Other Substitutions

Yogurt can be used as a substitute for several things in the culinary world. Over the past few years I have done more cooking than ever, and I'm discovering some recipes that include ingredients that I will either never have on hand because they're either expensive or hard to find, or I opt not to use them for health reasons. Buttermilk is the most common of these recipe elements that I have found. For a long time, I used what I thought was a very simple alternative for the fatty, sour milk which was:

1 cup buttermilk = 1 Tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice in measuring cup then fill with enough milk to make 1 C.

I still use this from time to time but have also discovered something much more effortless (which is always a plus); simply substitute 1 cup of plain yogurt for 1 cup of buttermilk!

There are surprisingly several other substitutions that use yogurt which I will share in later posts so that I can draw this blog out for as long as possible, and also because I have yet to try some of them.

I've decided to post a baking recipe that uses yogurt. I can't remember if this recipe originally called for sour cream or buttermilk but it's decidedly better for me either way, and quite tasty I might add.


Jam Filled Muffins
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 c. vanilla yogurt (you can add 1/2 tsp vanilla extract to plain yogurt)
1/4 c. butter, melted
3 T milk

1 egg
1/4 cup jam (any flavor)
(1 T sugar + 1/2 tsp cinnamon)


-combine the first 5 ingredients, make a well in the middle. -combine the next 4 ingredients in another bowl, then pour into the flour well and mix. - fill each muffin tin/paper with 1 T batter, 1 T jam, top with more batter until about 3/4 full. -mix the cinnamon and sugar together and sprinkle on top. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.