Changing recipes and making the substitutions you need

I have found it tricky over the years making substitutions when baking for a family with multiple dietary requirements.  It requires patience and persistence to say the least, however when you get it right, there is a whole new sense of satisfaction and achievement, like anything in life I suppose.  However , it seems your toughest audience if always the kids.  Over the holidays or special occasions you always seem to feel guilty that you can’t just give them anything they want and a little extra thought has to go towards baking so they have something that makes them feel normal.

Well I want to share some tips on substituting some basic ingredients so you can just use “normal” recipes and make a few changes to get a similar result. I will take a couple of recipes I just received in my inbox from the website Taste.com.au and change them into goodies we can eat.

Baking with dairy, wheat and egg always gives a superior result and not everything will work effectively all of the time.

To substitute the flour: take a flour blend that you trust, in this case I will be of course using Brighterlife flour blends to make the substitutions.

To substitute the dairy: try one of the milk substitutes on the market eg. Soy, rice or coconut.  Alternatively try the Premium whey blend which is specifically made for people with dairy allergies and dairy intolerances.  Tofu is always great for substituting cream or yoghurt in a recipe.  To make the cheese substitute try mixing some breadcrumbs  or pureed tofu together with some herbs and spices .  Butter can be substituted for nutella or just oil.  You can purchase soy yoghurt quite readily to complete the basic dairy substitution.

To substitute eggs: egg is a binder for most recipes.  Generally if the recipe calls for an egg in a flour based recipe I simply just do the egg replacer substitution which is a product you can easily purchase at the health food shop. If you need egg to bind in a meat dish eg. Rissoles,   I just use olive oil, some flour or some ground oats or mashed potato. 

Generally if the recipe required egg whites or multiple eggs,  I just avoid it and make something else.
Alternatively you can go to www.whatcanieat.com.au/homemade egg substitute recipes.

There are just so many recipes out there now.  Most generally it is just a matter of leaving out the ingredient that is the culprit or just choose a recipe that you know you can do an easy substitution for.

Here are some examples of simple substitutions:

Gravy:

1 cup of gluten free liquid stock

1 tablespoon brighterlife bread mix

1 tablespoon of gluten free sauce (any flavour of choice)

Seasoning such as salt, pepper and herbs is always great.

Mix all ingredients together and slowly bring to the boil, stirring regularly until thickened.

 

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