Substitutions in my Recipes

Making substitutions in most of my recipes is pretty easy.  I add suggestions for substitutions within many of the recipe posts where it works well.  There will be a difference in flavor, texture and density of some items due to the substitutions.  This can be a good thing!  I mention it only to keep expectations in check when comparing pictures of items I have made with those made with substitutions.  There will likely be differences.

Some recipes can’t be easily adapted for all food allergies unfortunately. If you have made substitutions to one of my recipes, please let me know what you think of the results!  Send me a private message or post a note on the recipe page.  Below I have suggestions for making substitutions with my recipes based on products I have used and had success with.  I am not paid by anyone to promote their products, these are purely suggestions based on my experience:-)

Milk Substitutions

We have a lot of dairy issues in my house, so we have tried just about every milk substitute on the market.  As of right now, we keep Kirkland Organic Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, Ripple Unsweetened Vanilla, Ripple Vanilla half & half, So Delicious Coconut Milk Unsweetened and Unsweetened Vanilla along with So Delicious Vanilla Creamer in our house regularly.

I like to use the vanilla creamers to replace any sweet recipes calling for whole milk, half and half or cream.  Otherwise, if it is a savory dish calling for milk I like to use the Ripple Unsweetened Original.  It has a similar consistency to milk and doesn’t have a strong flavor that will be noticed within the dish.

The So Delicious Coconut Milk and creamer are what I use for smoothies and my coffee.  If I want true coconut milk for recipes like my Coconut Lime Shrimp Ceviche I use the Aroy-d 100% pure coconut milk.  It has a completely different taste and consistency and does not have any added ingredients.

Butter Substitutions

My two favorite substitutes for butter are Earth Balance Buttery Sticks and coconut oil.  The buttery sticks can be used in just about every recipe for baked goods that I can think of without much of a difference.  They do contain more water which could require slight adjustments for additional dry ingredients.  Usually I don’t notice a need though.

I also like to use coconut oil in recipes that welcome the coconut flavor.  Unrefined coconut oil will have more coconut flavor where the refined oil has less.  I use both depending on how much coconut flavor I want.  Since the oil is solid at room temperature or when refrigerated, it can be a good substitute for butter.

Egg Substitutions

The only product I have tried yet that creates lift, richness and flavor that you get from an egg is Vegan Egg.  I have used it in many cookie, cake and quick bread recipes and it has been an unnoticeable substitution.  I have not used it to make classic egg dishes like quiche or scrambled eggs.  It is on my list of things to do though!  I will update this as soon as I do. Please let me know what you think of them and what you’ve made with them.

Nut Substitutions

When making a crust or a crunchy topping in sweet or savory recipes, seeds and shredded coconut can often be a good replacement.  I also like using a gluten free graham cracker crust or using the graham crust ingredients as the crumble topping.  The other easy substitution is to use the crust in my Vegan Pumpkin Pudding Pie recipe.  You can press that into the bottom of a pan as a base for all kind of baked goodies.  It is dairy, gluten, nut and egg free.  The topping on my Ginger Apple Pie can be used to crumble it on top of all kinds of desserts for added crunch and flavor.