

Whether you’ve run out of oil in your house, or you are looking to eliminate oils from your diet, you shouldn't stop baking your favorite treats, pastries or breads. However, we have made a list of substitutions for any of these oils, although we typically keep vegetable oil in mind as the standard. Oil Alternatives Most commonly, you will see vegetable oil called for, but there has been a surge of alternative oils like coconut, grapeseed, avocado, and sunflower lately. So when substituting for oil, we should pay attention to how our alternate ingredients perform these two tasks. It basically captures the gases that are released from the interaction of the baking powder and baking soda, and slows down gluten formation to keep certain baked goods tender and fluffy in texture! It also helps with binding your other ingredients together in the right way. Probably the biggest function of oil in most baking recipes is to keep your product moist. In baking especially, all the ingredients play a specific role in the whole recipe, so we need to understand what the oil is doing to ensure we replace it correctly. But maybe the most common reason for needing an oil substitute is even simpler than all of these-maybe you just ran out of oil and don’t have time to go to the store! No matter your reason for baking without oil today, you will find a surprising number of substitutes for almost any recipe! Why Do We Need Oil? It is important to understand an ingredient’s functionality in a recipe before we try to substitute it for something else. Some people stop using oil because they are eating a “whole” or “unprocessed” diet, and oil simply does not fit in this category.

Oil contains very little in the way of helpful nutrients-sometimes there are omega-3 fatty acids, and some substitute oils, like coconut oil, do have antioxidants and other properties, but for the most part, the nutrients you get from oil are fairly negligible. Staying slim and eating efficiently is all about getting as many nutrients as you can in slightly fewer calories than the average person. Now that may seem crazy, and of course you are never going to sit down and eat a pound of oil, but keeping foods calorically light is a good way to lose weight and maximize your calorie intake for the day. Many people call oil the most calorically dense food on earth: it comes in at a whopping 4,000 calories per pound, as compared to something like an avocado, which has about 750 calories per pound. So read on for all of the amazing substitutes for oil in your baked goods recipes! Why Would You Want to Substitute Oil in the First Place? There are a few reasons you may want to bake without using oil. The good part is, we have brought together information on all of our favorite oil substitutes for baking, so you don’t have to do all that legwork and research yourself. In fact, that is entirely false-there are plenty of wonderful substitutes you can use in place of oil, and it depends on what you need your substitute to do. That perfect harmony will create your perfect brownie, pastry, or loaf of bread, and without canola oil, it may seem like these things are not quite possible. Oil serves so many unique purposes in baking, and as we often say, baking is all about the ratios and purposes of each specific ingredient and making sure they work together in perfect harmony. Baking without oil can be a tricky journey to embark upon, no matter what your reasoning.
