Sometimes a little unplanned baking session can really work to your advantage, even in cases where substitutions are necessary. I’m the kind of person that believes in having a fully stocked pantry if I can at all times, meaning that if I am a little low on one sort of baking staple I will make sure to restock on my next trip to the store. I’m likely even a little over stocked with many different grain flours, sugars and nuts – I like to be prepared because I really love to bake and running out quickly to grab what I’m missing is really not as easy as it used to be.
The other day when the urge to bake struck I was unusually underprepared and couldn’t manage to shake the desire to make some sort of soft cake-like apple muffin, so I was forced into improvisation and completely out of my comfort zone. I’ll admit the situation wasn’t dire, I had little bits of different flours: regular AP flour, whole wheat, rye, corn, barley, oat and rice as well as about 1/4 cup of flax and a few walnuts. I routinely bake with a mix of these, but all together and completely unmeasured made me a bit nervous and the fact that I had only one single egg, almost no sugar and half the amount of oil I generally use was not going to help me. I knew that if I didn’t add in a significant amount of moisture, the result would be dry.
Fortunately, I had a can of pumpkin which to be quite honest is one of the most important pantry shelf items because of its versatility. I use a lot of this stuff both for baking and cooking it can completely save you in a situation like this. I also had some apple sauce and yogurt that was meant for baby R and a container of molasses that would substitute for some of the sugar. I was on my way, but still feeling a bit skeptical – again baking substations are really not my thing.
