By Amy Dell, VRG Intern

I love baking. But if you’re anything like me, you’ve gone to bake your favorite cookies, measured out the flour, the baking soda, and the sugar, and added them to a bowl, only to realize you don’t have any vegan butter in the fridge. Here’s a list of vegan baking substitutions for when you find yourself in a similar situation:

Eggs:
Eggs are used for leavening, binding, and as moisture in baked goods.
1 egg = ⅓ cup applesauce
This is my go-to. You can taste a slight apple flavor, but it’s not overpowering. I use it in cookies, cupcakes, and cakes.
1 egg = ⅓ cup pumpkin purée
I always keep canned pumpkin in the kitchen in the fall, so this one has saved me more than once.
1 egg = ¼ cup vegan yogurt
This is one of my all-time favorite tricks for making a fantastic pound cake. It’s so good.
1 egg = 1 mashed medium banana
Works well with very ripe bananas. I like using bananas in chocolate baked goods, such as brownies and rich chocolate cakes.
1 egg = ⅓ cup puréed canned fruit (do in a food processor)
You will be able to taste the fruit in the final product, but it works in a pinch. I’ve used apricots and peaches before, and they both worked.
1 egg = 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 Tbsp water (let sit 5 minutes before adding to recipe)
I love using “flax eggs” in pancakes and muffins.

Milk:
Milk is used for moisture and fat in most baked goods.
1 cup milk = 1 cup milk alternative
Soy, almond, rice, hemp seed, sunflower seed, cashew, coconut, pea, etc. We all have our favorites and ones we hate. Keep an extra in the pantry as a spare. Beware what you use for people with nut allergies
1 cup milk = 1 cup water + 1 Tbsp melted vegan butter
This gives the recipe the fat and the moisture of the milk.
1 cup milk = 1 cup water
It might not taste as creamy and delicious, but it still works for some baked goods when you’re out of milk and vegan butter. Be careful when the milk is being used for fat and not moisture or when a large amount of milk is being used.
Sweetened condensed milk = sweetened condensed coconut milk
If they don’t sell pre-made sweetened condensed coconut milk at your local health food store, it’s easy to make it yourself. Here’s my favorite recipe from Detoxinista: https://detoxinista.com/sweetened-condensed-coconut-milk/ I use agave nectar instead of honey.
1 cup buttermilk = 1 cup soy milk + 1 Tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
Here’s the recipe I use: https://lovingitvegan.com/how-to-make-vegan-buttermilk/ Make sure you let the mixture sit until it curdles.

Butter:
Butter is used as a fat in baked goods, and most egg replacements also work for butter, including pumpkin purée and yogurt.
1 cup butter = 1 cup vegan butter
Brands include Earth Balance, I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter Vegan, Nutiva, Fora Foods, Miyoko’s Kitchen, WayFare, and many others.
1 cup butter = ¾ cup coconut or vegetable oil
My favorite gingerbread cookie recipe uses coconut oil instead of butter. You might read online that you can use olive oil, but don’t make my same mistake. Olive oil makes sweet baked goods weirdly savory, and it’s just not good. Stick with coconut or plain vegetable oil.
1 cup butter = 1 cup vegetable shortening
Watch out for trans-fats and hidden lard, but this works really well if you find a vegan brand. Brands include Nutiva Vegan, Crisco All-Vegetable, and Earth Balance. It makes amazing flaky crusts and is great for cookies, too.

I would not recommend using these substitutions in bread, as those recipes tend to be very precise. I’ve been a vegan for over 8 years now, and have tested these in pretty much any unintentionally-vegan boxed mix I could find, and they really work. Feel free to experiment on your own baking in order to figure out what works best for you.

For more information, see
https://www.vrg.org/journal/CookingAndRecipes.htm#ac-baked-goods
https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2014issue4/2014_issue4_egg_replacers.php