I try to do a good job with menu planning so that I know I have all of the ingredients I need to make a dish. Sometimes, you don’t have what you need to cook a recipe. So what do you do? How about a substitution?

Image shows three cookies on a square white plate

There are actually several things you can do when you find you do not have everything you need to make a dish. You can make a trip to the store (assuming the store is open and they have what you need!). Another option is to just cook something else and save that recipe for another day. A third option is to look for a substitution.

There are a number of things to consider when making a substitution in a recipe. Will the change substantially change how the recipe works? If a recipe calls for buttermilk, regular milk with lemon juice (or vinegar) will act the same way in the recipe. The taste may be slightly different, but the acidity will be the same when interacting with the other ingredients.

Image shows a section of a chart. Text in the first box reads Dark Brown Sugar. Second box reads: for 1 cup dark brown sugar sub light brown sugar OR 1/4 c molasses and 1 cup white granulated sugar OR 1 tablespoon molasses and 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar,
This is a section of a substitution chart for dark brown sugar. I use molasses blended with white granulated sugar for all of my brown sugar needs.

Using apples instead of peaches in a pie recipe will not change the interaction of the ingredients but will definitely change the flavor.

Using butter instead of shortening may change the way your cookies turn out. Butter has a lower melting point and your cookies will spread more. And because it has more liquid than shortening, your cookies will be more crisp. Shortening will result in lighter, taller cookies, but with less flavor than those made with butter. There is a good explanation of the various changes in this post on the Handle the Heat website.

So how do you determine when and what to substitute?

Many basic cookbooks provide a substitution list. My old standby, The Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, has a nice section on substitutions and equivalents. You can get used copies from various sellers or the 100th anniversary version here (no affiliation). You can also get some nice laminated cards that have a lot of cooking information. Here is one example (there are also ones for herbs and spices and cooking meats). I have a similar card. You can of course find things online, like this from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The reason this topic came to mind is because I discovered I didn’t have enough shortening to make peanut butter cookies this weekend. I used half butter and half shortening and ended up with an amazing batch of cookies – crisp, light and flavorful. My original hand written recipe says from mom at the top. I’m not sure where she got it.

Peanut Butter Cookies

  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup chunky peanut butter
  • 2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream together the shortening, butter and sugars. Blend in the eggs and vanilla. Add the peanut butter and mix well. Stir in the dry ingredients.

I used my size 40 scoop to make evenly sized cookies. Place the dough on a cookie sheet. Criss-cross with a floured fork to flatten the dough some.

Image show a tray with balls of chocolate chip cookie dough and a scoop laying beside them.
This was scooping chocolate chip cookie dough to freeze, but you can see how nice and even the balls of dough are.

Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool on the pan for about a minute before transferring to a rack to finish cooling. This recipe makes about 48 cookies.

I talk about scoops and their uses in this post.