Tag Archives: Vegan Baking

The Gluten Free Challenge

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Wow, have I opened up a can of worms or what!?!

I spent a lot of time before and during the holidays baking. Good, old-fashioned butter, white flour, and white sugar baking.

YUM.

The thing is, making, and as a result eating,  all of those (not to toot my own horn too much, but) delicious treats was not a realistic daily activity.

All I wanted to do was come up with some healthy alternatives that would allow me to bake on a near-daily basis, and still button my jeans.

Sure there are plenty of “healthy baking recipes” out there, but, a) I like to  be creative in the kitchen, and b) I like to use what I have on hand, and what I have on hand is not often what the recipe calls for.

After a few semi-successful (yes, that can also be interpreted as semi-failed) attempts, I admitted defeat. Well, maybe not defeat, but at least ignorance.

Clearly, creating my own twist on a recipe is not as easy as keeping the wet and dry ingredient ratios the same…

I started simple, reading about common ingredient substitutions. Many I already knew, but many (MANY) more were a complete surprise.

Then I moved on to some simple kitchen chemistry.

Now I have been challenged to try gluten free baking.

Sorry wheat, you know I'll always love you, but I think we should spend some time apart..

I started doing some research, and a whole new world appeared to me.

There are so many things I never took into consideration!

Elevation, humidity, protein content, what your pan is made out of….

Sure, tell me any of those things can affect your final product and I can see how that makes sense. I just hadn’t thought about it.

Now I’m looking into gluten free, which could be simple enough (comparatively) on its own, until you add in the other possible variables. Vegan, nut free, soy allergy, lactose intolerance, casein allergy (a protein in dairy that many people who are allergic to gluten are also allergic to), cross-contamination (rolled oats are gluten free, but are usually processed with wheat)….

As Fletch would say…I think we’re gonna need a bigger boat….

Baking Substitutions

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This will be a work in progress (hopefully forever), but here’s what I’ve got so far!

Eggs

Due to allergies and vegan diets, egg substitutions are actually quite common. I usually just run out of things, but whatever your reason these ideas will work for you!

While there are many possibilities, taking into consideration the function of the egg in the recipe will really help you make the right choice. In some recipes eggs are used to moisten and “glue” your recipe together (like cookies), while in others the eggs function as a leavening agent (like cakes).

Check out this post on the science behind the baking for more help figuring out what exactly your ingredient is doing to your recipe.,

Soft Tofu – 1/4 cup whipped tofu for each egg. Best for dense cakes, cookies, breads and brownies. Also the best substitute for “egg” based dishes such as quiche.

Flaxseed Powder – 1tsp flaxseed powder mixed with 1.4 cup water for each egg. Slightly nutty flavour, heavier and denser.

Buttermilk, Yogurt – If egg is used as a leavening agent, replace liquid with equal amount of buttermilk or yogurt. Best for cookies and bars.

Pureed Fruits – 1/4 cup for each egg. Best for cakes, breads and brownies. Need to increase leavening agent slightly and bake slightly longer.

Vinegar & Baking Soda – 1tsp baking soda and 1tbsp vinegar (if your egg is being used as a leavening agent). Best for cakes and cupcakes.

Commercial Egg Replacer – Products such as EnerG, follow instructions on the package. Works for all baked goods.

Oil, Water & Baking Soda –  2 tbsp water mixed with 1 tbsp of oil and 2 tbsp of baking powder.

Binding Agents – In savory recipes, if the egg is being used to bind things together you can substitute tomato paste, mashed potato, breadcrumbs, rolled oats, cornmeal, whole wheat flour…etc.

Agar Powder – For a replacement for just the egg white, mix 1 tbsp plain agar powder (available from health food stores/Chinese stores etc) with 1 tbsp water.

Butter

Once again, we have to ask “what is the butter doing?”. In many recipes, you have to cream butter to create air bubbles. Leavening agents such as baking soda and powder cannot make their own bubbles, but they will make the bubbles in the butter bigger, which causes rising.

If this is the case you can substitute shortening or margarine because of the similar consistency. You can usually also substitute oil if you also separate the eggs and beat the yolks with sugar and fold the egg whites in separately (of course this solution wont work if you are subbing eggs out as well!).