The best part of writing my books is that I get to hear from so many of you! I love receiving messages from people who are equally passionate about cooking, baking, and food allergies. These conversations have taught me some important lessons over the years, such as there is no perfect food. What works for my food allergies could be deadly for another person. Also, because I live in New York City, so many ingredients are available here that may not be available everywhere. So I felt it was important to include the following list of substitutions. Thanks to your questions and comments, this list has expanded dramatically since my first and second books. Please do note, however, that the recipes in this book have only been tested as they are written and have not been tested with any of these substitute suggestions.
Before I outline substitutions for each ingredient in the book, I wanted to answer a question that belongs in this category, but doesn’t fit with one specific ingredient:
What if I am not allergic to gluten but still want to make these recipes?
No problem! Just omit the xanthan gum in the recipes and use all-purpose wheat flour in place of my flour blend. For example, if the rice flour, potato starch, and sorghum flours in the recipe add up to 2¼ cups, substitute the same amount of all-purpose flour and leave out the xanthan gum.
Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Flour—Per cup of all-purpose gluten-free baking flour, you may substitute ¾ cup superfine white rice flour plus 1 tablespoon rice flour plus ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon potato starch plus 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sorghum flour. You may also substitute King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour cup for cup or the same amount of Authentic Foods GF Classical Blend. Cookies made with these substitutions may not spread as well as the cookies made with Bob’s blend.
Brown Rice Couscous—Brown rice couscous is a relatively new thing that I recently stumbled across. Use it as a regular couscous or quinoa substitute.
Chile de Árbol—If you cannot find this chile pepper, just substitute red chile pepper flakes from the supermarket for a similar effect. Substitute ¼–½ teaspoon chile flakes per pepper, depending on your heat tolerance.
Chinese or Superfine White Rice Flour—Per 1 cup of superfine rice flour, try substituting ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sorghum or millet flour, or ¾ cup Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour, or ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons quinoa flour (which has a much stronger flavor than rice flour). Do not substitute regular-grind rice flour. It is too gritty and will alter the texture of your baked goods.
Cider Vinegar—Lemon juice or white vinegar (check that it is gluten-free) may be substituted in a direct 1:1 ratio for cider vinegar.
Coconut Milk—In most recipes, rice or soy milk can be substituted for coconut milk, though the consistency, like in a curry, will be thinner and the flavor may be lacking. In a pudding, for example, the finished product may not set up quite as well as it would with coconut milk. There is no substitute for canned coconut milk in my Whipped Cream recipe (p. 181).
Cultured Coconut Milk—If you cannot tolerate coconut or cannot find cultured coconut milk, simply use the same amount of nondairy milk of your choice or water called for in the recipe plus 1 tablespoon cider vinegar or lemon juice. If you are using water, you can also stir in 1 tablespoon powdered vanilla rice milk for flavor, but it is not required. If you are not allergic to dairy you could use buttermilk in place of the cultured coconut milk, too.
Cornstarch—Per 1 tablespoon cornstarch, you can substitute 1 tablespoon rice flour, potato flour, or potato starch; 2 teaspoons arrowroot; or 1 tablespoon tapioca starch.
Flaxseed Meal—I use flaxseed meal and water in place of eggs in some of my recipes. One egg is equal to one of the following combinations:
Flour Mix—I have heard from some of you that the rice or the potato starch in my flour mix is tricky for your dietary restrictions. Substitution of a premixed flour is fine as long as it does not contain any xanthan gum, baking soda, or baking powder; these ingredients will affect the outcome of your recipe. I recommend Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Flour or Authentic Foods GF Classical Blend. The texture may vary slightly from my original recipe. You may also use my Betsy’s Baking Mix from my first book, Allergy-Free Desserts.
Gluten-Free Oats—My Kitchen Sink Cookies (p. 163) are delicious with gluten-free oats, but if your system cannot even tolerate the certified gluten-free varieties, try substituting the same amount of quinoa flakes.
Herbes de Provence—If you cannot find this in your local market, substitute fines herbes, which is a more common commercial blend. Either blend will work in my recipes that call for herbes de Provence.
Jell-O—This classic is delicious, but if you are vegan or kosher, try substituting kosher gelatin in my Cranberry Chutney Jell-O Mold recipe (p. 79). If you are vegan, opt for agar-agar, which is a made from seaweed and is 100 percent vegan.
Lyle’s Golden Syrup—Light corn syrup can be substituted in a 1:1 ratio for Lyle’s.
Organic Palm Fruit Oil Shortening—This is probably the most common question that I answer, and it is often because the labeling is misleading. Many organic palm fruit oil manufacturers use an “all-vegetable shortening” label, so it is unclear. The ingredients list then shows organic palm fruit oil. Often, I buy mine on Amazon if the store is out. See Where to Shop (p. 182) for places to find it. However, if you are not soy intolerant and you cannot find organic palm fruit oil shortening, Crisco is a fine substitute. I do not recommend using solid coconut oil because it tends to make recipes oily, and definitely do not use liquid oils in recipes that call for shortening because they will not turn out properly. Outside the United States, vegetable oil shortening may be known as Copha (in Australia), and Trex or White Flora (in the United Kingdom), but these may contain soy. Vegetable suet may also be substituted for organic palm fruit oil shortening; just be sure to check the label to make certain that it doesn’t contain wheat.
Potato Starch—Try substituting arrowroot or tapioca starch in a direct 1:1 ratio. Do not substitute potato flour—it absolutely will not work. The outcome will be gummy and heavy.
Quinoa—If you cannot tolerate quinoa or just don’t like it, try substituting Lundberg Roasted Brown Rice Couscous or cooked millet.
Soba Noodles—There are times when my usual stores are out of 100 percent buckwheat soba noodles, and then again, not everyone likes the flavor of roasted buckwheat. Try substituting Chinese glass or clear rice pasta. Bean threads would work here, too.
Sorghum—Though sorghum is easy to find in the United States, it is not as popular in other countries. Try substituting millet flour in a 1:1 ratio.
Sugar—Real sugar is necessary for creating the structure of baked goods. However, not everyone can tolerate it. These substitutions will change the texture of your finished product but they are acceptable stand-ins. Xylitol can be substituted in a direct 1:1 ratio for sugar, though it will not produce fluffy frostings. Agave may also be substituted, but in order to substitute, lower the baking temperature of the oven by 25 degrees (for example, if the recipe calls for the oven to be at 350°F, then lower it to 325°F); reduce the amount of sweetener by 25 percent (for example, if the recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar, use ¾ cup agave); and reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe by 25 percent (for example, if the recipe calls for 1 cup cultured coconut milk, use ¾ cup instead).
Sunflower Seed Butter—Sunflower seed butter is a wonderful thing for those with peanut allergies, but it does not necessarily work for everyone. If you are not soy allergic, you can substitute an equal amount of soy butter. Also, if you are peanut allergic but can tolerate tree nuts, you could use almond or cashew butter. In the event that none of these works for you but you can tolerate sesame, you could even try substituting an equal part of tahini.