch
- Combine ¼ teaspoon baking soda + ½ teaspoon cream of tartar + ¼ teaspoon cornstarch to make 1 teaspoon of baking powder!
No Buttermilk? No Problem!
Use Milk and Lemon juice
- Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or even vinegar to 1 cup of milk. Let stand for up to 10 minutes then use in place of buttermilk!
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thank you Jocelyn, what a great thing to have, I’m bookmarking this, some i knew but apple sauce or bananas for eggs, I didn’t
Awesome!!!
Thsnks for all the information. I had been aware of some,
Love all the tips and definitely going to be referring to this!
Thank you for the helpful tips, I knew about the buttermilk substitute, but not the other ones. Be safe and take care.
This was a lot of useful advice, thank you for sharing.
Awesome post. Really nice right now since a ton of stuff is cleared off the grocery shelf. Bookmarking this. I’m sure it will save me from a store run or baking disaster in the near future.
You are just a genius! The post is the ultimate one to use all the time someone is missing an ingredient. Thanks! Pinning.
This is very useful advice! There are many recipes that call for buttermilk but I’ve never known how to substitute it before. Now I know!!!
Thank you for this! My grocery store was out of baking powder, and I didn’t know you could make it yourself!
Can I use cake flour to make a cake if it calls for self rising flour or all purpose flour.
If it calls for self rising and you only have cake flour, I would add the baking powder and salt so you at least have the same leavening properties there.