The wonderful world of vegan baking

While I am not the world’s biggest eater of desserts and baked goods – give me a plate of French fries or pasta any day of the week, I do really enjoy baking for my family and for entertaining at home, so naturally I was concerned about how that was going to look (and taste) without eggs or dairy products. I have to say…I was very pleasantly surprised. Vegan baking is not only just as easy as non-vegan baking, but the results are good enough to feed to a room of non-vegans and have them asking for seconds, and the recipe!

In order to better understand how vegan baking works, and how to adapt some of your favourite nonvegan recipes to vegan, it helps to know what things like eggs and dairy actually do during the baking process.

What do eggs do?

If your recipe calls for one egg…then pretty much nothing. When I first went vegan I had my favourite muffin and cookie recipes from the before times and I really didn’t want to give them up – they were family favourites. So, as a baseline starting point, I thought I’d just make these recipes without the one egg they call for, and then, depending on the results, I’d adjust the ingredients until I had something as close as possible to the original version. Luckily, because I’m basically quite lazy, I didn’t have to make more than one batch to know that, for most recipes, one egg can just be left out. No need to replace anything. That one little egg provides a tiny bit of moisture and a tiny bit of fat and not much else. Try it with your favourite recipes and if you find the results aren’t exactly the same, you can try adding a tbsp of water, oil or applesauce to replace that little bit of fat or moisture.

Now…if the recipe you are trying to duplicate has more than one egg, like a cake, or some breads and bars, then your best bet is to find a vegan version of the recipe. I try to find recipes that don’t try to substitute eggs with things like flax. While a lot of recipes do this, I find the texture and taste odd. This is a personal preference. A lot of people use flax eggs all the time with great results. My personal preference is to find recipes that substitute the leavening aspect of eggs with an acid like vinegar, or substitute the moisture with oil, applesauce or even a mashed banana.

What does dairy do?

Unlike eggs, “dairy” isn’t one thing. So, depending on whether you are looking to replace fluid milk, a semi solid like sour cream or yogurt, or a solid like butter, the plant-based substitute will be different. But, generally speaking, dairy products in baked goods are there to help dissolve sugars, as well as add flavour, texture and moisture. Lucky for us vegans, we have so many plant-based milks to choose from and just about all of them can substitute one-for-one for fluid dairy milk in any recipe. The one exception for fluid dairy would be buttermilk. If you need to replace buttermilk in a recipe you simply add 1 tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup of plant-based milk, let it sit a few minutes and voila! Adjust accordingly, if you need more or less than one cup.

For semi solid dairy products there are so many plant-based versions that also substitute one-for-one in most recipes. But be sure to check the ingredient list. Quite a few yogurts, for example, are made from a base of coconut milk and this can add a slight coconut flavour to what you are making. In some recipes, like a chocolate cake, it probably won’t be noticed because the other flavours are very strong, but if you want a more neutral flavour, look for products that are made from oat milk, soy milk or almond milk.

Solid dairy products, like butter, are the easiest to replace, in my opinion. Products like Becel sticks and Miyoko butter are specifically formulated to function and taste almost exactly like their dairy counterpart for cooking and baking. Again, simply substitute one-for-one in your recipe.

Ready…set…BAKE!

You probably have a few go-to favourite recipes for baked goods like cakes and cookies and, for many of them, you can use the information in this article, and a little tweaking, if necessary, to make them plant-based. But, as I mentioned above, this might not work for every recipe, but that’s OK. Vegan chefs and recipe developers have been hard at work for decades creating perfect plant-based versions of everything from cookies and muffins to lemon squares and fancy cakes.

My go-to trick is to google “Best vegan [insert name of baked good you want to make] recipe. You’ll soon find vegan recipe sites and blogs that you like and trust. I really like Nora Cooks, Love and Lemons, Domestic Gothess, and for cakes, nothing beats Sam Turnbull’s recipes, in my opinion (and the opinion of my entire family!). But there are so many sites out there, you’re sure to find ones that provide you with perfect replicas of your traditional baking favourites.

I hope this blog has helped you find your way to plant-based eating. Remember…the goal is not to be perfect. Do the best you can and enjoy the journey! Sign up for vegcurious to be delivered right to your inbox at vegcurious.ca.

Note: It is strongly recommended that you consult with your primary care physician before making any changes to your diet. This blog is for educational purposes only and is not intended to recommend or endorse any particular product, diet or eating plan.