There are several ways to replace oil or fat in your vegan baking. There are many recipes online, like the ones on this site, that already provide a substitute for oil. But what about when the recipe calls for oil? There are many things you can try, but do remember that (with baking at least), it is often a bit of an experiment if you are trying a substitute on your own. Baking is truly a science (chemistry!) and not as easy to substitute as with other cooking recipes. Such as using water to saute your vegetables or using aquafaba and spices to coat your roasted potatoes.
But here are several things you can do to replace the oil in your baked goods.
In general, you want to use about half of the called for oil with your replacement. For example, if the recipe calls for 1/2 cup of oil, you would use 1/4 cup of the replacement. However, this is a high-level recommendation, as recipes will vary greatly on how much you should use, and the replacement too. So you will probably need to experiment a bit, or search around if the item you are baking is tricky.
Use blended prunes/plums
You can use soaked dried prunes that are pureed as an oil substitute in many bread, muffin, or cookie recipes. What you need to do:
Add the following to a glass bowl:
- 2 cups pitted dried prunes (plums)
- 3 cups warm or hot water
Let the prunes sit in the hot water for about 10 to 15 minutes (or, you can boil them). Then put them in a high speed blender, and puree until smooth.
Use a Wonderslim replacement
I used to buy a product called Wonderslim fat replacer, however it is no longer on the market. (Not so funny story, I found a bottle that was about 4 years expired in the back of my pantry when I moved. It liquifies into a water consistency after that long, apparently…). Wonderslim is often used to replace eggs in addition to fat. Anyway, this is how to recreate that product, and it’s quite similar to the above – you simply add lecithin and citric acid:
- 2 cups pitted dried prunes (plums)
- 3 cup swarm or hot water
- 3 Tbsp plant-based lecithin
- 1/4 tsp citric acid
Use the same steps as above where you soak or boil the prunes, and then blend. The citric acid acts as a preservative and an emulsifier. The lecithin is a fat and also an emulsifier/binder and affects the texture of baked products, but of course due to the amount you will be using, the additional fat would be a small component of your entire recipe.
Replace the oil with apple butter or apple sauce
You can make an apple butter, as we recently posted on this site. Apple butter may work well for baking such as brownies, cakes, and some kinds cookies and loafs. Here’s the recipe for the slow cooker version, but you can also find the Instant Pot version on the original recipe page.
Crock Pot Apple Butter
Ingredients
- 6 lbs apples Washed and cut
- 2 cups water Or pressed apple juice
Instructions
- Wash apples, and cut into segments (about 1/8ths) and remove seeds.
- Add the water and your cut apples to the Crock Pot, place the lid on, and cook on low for about 10 or 11 hours or so.
- Blend the apples (you can use an immersion blender in the pot, or remove and use a standard blender and then place the blended apples back in the Crock Pot).
- Move the lid slightly askew so the Crock Pot is vented. Cook on low and let simmer for another couple hours so the sauce thickens further (you can also do this on the stovetop over medium heat, it's a bit quicker).
- Can your apple butter, or store in an air-tight container in the fridge for about a week or the freezer for a few months.
What do you use as a replacement?
There are many other tricks that you can use to replace oil or fat in vegan baking. What do you like to use in yours? Do you have any tricks that seem to work well? Let us know in the comments!
