Substitute It! Applesauce for Oil

Substituting applesauce for oil is one of my favorite healthy baking tips. Applesauce is inexpensive to buy, easy to make, and healthier for you than oil. You can substitute applesauce for oil in many of your baking recipes, such as some breads, cakes, and muffins.
Substituting with applesauce is very simple. Use the same amount of applesauce as you would oil. Most of the cookbooks I’ve read say that you shouldn’t use more than 1/4 a cup of applesauce as a substitute for oil. Using more change change the chemistry of a recipe and it might flop.
My suggestion is to start with 1/4 a cup and increase it incrementally if the recipe calls for more oil. For example, if a recipe calls for 1/2 a cup of oil the first time I make the recipe I will use 1/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup of oil. If the recipe works, I’ll increase the applesauce by 1/8 a cup the next time. If it works again I’ll substitute applesauce for the the entire amount of oil.

The taste is a little different (more sweet) than using oil, so make sure to either use non-sweetened natural applesauce or decrease the amount of sugar when baking. In addition, the texture is a little different, coming out softer and more moist. Which in my opinion, is a really desirable thing when it comes to baking.

I found an excellent site with detailed instructions on making this substitution. Click Here.

*Note: Substituting applesauce for BUTTER in baking doesn't always work well. I learned this the hard way while trying to make cookies. Very runny and easily burned! :)