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I can't have vinegar. Any recommendations for substitutions in baking recipes (like muffins) that call for apple cider vinegar?

Holiday Prep Made Easy

Fran Costigan - Holiday Prep Made Easy

Recorded

This event was on December 19, 2023

Prepare your kitchen for the upcoming holidays with practical advice and effective strategies with Chef Fran Costigan. She has tips for organizing and optimizing your cooking space, and suggestions for dessert components that you can make ahead. From smart storage solutions to time-saving kitchen trucs, she’s got you covered. Plus Chef Fran will help you stock your pantry with essential ingredients and holiday staples, ensuring you’re well-prepared to make recipes with ease. Here’s to getting our kitchen holiday-ready, for festivities without stress. Plus, bring your best question for the Q&A session at the end to ensure your holiday desserts are the best they can be!

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Question

Denise McKeon

I can't have vinegar. Any recommendations for substitutions in baking recipes (like muffins) that call for apple cider vinegar?

Answer

Yes, there are, but I want to explain. The reason that you'll see apple cider vinegar or vinegar in a lot of vegan baked goods is because it helps with the leavening. It's an acid and it helps the cakes to rise. Denise, um, I would try fresh lemon juice if I were you. It, we only use a teaspoon of vinegar pretty, you know, to make a nine inch cake for example, or 12 muffins. So the percentage of acidity in lemon juice might not be the same as it is in the apple cider vinegar. You might wanna add a teaspoon and a half. I don't expect you're going to taste the lemon. And if you did in some instances it would actually be good. So give that a try. But I'm going to say what I say every single time and that is when you are swapping out an ingredient that is listed in a recipe that you know is a good recipe, not something that you just find out in the twitterverse or you know online and you don't know who wrote it, that's not a then definitely don't do that on holiday time or anytime. Cut the recipe in half, Denise, make six cupcakes and or even four quarter it and see how it goes.

Fran Costigan

Director of Vegan Pastry

FranCostigan.com

Fran Costigan is internationally renowned as the authority on vegan desserts. Trained at the New York Restaurant School and Natural Gourmet Institute, Fran was a chef in both traditional and vegan pastry kitchens before moving into teaching over 20 years ago. A lifelong chocoholic and long time vegan, Fran’s latest book, Vegan Chocolate: Unapologetically Luscious and Decadent Dairy Free Desserts, (Running Press 2013) is for all who madly, deeply love chocolate desserts, whether or not dietary considerations are an issue. Her previous cookbook, More Great Good Dairy-Free Desserts Naturally (Book Publishing Company 2006) is the basis of the Costigan Vegan Baking Boot Camp Intensive®. For more information, www.francostigan.com.