Ultimate Baking Guide: A Comprehensive Look At Vegan Swaps

When it comes to baking, it can be a little daunting to try to veganize your favorites. After all, baking can be a bit more precise than cooking.

Of course you want your baked goods to not only come out right, but also be as close as possible quality-wise to the originals. Luckily, many cruelty-free products exist to help us out!

From binding agents, to dairy replacements and more, read on to discover some of my favorite items and products I use in my baked goods:

Egg Substitutes:

There are numerous vegan egg substitutes that can be used in baking. Perhaps the simplest of which is apple sauce, 3 tablespoons-1/4 cup of which can be used to replace one egg.

Just Egg is probably my favorite, providing perhaps a fluffier, less dense end result than apple sauce. Neat brand also offers a vegan egg substitute.

Aquafaba is fantastic vegan egg substitute as well. Not only does it seamlessly take the place of egg in any baked goods (you can use 3 tablespoons to replace one egg), it can also be used to make completely vegan meringue-based desserts (here’s a good recipe to get you started).

Dairy Substitutes:

There are entire sections of the dairy case solely dedicated to vegan milk, ranging from coconut to soy, to almond and more.

If you’re looking to make a vegan version of buttermilk, luckily soymilk makes this incredibly easy to do. See my recipe here.

Country Crock Plant Cream is one of my favorite ingredients that I’ll mention in this post: it is profoundly thick and creamy for being a vegan ingredient, and is great for uses in batters as well as frostings and whipped creams.

Canned coconut milk is another great option for making vegan whipped cream. I’ve also used canned coconut milk in place of regular milk to prepare boxed instant pudding mix, as well as many other applications.

If you’re looking to make a pumpkin pie, or any other application using sweetened condensed milk, vegan options exist for this as well. Brands such as Let’s Do Organic offer a coconut-based version of this ingredient that is suitable for vegans.

Butter Substitutes:

Several brands of vegan butter exist. However, for applications such as cakes and cupcakes, a simple canola or vegetable oil can often be used (and this option is somewhat less expensive).

But vegan butter does offer a richer flavor to baked goods, and so it’s a relief brands like Earth Balance, Melt, and Miyoko’s exist. They can be used to make icing, caramel, and pretty much anywhere else you would normally use regular butter.

And there you have it! Hopefully your vegan baking endeavors will be a breeze now that you have all these ingredients in your arsenal.

It’s never been easier to find vegan swaps like these at your local grocer, so go bake some sweets and enjoy 🙂

Until next time, peace 😉