Nothing is more frustrating than starting a fun baking project only to realize you’re missing an ingredient or need to make a last-minute swap.
But substitutions aren’t just for emergencies—they’re also a great way to experiment with flavors and create unique, standout cookies!
Easy Substitutions for Common Baking Ingredients
The good news is that most common cookie ingredients have simple substitute options.
You’ll find substitutions for eggs, butter, vanilla extract, brown sugar, baking soda, chocolate chips and More!
Why Would you Need to Substitute Ingredients?
Many people run into a missing ingredient while cooking or need to find a substitute to accommodate a friend’s dietary needs or allergies.
The good news is that most ingredients in cookies can be substituted out and still have a great result.
Common Ingredients to Substitute
When you’re missing a common ingredient, there are often easy substitutes that work just as well.
From dairy swaps to flour alternatives, knowing which ingredients can be replaced helps keep your recipes on track.
Here are some of the most popular ingredient substitutions to have on hand.
Eggs Substitute
Eggs are one of the most common things people need to substitute out of their favorite cookie recipes to accommodate food allergies.
There are many great options to substitute eggs in cookies including:
- Mashed Bananas
- Yogurt
- Avocados
- Flaxseed
- Coconut milk.
When using most of these options, substitute 1/4 cup for each egg.
Mix one teaspoon flaxseed with three tablespoons of water for flax seed and let sit for 5 minutes.
Avocado is best used in cookies that are mostly chocolate, where the swap will go unnoticed.
Butter Substitute
You can replace the butter in cookies to change the texture, tone down the rich buttery flavor, or to eliminate the dairy in your cookies.
Shortening is the most common replacement for butter in cookies. It can be swapped in a 1:1 ratio and will give you a slightly denser cookie than butter because of how it becomes more solid at room temperature.
Coconut oil will do the same to give you a more solid cookie while swapping out margarine that consists of oil and water will give you a thinner, flatter cookie.
You can even use equal amounts of mashed avocado to replace butter in chocolate cookies, where they will go unnoticed.
Vanilla Extract Substitute
Vanilla extract is an essential ingredient in many recipes.
It can also be expensive or flat-out hard to find at times.
This can surprisingly be replaced with a wide range of things.
You can use nearly any extract or flavoring from the spice section in place of vanilla extract though this can land you with some really unique cookies which can be good or bad depending on the situation.
This ingredient swap is perfect for changing the overall flavor like adding almond extract for a cherry chocolate chip cookie.
Because vanilla extract is alcohol-based you will also find that this works well to keep the consistency.
Molasses makes a great substitute for vanilla extract in cookies adding a deep rich flavor.
This will drastically change the flavor but makes a great addition to your favorite chocolate chip cookies or a way to bring a unique flavor to other cookies.
Brown Sugar Substitute
You need brown sugar for a lot of recipes, but you can replace this ingredient in a pinch more easily than you may think.
A great option is to simply swap out the brown sugar for another sugar you have on hand.
You can replace some of the flavor and texture of brown sugar by adding some molasses to regular cane sugar.
READ: Homemade Brown Sugar Recipe
To help add more flavor and moisture if using plain cane sugar as a substitute you can also add some extra vanilla extract.
Baking Soda Substitute
Baking soda is a common ingredient used in cookie recipes to help them rise.
If you do not have baking soda you can substitute it with baking powder in a 3 to 1 ratio.
If the recipe calls for 1 tablespoon baking soda you can use 3 tablespoons of baking powder.
READ: Homemade Baking Powder Recipe
You will want to reduce any acids in the recipe like buttermilk when using this substitute.
Chocolate Chips Substitute
Everyone loves a great chocolate chip cookie but sometimes this isn’t doable with food allergies.
If you’re out of chocolate chips, try using carob chips for a similar flavor, or get creative by swapping them out for a different candy chip to give your cookies a unique twist.
Cocoa Powder Substitute
For chocolate cookies, the main flavoring is cocoa powder.
This basic baking ingredient does have a few simple substitutes like using carob powder, a common chocolate substitute for those with allergies.
You can also opt to change the recipe to a different flavor such as cinnamon in place of chocolate.
You can also opt to use a bit of the higher percentage cocoa in a chocolate bar that you can find.
Using a few squares of 80% cocoa baking chocolate can help give your cookies a chocolaty flavor.
