Basics of Cooking Lesson Series Equivalents and Substitutions

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Substitutions and Equivalents

Basics of Cooking Lesson Series

Related Resources

• All Busy Cooks Cooking Lessons
• Equivalents
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• Food Safety
• How to Fix Kitchen Flops
• How to Read a Baking Recipe
• Busy Cooks Recipes

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Equivalents and substitutions are two very different things.

Substitutions are ingredients that will work in the recipes like other ingredients. For instance, 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder plus 1 tablespoons of shortening can be substituted for 1 square of unsweetened baking chocolate in a recipe.

Print these charts out and keep them in your kitchen for easy, instant reference.

Can you think of anything you would like added? Just send me an email, I'll research it and expand these charts.

INGREDIENT	SUBSTITUTE
1 tsp. baking powder	1/4 tsp. baking soda plus 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup brown sugar	1 cup granulated sugar plus 2 tablespoons molasses
1 cup cake flour	3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate	3 tablespoons cocoa powder plus 1 tablespoon shortening
1 cup corn syrup	1 cup sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
1 cup self-rising cornmeal	3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons cornmeal plus 1 Tbsp. baking powder plus 1/2 tsp. salt
1 teaspoon apple pie spice	1/2 teaspoon cinnamon plus 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg plus 1/8 teaspoon allspice plus dash cloves
1 cup honey	3/4 cup sugar plus 1/4 cup liquid
1 cup cocktail sauce	1 cup ketchup plus 2 tablespoons horseradish
1 cup cream	1/3 cup butter plus 3/4 cup milk (for use in cooking only)
1 cup whole milk	1/2 cup evaporated milk plus 1/2 cup water
1 cup self rising flour	1 cup flour plus 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder plus 1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup tomato juice	1/2 cup tomato sauce plus 1/2 cup water
1 cup ketchup	1 cup tomato sauce plus 1/2 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons vinegar
1 cup buttermilk	2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice plus enough milk to equal 1 cup
1 oz. semisweet chocolate	1 oz. unsweetened chocolate plus 4 teaspoons sugar
1 cup melted semisweet chocolate chips	2 squares unsweetened chocolate melted with 2 tablespoons shortening plus 1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch	2 tablespoons flour
3 oz. pkg. flavored jell-o	1 tablespoon plain gelatin plus 2 cups fruit juice plus 1/4 cup sugar
1 cup maple syrup	1 cup corn syrup plus 1 tsp. maple flavoring OR 2 cups sugar plus 1 cup water, brought to a boil, add 1 tsp. maple flavoring
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk	Heat the following ingredients until sugar and butter are dissolved: 1/3 cup and 2 tbsp evaporated milk, 1 cup sugar, 3 tbsp butter
1 tablespoon prepared mustard	1 tsp. dry mustard
1 cup nuts	1 cup rolled oats
*1 cup melted* shortening**	1 cup oil
1 cup sour cream	Mix 3/4 cup buttermilk and 1/4 cup butter OR 1/3 cup buttermilk, 1 tbsp lemon juice, and 1 cup cottage cheese, blended
1 teaspoon allspice	1/2 teaspoon cinnamon plus 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup evaporated milk	Whip together 1 cup nonfat dry milk plus 1-3/4 cups water, store in refrigerator