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I have never written a post like this before and to be honest… I’m a little scared. I’m about to say a few things that most bloggers never would.
I’ve been blogging for over 10 years (!) and in that time I’ve been asked thousands of questions and have received a lot of comments about baking and recipes.
The most frustrating question I get is definitely about baking substitutions: swapping out ingredients, techniques, or equipment.
It’s even more frustrating when the comment isn’t posed as a question but instead goes a little something like this:
“I made this recipe and followed it to a T except [insert substitution here] and it didn’t turn out. Disappointed.”
Granted, this is more rare. Luckily the amount of positive comments I receive far outweighs these ones.
But I’ve refrained from speaking my true feelings on this subject for fear of offending someone. Or fear of bringing even a hint of negativity to my usually joyful corner of the internet.
But as my audience grows (which I’m eternally grateful for) this theme has become increasingly common.
So I want to say once and for all…
I HATE BAKING SUBSTITUTIONS.
They drive me crazy.
They simply won’t achieve the same taste and texture as the original ingredient, equipment, or technique called for in the recipe 90% of the time. They basically just waste YOUR time, money, and food!
DISCLAIMER: I realize some of you are working with serious food allergies and I understand that substitutions can’t be avoided in those cases. For those of you dealing with that, you probably know what will work, what won’t, and how the results will be different than the original. You don’t expect identical results without using identical ingredients unless you undergo rigorous testing with trial & error.
I feel the need to underscore something because it’s a question I get asked often: I don’t publish allergen-free recipes. I don’t publish diet recipes.
Why?
Because right now at this time in my career I don’t want to. I only publish recipes and content I’m actually passionate about and excited to share.
I don’t have much experience with these other topics. There are PLENTY of bloggers and publishers online who do and have far more expertise and their advice would be much better for you than my educated guesses.
But I also simply can’t accommodate every recipe for every allergen or diet.
One – because I simply don’t have the resources.
Two – because I know baking is a science. And swapping out even one ingredient can completely alter the chemistry of the recipe, often with less than stellar results. Just check out my infamous Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies.
This is something I address specifically and in depth in my Magic of Baking online class. Take a peek at a few baking substitutions side by side below:
(Learn more about Cake Flour here, and why the DIY sub doesn’t really work.)
(From my Ultimate Muffin Guide.)
Once you understand how baking ingredients work you’ll understand that something as simple as reducing the sugar in a recipe, for example, doesn’t just reduce the sweetness or calories.
Sugar can also contribute moisture, tenderness, lightness, and is involved in complex chemical reactions that give us flavors and textures that are essential to some sweets.
Occasionally you can reduce the sugar (typically by no more than 20%), but sometimes even a small reduction will completely compromise the integrity of the recipe.
Often someone comes along and reduces the sugar then complains the cake turned out dry and doesn’t understand the connection. Which of course is frustrating for both of us! This is just one example.
I’ll say it again: Baking is a science. The more you understand that the more you can customize recipes and tweak them with success.
But when you come to me asking about subtitutions, it’s disheartening.
I work tirelessly on developing my recipes. I have a whole process that involves a lot of time and effort to make sure I’m creating recipes that will be successful for my readers.
When you want to change something to a creation that I’ve worked so hard on, and when I know the result likely won’t be as good, it’s hard not to get disappointed.
Especially since it’s a challenge to keep up with the amount of comments and questions I get on ALL the platforms at all hours every day.
That’s why I’m enacting a NO SUBSTITUTION POLICY.
Moving forward, if I know a substitution will work because I have personal experience with it, I will include that information in the recipe post.
However, if I haven’t personally tested that substitution then I can’t in good conscience give an answer to your question because I can’t guarantee it will be accurate.
It would simply be my educated guess and would likely require you to trial and error your way through it which takes time and ingredients.
So when I say “no subs” I simply mean I won’t be making it a habit of attempting to answer questions on this topic.
You, of course, are free to bake my recipes any way you want and use Google as your tool to get possible answers to your specific questions!
It would be impossible for me to test every recipe to see if it would work without eggs, gluten, or dairy, or to try out a vegan, keto, or other dietary version.
Luckily I have a few seasoned readers in my community who like to share the results of their allergen-free or special dietary baking. Join my Facebook group if you’d like to see their tips and posts.
I also have a baking substitutions guide you can download here.
However, as I mentioned, I can’t guarantee any substitution will work as well as the original ingredient.
Little details are what makes the difference between average desserts and stellar desserts. That’s what the experts know. So when you don’t want to go back to the store to get an ingredient in the recipe and try to make something else work instead, just keep that in mind.
You can also search the comments of a recipe to see if anyone has reported success using a substitution.
TIP: use Control+F, or Command+F on a Mac to bring up the Find feature so you can pinpoint any mention of “gluten free” or whatever you’re looking for on the page.
If that’s a problem for you, I’m sorry. There are PLENTY of bloggers focused on creating content that might be a better fit for you.
My hope is that enacting this policy will allow us to continue to cultivate a positive and joyful community of people who love traditional baking.
LOVE YOU!
Tessa
First image by Constance Mariena. Portraits by Lauren Hansen.
I think it’s really great, that you write about your dislike for substitutions! You are the expert and your own boss and are allowed to set boundaries. 🙂
I was on KETO for 3 1/2 weeks and had to use the almond flour etc… Nothing tastes the same. The original ingredient is always the best!
Thank you for your recipes!
Jodi
Agree completely. Great stand. And yes baking is a completely scientific experience even down to atmosphere conditions (which change regularly here in the North East Coast. Even boiling an egg. At sea level take one time, at higher elevations take drastically different times. Thank Tessa
The one thing I know about ANY & ALL recipes…including yours Tessa; is I practice a “Rule of Thumb” to get SPECTACULAR RESULTS…EVERY SINGLE TIME!
1) Patience
2) READ THROUGH RECIPE FIRST
3) RE-READ RECIPE THROUGH A 2nd, 3rd & 4th time if necessary! You might just find your skipping over steps just reading through the first time. Now imagine what you’re doing once you’ve actually done the recipe & it doesn’t turn out correctly? YOU MISSED SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT!
4) PATIENCE! Once again…is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.
5) FOLLOW ALL INSTRUCTIONS & USE CORRECT INGREDIENTS! Stop blaming the recipe author for using substitutions without THOROUGHLY checking to make Absolutely certain that particular substitution will work.
I agree with you Tessa. And THANK YOU once again for your unwavering self discipline in creating recipes & in taking the time to explain things so very well. I have only one more piece of advice for those who struggle…if you are not watching Tessa’s videos, try watching videos posted by others on You Tube. You’ll begin to understand just how uncomplicated Tessa is making things!
I rarely leave a comment but couldn’t help on this one. I, too, go nuts when someone makes a recipe to a “T” except substituted one or another ingredient and it did not come out good!! Of course it didn’t!!! You substituted!! You changed it!! Not to a “T”. Cracks me up!! I usually pass up the rest of the comment when the word substituted or except is used because it is a useless review.
Thank you for all your hard and very yummy work. It is certainly appreciated in our home.
Well stated! You are an artist, whose obviously studied baking and understand it, that’s why people like me go to your site. You do the work and we benefit so thank you very much! I do read reviews of recipes before I try them out, I hate those that switched ingredients. This is all part of the education process in baking just as your recipes are.
I’ve always heard baking a science, have fun with ingredients in cooking not baking! Thank you for all your hard work!
YES!
I just received your email about substitutions on July 24, 2020, but comments here are from Nov 2019. Now that was slow internet service.
YES! THIS…!!!
“I made this recipe and followed it to a T except [insert substitution here] and it didn’t turn out. Disappointed.”
Or, “I made this recipe and it was SO GOOD, except I added x, y, and z”.
THEN YOU DIDN’T MAKE THE RECIPE, SO HOW CAN YOU WRITE A PROPER REVIEW ABOUT IT THAT WILL BE BENEFICIAL TO OTHER READERS?
Sorry for “yelling”, this is just one topic that I am very passionate about as well. 😉
Incredible story there. What happened after? Take care!
Thanks for the useful info.
Very good
Preach it, sister!!