Foodie Weekend: Common Ingredient Substitutes

Happy Weekend every’all!

Today, I decided to share with you some few ingredient substitutes that I use when baking. It’s inevitable that sometimes, you deeply wanted to bake a certain recipe but upon checking your cupboard, a few were missing. Or plainly as one of my frequent reason, too lazy to go out. Here are the lists of my most used substitues. I hope this would be of handy to you baking enthusiasts and the likes especially now that Autumn is here and some are too sluggish to get off from bed.

• Eggs – for 1 whole eggs use 3 Tbsp. Mayonaise

– half banana mashed with 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

– for health buff, use 1 Tbsp. powdered flax seed soaked in 3 Tbsp. water

• Butter ( salted ) – for 1 cup of Butter, use 1 cup of margarine

– 1 cup shortening plus 1/2 teaspoon salt

– 7/8 cup vegetable oil plus 1/2 teaspoon salt

• Butter ( unsalted ) – for 1 cup of Butter use 1 cup shortening

– 7/8 cup vegetable oil

• Brown sugar – for 1 cup of packed use 1 cup white sugar plus 1/4 cup molasses and decrease the liquid in recipe by 1/4

• Baking powder – for 1 teaspoon use 1/4 baking soda plus 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

• Buttermilk – for 1 cup of Buttermilk use 1 cup yogurt

– 1 cup Yakult

• Cocoa – for 1/4 cup use 1 ( 1 ounce ) square unsweetened chocolate

• Chocolate ( unsweetened ) – for 1 oz use 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa plus 1 tablespoon shortening or vegetable oil.

• Chocolate ( semisweet ) – for 1 oz use 1 ( 1 ounce ) square unsweetened chocolate plus 4 teaspoons of sugar

• Corn syrup – for 1 cup use 1 1/4 cup white sugar plus 1/3 cup water

– 1 cup honey

• Cream ( half and half) – for 1 cup use 7/8 cup milk plus 1 tablespoon butter

• Cream ( heavy) – for 1 cup use 1 cup evaporated milk

– 3/4 cup milk plus 1/3 cup butter

• Cream ( whipped ) – for 1 cup use 1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

• Cream of Tartar – for 1 teaspoon use 2 teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar

• Flour-Self-Rising – for 1 cup use 7/8 cup all purpose flour plus 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt

• Milk-whole – for 1 cup use 1 cup soy milk

– 1 cup water plus 1/4 cup dry milk powder

– 2/3 cup evaporated milk plus 1/3 cup water

• Molasses – for 1 cup mix 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cream of tartar

• White sugar – for 1 cup use 1 1/4 confectioner sugar

– 3/4 cup honey or 3/4 cup corn syrup

I hope you’ll get to reach this list whenever you are short of an important ingredient when you are baking. I hope to compile another one for the basics of cooking ingredients specially now that Thanksgiving is fast approaching.

See you next time!

Foodie Weekend: Butterscotch Bread

Happy Weekend!
My, October has just started and no one could be more ecstatic than me! Aside from being three months away from the festive month of December, it’s also my birth month. Officialy, it’s going to be only a week away. Hooray!
Since we’re talking about the ber months here, I’ll be sharing with you guys of something that best reminds me of it. Butterscotch!
I just love the smell of burnt sugar and butter in our kitchen as I whipped this recipe. It’s similar with the olfactory delight cinnammon is giving me. Well anyways, allow me to share with you something about my love with this confectionaire.

My mother was born in Roxas City Capiz. It’s known as the seafood capital of our country. Aside from fishing being the main source of livelihood here, crops, rice and azucarera are vast here. Roxas City, Iloilo, Bacolod and Leyte are our main suppliers of sugar. So with my little history background. What this has got to do with butterscotch? You got it right! Sugar.

Whenever we got the chance to visit or whoever kin comes by from our province this two sugar produce always comes present. Will it be the famous kalamay or mascovado sugar (which by the way taste great in coffees) or delicacies from the local Biscochio Haus, the crowd favorite. The bestseller of this famous pasalubong store for tourists and locals would be Butterscotch

This along with chocolate chip cookies were the very first that I seek to learn. Since then, whenever I got time I try to reinvent recipes that would include butterscotch. From the famous bar similar of that from Biscochio’s, blondies, cookies, cupcakes and on to my latest Butterscotch Bread

I’m pretty sure you have a feeling now that I have this sudden love of making breads huh?! Hey, Christmas is coming and I want to make my give aways different. So yes, it’ll be breads now but still from my favorites. This day, I got the chance to try this recipe from food.com which includes two of my long love ingredients, butterscotch and buttermilk.
Enjoy!

Foodie Weekend: My Cookies Festival

Geez, has it been a week already since I posted this new baby? How time flies! Before I proceed, let me thank you all for the success of Foodie Weekend. I never expected such a warm acceptance of incorporating food on this blog. Well it’s my plan to reconstruct this blog and turn it multifunctional. Oh how I love that word sounds. I want to expand my horizon and make this as one of my entry since I have treated this as a diary. Getting to day day? We will get there since slowly this blog is coming together and what I would want to share has finally taking shape. Thank you all!

On to our main topic, Cookies! I remember saying in one of my posts how I love baking and how I resort to specifically making cookies when my day doesn’t turn out good. But don’t go on now making me fret huh!
I guess life had given me so much ( this year in particular) that it ended up to this number (that made me smile!) Ok, enough said.

Red Velvet Cookies – This has been an all time family favorite and I should say has been one of my bestsellers in bazaars. This recipe that I got is from Ms. Bake Happy. She has been an inspiration ever since I started baking. Her blog has been very helpful for those who are starters for her recipes are not that complicated and very good. 

Chocolate S’mores Cookies – I’ve been an avid fan of s’mores and when I started baking, this one has been on my search engine a few times. I stumble upon this beautiful lady and her equally beautiful blog Spache the Spatula. I’m not sure if hers ring a bell to you but it’s just a wonderful find. Looking at her original recipes makes you want to stack a full supply of baking products.  

S’mores Cookies – Another Spache the Spatula recipe thats a constant request. In here you can evidently see the chocolate and marshmallows on top. Beneath is a cookie dough with graham crusts inside. Describing it just makes my mouth water. Oh camping days! 

Dark Chocolate Walnut Cookies – This was made out of boredom. One rainy day, I made acquisition of my baking stocks. I see that I have to make use of walnuts asap before it tires it’s good baking condition. This kind of nuts for me makes a good pair with everything and since a chocolate craving is on the way that I typed the magic words: Chocolate and Walnuts. So I see this recipe from ihavenet.com that is very fitting. Dark chocolate would be even better. To make it more exciting to the palette, a sprinkle of sea salt on top and it’s party on your mouth. 

Oatmeal Date Cookies – Just like my obsession with making Banana Breads comes also my love for oatmeal cookies. I can’t imagine the kinds of oatmeal cookies that I’ve made starting of from the plain one, with raisins, graham, chocolate and to date my favorite of all is this one that I found from the infamous All Recipes. The dates just gives this extra chewy and the flavor of that butterscotch in your cookies. Feels like christmas to me! 

And those are my top 5 cookie collection that I would like to share with you. The pleasure of reaching out to your cookie jar is just immeasurable. I didn’t know how many times this baking of cookies had comforted me. Maybe because baking is of precision and being precise you have to be patient in your measuring and waiting to get things done. Just my way of calming my senses and eating it? Pure bliss!