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I have never written a post like this before and to be honest… I’m a little scared. I’m about to say a few things that most bloggers never would.
I’ve been blogging for over 10 years (!) and in that time I’ve been asked thousands of questions and have received a lot of comments about baking and recipes.
The most frustrating question I get is definitely about baking substitutions: swapping out ingredients, techniques, or equipment.
It’s even more frustrating when the comment isn’t posed as a question but instead goes a little something like this:
“I made this recipe and followed it to a T except [insert substitution here] and it didn’t turn out. Disappointed.”
Granted, this is more rare. Luckily the amount of positive comments I receive far outweighs these ones.
But I’ve refrained from speaking my true feelings on this subject for fear of offending someone. Or fear of bringing even a hint of negativity to my usually joyful corner of the internet.
But as my audience grows (which I’m eternally grateful for) this theme has become increasingly common.
So I want to say once and for all…
I HATE BAKING SUBSTITUTIONS.
They drive me crazy.
They simply won’t achieve the same taste and texture as the original ingredient, equipment, or technique called for in the recipe 90% of the time. They basically just waste YOUR time, money, and food!
DISCLAIMER: I realize some of you are working with serious food allergies and I understand that substitutions can’t be avoided in those cases. For those of you dealing with that, you probably know what will work, what won’t, and how the results will be different than the original. You don’t expect identical results without using identical ingredients unless you undergo rigorous testing with trial & error.
I feel the need to underscore something because it’s a question I get asked often: I don’t publish allergen-free recipes. I don’t publish diet recipes.
Why?
Because right now at this time in my career I don’t want to. I only publish recipes and content I’m actually passionate about and excited to share.
I don’t have much experience with these other topics. There are PLENTY of bloggers and publishers online who do and have far more expertise and their advice would be much better for you than my educated guesses.
But I also simply can’t accommodate every recipe for every allergen or diet.
One – because I simply don’t have the resources.
Two – because I know baking is a science. And swapping out even one ingredient can completely alter the chemistry of the recipe, often with less than stellar results. Just check out my infamous Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies.
This is something I address specifically and in depth in my Magic of Baking online class. Take a peek at a few baking substitutions side by side below:
(Learn more about Cake Flour here, and why the DIY sub doesn’t really work.)
(From my Ultimate Muffin Guide.)
Once you understand how baking ingredients work you’ll understand that something as simple as reducing the sugar in a recipe, for example, doesn’t just reduce the sweetness or calories.
Sugar can also contribute moisture, tenderness, lightness, and is involved in complex chemical reactions that give us flavors and textures that are essential to some sweets.
Occasionally you can reduce the sugar (typically by no more than 20%), but sometimes even a small reduction will completely compromise the integrity of the recipe.
Often someone comes along and reduces the sugar then complains the cake turned out dry and doesn’t understand the connection. Which of course is frustrating for both of us! This is just one example.
I’ll say it again: Baking is a science. The more you understand that the more you can customize recipes and tweak them with success.
But when you come to me asking about subtitutions, it’s disheartening.
I work tirelessly on developing my recipes. I have a whole process that involves a lot of time and effort to make sure I’m creating recipes that will be successful for my readers.
When you want to change something to a creation that I’ve worked so hard on, and when I know the result likely won’t be as good, it’s hard not to get disappointed.
Especially since it’s a challenge to keep up with the amount of comments and questions I get on ALL the platforms at all hours every day.
That’s why I’m enacting a NO SUBSTITUTION POLICY.
Moving forward, if I know a substitution will work because I have personal experience with it, I will include that information in the recipe post.
However, if I haven’t personally tested that substitution then I can’t in good conscience give an answer to your question because I can’t guarantee it will be accurate.
It would simply be my educated guess and would likely require you to trial and error your way through it which takes time and ingredients.
So when I say “no subs” I simply mean I won’t be making it a habit of attempting to answer questions on this topic.
You, of course, are free to bake my recipes any way you want and use Google as your tool to get possible answers to your specific questions!
It would be impossible for me to test every recipe to see if it would work without eggs, gluten, or dairy, or to try out a vegan, keto, or other dietary version.
Luckily I have a few seasoned readers in my community who like to share the results of their allergen-free or special dietary baking. Join my Facebook group if you’d like to see their tips and posts.
I also have a baking substitutions guide you can download here.
However, as I mentioned, I can’t guarantee any substitution will work as well as the original ingredient.
Little details are what makes the difference between average desserts and stellar desserts. That’s what the experts know. So when you don’t want to go back to the store to get an ingredient in the recipe and try to make something else work instead, just keep that in mind.
You can also search the comments of a recipe to see if anyone has reported success using a substitution.
TIP: use Control+F, or Command+F on a Mac to bring up the Find feature so you can pinpoint any mention of “gluten free” or whatever you’re looking for on the page.
If that’s a problem for you, I’m sorry. There are PLENTY of bloggers focused on creating content that might be a better fit for you.
My hope is that enacting this policy will allow us to continue to cultivate a positive and joyful community of people who love traditional baking.
LOVE YOU!
Tessa
First image by Constance Mariena. Portraits by Lauren Hansen.
I am glad someone has the stamina to say it! “FOLLOW THE RECIPE AS LAID OUT!!!” I have a friend who wanted a recipe that my mom had made and perfected over decades. She came back very upset that her dish didn’t turn out, that my mom had to have sabotaged it. Well, as they went over what she did. Turns out that she had changed out over half the ingredients!!! Ridiculous!!! My recommendation is, make it once or twice, see how the original recipe turns out, then have at it, then you know that it was YOUR substitutions that made it different.
We couldn’t agree more, Brenda!! That is exactly what we always say, too 🙂 Thanks so much for the comment!
I’m not sure if this is the correct place to ask this question. Since butter has become so expensive, I usually buy the store brand butter. Could this possibly be the reason a number of cookie recipes I try turn out flat? I’ve followed the instructions to avoid this i.e. oven thermometer, chilling dough, butter temp when creaming, additional egg yolk, a couple of Tbs additional flour, etc.
Thank you!
Hi Nancy! It’s honestly possible that it is the butter you’re using, as we have seen some disparity in baked goods based on the type of butter used. However, I have a couple potential other thoughts, too. Firstly, how do you measure your ingredients? I would recommend using a kitchen scale, if you’re not already, to ensure accuracy. Tessa talks about how to best measure ingredients in this article here! I also want to check on your leavening agent. If your baking/soda powder are not fresh, they won’t do their jobs and your baked goods cannot rise properly, spread too much, fall after baking, and much more. Tessa talks about the science behind leavening agents, and how to test for leavener freshness, in this article here! I also recommend using bleached flour, if you aren’t already. Bleached flour allows more moisture to be absorbed in a batter/dough to prevent excess spread. It improves the structure and height of baked goods! Lastly, I just want to mention butter temperature. I know you mentioned you are aware that your butter needs to be a certain temperature, but this time of year, it can’t hurt for it to be a little cooler, to account for the warm weather! Normally we recommend creaming butter when it’s around 67°F, but when it’s warmer, Tessa recommends around 65°F when creaming, just because it’s so warm out!! I hope something here helps you! If not, please send us an email at support@handletheheat.com so we can help troubleshoot further! 🙂
Just stumbled on your blog with this post & I love it! A friend just advised me to sub out sugar with applesauce or pureed dates and felt frustrated. They were mixing up basic reasons to sub these things- applesauce isfor oil sub, not sugar. (Nor have I done either, the chemistry issue plus didnt see value of subbing fructose for sucrose health wise). Also hav friends who simply never follow a recipe, e.g. if it calls for a yolk or just whites, they consider wasteful and just throw in whole egg then don”t understand why it didn’t work. If asked will explain but often they think I’m being a geek and continue the weird subs lol.
I might decrease sugar as u mentioned, esp for some Southern recipes that are super sugar heavy, but that’s it.
I did attend pastry school then was diagnosed with Celiac, had to relearn how to bake sans gluten, still in progress. Many of the commercial mixes like Cup4Cup seem to work well as straight across swap, depending on what the product is. I love love love trying to adapt recipes and I don’t particularly flow gluten free blogs, I like technique blogs!!! Thabks for this post it’s awesome Following u now
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Elizabeth! It definitely sounds like you’re in the right place! We love sweet treats sprinkled with science! 🙂 With any of our recipes that you experiment with, please comment on the recipe post with the changes you made as it may help other readers!
I absolutely agree with you on this, and please dont hate me for asking, but I am so curious on your opinion. I’m a chef, and I never sub anything besides buttermilk which I simply never have, and I tend to bake for myself on a whim. In this one case I have been told that using milk with lemon juice or vinegar curdles it and scientifically has the same result. I have never had a problem with it, and even if I did I wouldnt dream of commenting on a recipe I had changed, other than to say that I loved it or warn other readers against trying it. Does this sub count in your no sub rule or is it an exception for you too?
I personally never substitute buttermilk. I actually wrote an entire article about Buttermilk and substitutions that you might find interesting! https://handletheheat.com/buttermilk-101/
BRAVO!!!! I am NOT a baker, but I still try. I know how sensitive well-written, well-researched recipes are when it comes to baking. I want to learn from TRUE BAKERS, like yourself. Everytime I scroll down to comments/questions areas of a recipe, I see EXACTLY what you’re talking about. I SO GLAD that you take a stand so that my money, time and efforts are NOT wasted. I’ve ALWAYS achieved great results with your recipes.
THANK YOU!
You absolutely just made my day, Carolyne! I’m absolutely thrilled I’ve helped you with your baking! It is my JOY in life, and I’m so glad to share it with you!
Love this article. I agree. Oftentimes, I’ll look up a recipe and it’ll be rated 5 star or 3 star or 1 star and then I read the reviews and the reviewer has changed the recipe. It definitely skews the ratings! Reviews should be on actual recipe, not someone’s corrections.
So glad you feel the same!
Thank you so much for your eloquence, vulnerability and knowledge! We appreciate you!
Thank you. Well said. Amen.
I’m in the UK; do you know what “cake flour” is known as here? I’ve never heard of it before and I know your stance on substitutions so I just want to do things right!
I’m one to use substitutes. Do it all the time although I do try to stick to the recipe the first time around. Then I customize for my personal taste. But i did find it interesting to read your view on this.
Thanks
I couldn’t download the baking substitution 🙁
I agree with you .
Don’t blame you if the sub.
They are young bakers not the seasoned bakers, lol