Thursday 22 May 2014

Best Dairy Free Butter Substitute

Whether you're thinking of cutting down on the amount of butter for a more balanced diet or looking to cut it out all together, we have all the facts about what makes the best substitute for butter in your everyday diet.

There are some great butter substitutes out there - many bakers prefer to use unsweetened applesauce in their recipes, as it has the right consistency and it's vegan friendly. Olive oil and other vegetable oils are lower-fat butter substitutes for frying, roasting and grilling too and some people love to spread coconut oil onto their breakfast toast as a quirky butter alternative.

Our favourite substitute for butter, however, has got to be margarine. It fills the same roles (rolls?!) as butter in our daily cooking requirements, whilst containing fewer of the bad fats. Margarine today also contains only traces of those infamous trans-fats which nutrition experts warn us against. In fact, the plant oils that margarine is made from contain the good unsaturated fats, such as omega 3 and 6, which our bodies actually need to maintain normal cholesterol levels.

Margarine makers even add vitamins into their margarine recipes. Vitamin A helps keeps hair, skin and eyes healthy, while vitamin D takes care of bones and teeth. Vitamin E helps protect cells from oxidative stress.

There are margarines which are dairy free, suitable for vegans and vegetarian, as well as low fat versions which make it a great butter substitute. Whatever your tastes, eating habits or lifestyle choice there is a blend out there for you. There are also margarines specifically for baking and loads of different flavours, too.

If you're looking for some cooking inspiration there are absolutely loads of margarine recipes to try and they just might change the way you look at cooking forever! Lots of bakers swear by margarine for creating the lightest sponges and chewiest cookies so why not test it out for yourself by searching online for some margarine-inspired recipes? There are lots of them about, with themes for every occasion; from Christmas to Halloween! Or maybe dig out some old recipe books and try substituting butter for margarine and taste the difference.

Margarine is rumoured to be the secret key to the perfect curry and is a delicious addition to warming winter soups. You can fry, grill, baste and roast with it, it's so versatile! A handy tip to know is that liquid margarine turns transparent when it's hot, so you can tell when your pan is hot enough to get started - a chef's dream come true! Cooking with liquid margarine means that there is less hot, spitting fat and oil too.

No comments:

Post a Comment