Butter Substitute For Baking

[Kelleybean]

Hi -

We are going to be transitioning my 2 y.o. son to a casein free diet in a few weeks. I noticed that lot of the cake mixes require butter - what would be a gluten free substitute? I know that ghee is Gluten-free Casein-free, but you don't bake with it right?

[celiac-mommy]

  On 2/23/2011 at 5:59 PM, Kelleybean said:

Hi -

We are going to be transitioning my 2 y.o. son to a casein free diet in a few weeks. I noticed that lot of the cake mixes require butter - what would be a gluten free substitute? I know that ghee is Gluten-free Casein-free, but you don't bake with it right?

I always use oil in my cakes. Never butter. Just sub straight across. I use light olive oil, not extra virgin. I try to stay away from corn/canola/soy, etc... personal preferance.

[GlutenFreeManna]

  On 2/23/2011 at 7:07 PM, celiac-mommy said:

I always use oil in my cakes. Never butter. Just sub straight across. I use light olive oil, not extra virgin. I try to stay away from corn/canola/soy, etc... personal preferance.

I also use LIGHT olive oil in everything I bake. I get the big jugs of Bertolli Light Olive Oil from BJ's warehouse. It has very little flavor and things don't have that woody olive taste that Virgin Olive oil or Extra virgin Olive oil have.

[Nor-TX]

I use the Smart Balance Light. Look for the Parve sign on the side of the carton. That indicates there is absolutely no dairy products in the margarine.

I use it in cakes, cookies and frying and it works great. It tastes good too.

[eyeaspire]

I'm starting a gluten-free bakery and have found that coconut oil is AMAZING! It can be expensive at stores, but (Company Name Removed - They Spammed This Forum and are Banned) usually has good deals on it. It is just as fatty as butter and can be used as a solid or when melted. If you are concerned about the flavor, double your vanilla and other seasonings & that should be sufficient. I've worked with various oils and shortenings and while they all work to one degree or another, I'm still partial to good fat (not to mention all of the health benefits of it!).

[eatmeat4good]

I use grapeseed oil for cakes, cookies and frying.

I like it the best.

But I also use safflower oil, olive oil and coconut oil depending on what I am making.

[RiceGuy]

I also find coconut oil works very well in all sorts of things. Plus I really like coconut, so it's all good to me Although the cheap RBD (Refined, Bleached & Deodorized) coconut oils are basically bland anyway, not that I'd suggest them though. Knowing how wonderful truly good coconut oil tastes, that's the only one I'd recommend. Centrifuged coconut oil is IMO far above all others.

[eatmeat4good]

Riceguy? How does one know if coconut oil has been centrifuged? Can you recommend the brand? I'm interested.

[Juliebove]

Coconut Oil.

[RiceGuy]

  On 2/26/2011 at 3:19 AM, eatmeat4good said:

Riceguy? How does one know if coconut oil has been centrifuged? Can you recommend the brand? I'm interested.

If it doesn't specifically state that it is centrifuged, then it's not. There aren't many places to get it, so a search should turn up the few there are. I've had two, but not side by side, so am not sure if one is better than the other as far as taste goes, but the second one went rancid fast, which suggests that the water content was too high. The company has stopped offering it anyway though, stating that their supplier couldn't keep up. So if you want a brand recommendation, I'd say get some Open Original Shared Link. Last I looked, they had a sample size too. Truly marvelous stuff!

[eatmeat4good]

Thanks a million!

I'm sure I will love it!

[Kelleybean]

Thanks! Coconut oil seems like a good choice ... not worried about fat when I'm making recipes that call for a stick of butter anyway

[Mango04]

Earth Balance

[Wheatfreeleeshy]

  On 2/27/2011 at 4:53 AM, Mango04 said:

Earth Balance

I heartily agree! Earth Balance is THE closest thing to real butter. I am a bonified butter snob, can't stand the taste of most substitutes (Smart Balance - uck). Earth Balance is wonderful though. My fave is the whipped kind for toast, muffins, etc. But the regular is great too - and a little cheaper so better for baking.

[Kelleybean]

Thanks for the info about Earth Balance. Used it for cookies and also scrambled eggs and worked really well!

[Wheatfreeleeshy]

Yay!

[Wheatfreeleeshy]

Yay!

[Kelleybean]

  On 2/25/2011 at 12:38 AM, eyeaspire said:

I'm starting a gluten-free bakery and have found that coconut oil is AMAZING! It can be expensive at stores, but (Company Name Removed - They Spammed This Forum and are Banned) usually has good deals on it. It is just as fatty as butter and can be used as a solid or when melted. If you are concerned about the flavor, double your vanilla and other seasonings & that should be sufficient. I've worked with various oils and shortenings and while they all work to one degree or another, I'm still partial to good fat (not to mention all of the health benefits of it!).

Stupid question ... I got some coconut oil about a week ago. Haven't opened it yet but it looks fairly solid. There is a cake recipe I want to try that says "liquified coconut oil". Is that a different product? Or do I need to do something to the oil in the jar I bought?

[RiceGuy]

  On 3/9/2011 at 3:30 AM, Kelleybean said:

Stupid question ... I got some coconut oil about a week ago. Haven't opened it yet but it looks fairly solid. There is a cake recipe I want to try that says "liquified coconut oil". Is that a different product? Or do I need to do something to the oil in the jar I bought?

You can simply warm the coconut oil until it melts, which would be at about 76 degrees or so. Either scoop out some into a cup, and set the cup in warm water, or put the entire jar into warm water (which will obviously take longer).