Yogurt can be a great and nutritious butter substitute for recipes if you are looking for a healthy, low fat, and low calorie replacement to butter. Greek yogurt can provide a rich and tangy flavor to baked goods, much like its counterpart, buttermilk, and with less overall fat and calories.
The creamy texture of Greek yogurt makes it a healthy substitute for sour cream when dolloping soups and tacos. It's also used in baking recipes as a substitute for oil or buttermilk, like in Greek yogurt pancakes.
Other times, you can decrease calories and fat, improve the nutrition profile, or build a recipe to suit your dietary needs by replacing butter with avocado, applesauce, yogurt, or even pureed beans.
Mediterranean diet is a better alternative
Brozek recommends substituting both butter and margarine with olive oil or canola oil whenever possible. This falls more in line with a Mediterranean diet, which is high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. These fats have been proven to be the best types of fats.
For 1 cup unsalted butter, substitute 1 cup shortening, ⅞ cup (that's 14 Tbsp. or ¾ cup plus 2 Tbsp.) vegetable oil, or ⅞ cup lard.
What are good vegan butter substitutes? In baking, you can use vegan butter, applesauce, dairy-free yogurt, coconut oil, coconut butter, olive oil, nut butter, mashed banana and mashed avocado. In cooking, you can use olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable stock, or avocado oil to replace butter.
Substitute plain, unsweetened yogurt as a 1:1 swap for butter in recipes calling for less than 1 cup of butter. Greek yogurt can also be used as a butter substitute, although it will create breads and muffins with a more dense texture.
Its creaminess helps keep baked goods moist. Its tanginess imparts a crave-worthy, old-fashioned flavor. Its acidity helps activate baking soda, which can make baked goods fluffy and light. It can step in for sour cream, mayonnaise or crème fraîche, bringin the same tangy with less guilt.
Don't expect it to act just like regular yogurt – chiefly, don't bake with it unless it's thinned out and don't heat it quickly or the concentrated milk proteins will separate from the remainder of the whey, never to unite again.
Try substituting the butter in your recipe with yogurt. Try replacing ½ of the butter with ½ as much yogurt. For example, if a recipe calls for 1 cup butter, try using ½ cup butter and ¼ cup yogurt instead). When baking, you can try replacing one egg with ¼ cup yogurt.
So to substitute Greek-style yogurt for American-style yogurt in baked goods, remember this rule: Use only two-thirds of the amount of Greek yogurt called for in the recipe and make up the difference with water.
Preparation. Combine cream and yogurt in a large jar or bowl. Seal jar well and shake aggressively until combined, or whisk well if using a bowl. Cover jar or bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let mixture sit in a warm area of your kitchen for 18 to 36 hours; it should thicken and taste rich and tangy.
How to substitute it: for every 1 cup of butter, substitute ½ cup of plain Greek yogurt. In general, I recommend using a full-fat or at least 2% fat Greek yogurt as the fat will help keep the texture nice and tender. To start, I usually try replacing only half of the butter with Greek yogurt.
In my opinion, vegan butter and margarine are the closest alternatives to real butter. They have a similar taste and texture, although they may be slightly less rich in flavor due to the plant-based ingredients.
If the recipe calls for 1 cup butter, use ¾ cup vegetable oil. The function of using butters and oils in baking is to keep the dessert moist, which is essential in any recipe, so vegetable oil is a great substitute for butter in most vegan recipes.
Can you bake with Flora? If you've ever wondered, “Can you use Flora for baking?” the good news is: yes, you can! You will be pleased to know that you do not need to give up your favourite home-baked goodies just because you have made the switch from butter to a butter substitute.
Olive & Vegetable Oil
Oils work best for muffins and quick breads, but you can use them for cookies as well. Try ¾ cup olive or vegetable oil for every cup of butter called for.
As a general rule of thumb, substitute three-quarters of the butter in a recipe with olive oil. In other words: If a baking recipe calls for a stick of butter (8 tablespoons), for example, use 6 tablespoons of olive oil.
Nuttelex is virtually free from trans fats at 0.4% or lower. Nuttelex also contains 65% or less saturated fat than butter. In addition, Nuttelex is made with vegetable oils. Vegetable oils contain higher content of the good fats (monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat) and are lower in saturated fat.
Processed Dairy Products
Cheese slices and spreads are a good example of processed dairy food. Cream and butter that contain trans fats and additives are also not allowed on the Mediterranean diet. Emulsifiers and artificial coloring are only part of the list of additives processed dairy products contain.
Try: swapping butter to vegetable oil spreads like sunflower, olive or rapeseed oil spreads. switching whole milk to skimmed milk. using natural yogurt instead of sour cream or double cream.