Is there a butter substitute that bakes well and tastes good

I’m an auntie to a great kid with horrible food allergies. Is there a good nondairy, nut, soy and pea free substitute for the butter? An oil, a margarine,... that will bind the streusel without tasting like chemicals.

Abby Krim
  • 2859 views
  • 19 Comments
Plum Crisp With Toasted Oat Streusel
Recipe question for: Plum Crisp With Toasted Oat Streusel

19 Comments

Marylin
Marylin June 16, 2019
What about Ghee?
 
Abby K.
Abby K. June 16, 2019
Ghee is butter. Need to be dairy free.
 
Marylin
Marylin June 17, 2019
Oooops!
 
creamtea
creamtea June 10, 2019
you may want to check whether he can tolerate coconut, since it is a tree nut and can be an allergen.
 
Abby K.
Abby K. June 11, 2019
He can have coconut but as with anything, I’ll check.
 
Abby K.
Abby K. June 11, 2019
And thanks!
 
Nancy
Nancy June 10, 2019
Late to the party.
But/and I've found olive oil wonderful in baked goods.
Use 80% of measure specified for the butter, as butter is part water and milk solids.
Not sure about the crispiness but flavor is good...have used olive oil in cakes and cookies and both I and (more importantly) my guests find it (elusively) good tasting :)
 
Nancy
Nancy June 16, 2019
You can also get great quality EVOO that is flavored, which allows for some interesting alterations to your recipes. I love to use Blood Orange flavored EVOO when I make brownies, and I use Lemon flavored when making desserts that have fruit, such as the crust for my blueberry cheesecake, or in my pound cake. There are a lot of health benefits to using good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oils, which is another advantage to using it in place of butter. You can even get a butter flavored EVOO which a lot of people seem to like, but is probably my least favorite of all the flavors I have tried. But we all have different palettes, so maybe that is just me.
 
ktr
ktr June 10, 2019
You can get butter flavored coconut oil. I have not made a crisp with it but I think it would work.
 
Abby K.
Abby K. June 10, 2019
I had never heard of this but there are several brands on amazon, including organics. Sounds like a winner. Thank you, and everyone else for taking the time to help me make a treat my nephew can enjoy.
 
ktr
ktr June 10, 2019
This is the one I've used in the past: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D5FHL5W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
Abby K.
Abby K. June 10, 2019
Got it in the cart! Thanks
 
Miss_Karen
Miss_Karen June 10, 2019
Earth Balance. It is available in sticks & tubs. I use the sticks for baking all the time. Nobody can tell that it's butter substitute, & it works well in any recipe.
 
Gammy
Gammy June 10, 2019
Unfortunately for the original poster, Earth Balance contains both soybean oil and pea protein, both of which she wants to avoid.
 
creamtea
creamtea June 10, 2019
Earth Balance has other products including a coconut oil product (in a tub) specifically for baking. I believe it's free of soy and pea products.
 
Abby K.
Abby K. June 11, 2019
Thanks but all versions of Earth Balance have pea protein
 
Gammy
Gammy June 9, 2019
Would sunflower oil be allergen-free? I bought a bottle at Trader Joes. It is a pale yellow oil, has no flavor and a high smoking point.
 
Abby K.
Abby K. June 9, 2019
Yes it would work for the allergies, but would it make a crispy tasty streusel?
 
Gammy
Gammy June 9, 2019
I think it would be crispy, but you would lose the buttery flavor for sure. Toasting the oats adds a nice nuttiness, you might want to add in a little vanilla, maybe a bit of fresh nutmeg or lemon zest, too. Not sure how you might get the buttery flavor back into the streusel without adding artificial butter flavor which I wouldn't even suggest because I know you want to stay away from anything artificial (me too!).
 
Recommended by Food52

Popular on Food52