Butter instead of vegetable oil? Cottage cheese over sour cream?

[sweetkymom]

I was going through my book of substitutions for different kinds of recipes and I was shocked to see that people use cottage cheese instead of sour cream in a certain recipe. Exactly what does cottage cheese do?

What substitutions do you use in your recipes?

 

[evelynmcgregor]

If you put the cottage cheese in your blender or food processor it is smooth like sour cream, it just does not have the tang. However: you can add just a bit of lemon juice to it to give that tang. If I need buttermilk for a recipe and do not have any, I put about a tablespoon of vinegar per cup of milk and let it sit for a few minutes and it works fine. Also, in a pinch I have mixed sugar with molasses to take the place of brown sugar,, you just add a little to the sugar and mix and then add more if you think it needs it,, just do not add enough to make the sugar mix soupy.

 

[monkeyboots]

I get requests for vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, and paleo baked goods so I substitute all the time.
Today I made coconut milk & honey sweetened condensed milk to make 7 Layer Bars for a paleo friend. Almost everything in the bars is substituted except for the coconut. I love baking challenges! They are like fun puzzles.

 

[Tina Nord]

Monkeyboots- Gluten free and vegan baking is becoming one of my favorites! I think I prefer it now to traditional baking as the food seems to have much more flavor. I make my own buttermilk all of the time as I don't want to buy a whole carton for one recipe and let the rest go to waste. There are sometimes when I substitute just because I don't have a specific ingredient for a recipe handy at the time.

 

[monkeyboots]

Monkeyboots- Gluten free and vegan baking is becoming one of my favorites! I think I prefer it now to traditional baking as the food seems to have much more flavor. I make my own buttermilk all of the time as I don't want to buy a whole carton for one recipe and let the rest go to waste. There are sometimes when I substitute just because I don't have a specific ingredient for a recipe handy at the time.

I agree with you! I love the hearty textures and simple flavors of the "alternative" baked goods I make. I find that people who don't pre-judge them actually prefer them to the old standard recipes.
I recommend that you make some coconut milk & honey sweetened condensed milk. It is very difficult to resist just eating it with a spoon.
You just cook a can of full-fat coconut milk and 1/4 cup of honey until the mixture is reduced by half.

 

[True2marie]

I do simple substitutions. For example, I swap out low fat sour cream for the full fat version. Or, I exchange walnuts for chocolate chips. This method is simple. Also, you're less likely to mess up a recipe.

In regards to food substitutions, flavor and texture effect the final outcome greatly. So, bakers have to be careful.

 

[JessiFox]

I do simple substitutions. For example, I swap out low fat sour cream for the full fat version. Or, I exchange walnuts for chocolate chips. This method is simple. Also, you're less likely to mess up a recipe.

In regards to food substitutions, flavor and texture effect the final outcome greatly. So, bakers have to be careful.

Same here...I don't generally go too extravagant with my substitutions. My husband has a renal diet, so I make some switches for things that have less potassium and/or phosphorous in certain recipes. In general, I try to pick health over convenience when thinking about substitutions.