8 Milk Substitutes For When You're In A Baking Emergency (2024)

FAQs

8 Milk Substitutes For When You're In A Baking Emergency? ›

Milk alternatives can include beverages made from plants, such as soy, oat, rice, coconut, cashew, and almond.

Milk alternatives can include beverages made from plants, such as soy, oat, rice, coconut, cashew, and almond.

Any liquid can be substituted for the milk in a recipe with a 1:1 ratio. Choose the best liquid for your recipe: Is your recipe sweet or savory? You may choose between a fruit juice, water or broth, depending on if your recipe's flavors.

Almond and cashew can be good milk alternative options if you want something a little sweeter. While soy, pea, and hemp milks are a bit earthier. And of course, coconut milk is going to have a coconut flavor.

Soy milk is the cheapest of the plant-based options—it costs anywhere from $1 to $3 for a half-gallon—and is the easiest to find in any grocery store, since it's been on the market the longest. The major downside is that soy milk doesn't respond well to heat, curdling at high temperatures.

These include low-fat (1%) or less lactose-free or lactose-reduced milk or an allowable nondairy beverage (such as soy milk) that meets the USDA nutrition standards for milk substitutes (see “USDA Nutrition Standards for Milk Substitutes” on page 2).

Milk: The best milk substitutes to use in baked goods are soy and almond milk. Use one cup of soymilk or almond milk for each cup of milk called for in the recipe. In some places, you can find dairy-free alternatives to milk in the supermarket. Alternatively, you can also make your own homemade almond and soy milk.

Half and half: Half and half has 10 to 18% milkfat. Use ¾ cup half and half and ¼ cup water as a replacement for 1 cup whole milk. Heavy cream: Heavy cream has 36% milkfat. Use ½ cup cream and ½ cup water as a substitute for 1 cup whole milk.

Seed milks like hemp seed and chia seed are great for omega-3 and protein, and fruit milks like coconut and banana can be a great choice for a naturally sweet alternative. Both dairy and non-dairy milks can be a healthy addition to your diet, but be sure to pay attention to the other ingredients.

Substituting for Milk

There are a number of commercially-produced cow's milk alternatives made from soy, coconut, rice, potato, oat, almond, hazelnut, cashew, hemp, flax, sunflower, and even macadamia. Most of these are available in a few different flavors (such as “original,” “vanilla,” “chocolate,” and “mocha”).

How do you make milk when you don't have any? ›

The only necessary component to induce lactation—the official term for making milk without pregnancy and birth—is to stimulate and drain the breasts. That stimulation or emptying can happen with baby breastfeeding, with an electric breast pump, or using a variety of manual techniques.

For every 1/4 cup (32 grams) of milk powder, substitute 1 cup (240 mL) of regular milk. You'll also want to reduce the original amount of water called for in the recipe by 1 cup (240 mL). Whole fat, reduced fat, and nonfat milk can all be used in place of milk powder.

Milk encourages the browning reactions characteristic of baked goods like pastry crusts, cookies and biscuits. Milk contributes to the keeping quality of bread and gives it a soft crust. Additional protein and sugar (lactose) in milk adds more sweetness and a browner color to baked goods than water.

Be careful not to overwhip it, though – too much beating and your heavy cream will turn into butter! You can substitute heavy cream for milk by diluting it with a little water. Use half a cup heavy cream and half a cup water for every cup of whole milk. 1 cup whole milk: combine ½ cup heavy cream and ½ cup water.

Be aware that bread made with milk should not be baked at too high of a temperature to prevent it from browning too much too soon. Why use milk powder? This is mainly practiced in bakeries because milk powder does not perish as quickly as fresh milk does. It is more of a convenience thing.