Imagine planning to bake a scrumptious cake or cookies or whatever, and finding out you don't have one of the basic ingredients needed. It's a baker's nightmare! If you've ever done this then you know the disappointment that comes with not being able to bake what you wanted to. Because I've had experience with this disappointment more than I care to share, I looked up a few ingredients I always seem to be without and found what I could use as a substitution.

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Baking Soda/Baking Powder

Did you forget to pick up baking soda when you went to the store? Don't worry you can use baking powder instead. Apparently baking powder contains some baking soda. So if you need to use this substitution triple the amount of baking powder. So, for example, if you have a recipe that calls for one teaspoon of baking soda use three teaspoons of baking powder instead. Also baking powder has salt so you may want to leave out the salt in the recipe if it calls for it.

Substituting the opposite way, baking soda for baking powder, is a little more complicated but still doable. If you run out of baking powder use 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar plus 1/4 teaspoon baking soda. This mixture can be substituted for 1 teaspoon baking powder. So if you need more than a teaspoon do the math and add the substitute.

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Eggs

I firmly believe that eggs should be something that is on hand at all times. But I rarely follow my own advice and most of the recipes I use call for eggs. So here are some great egg substitutes. Mashed bananas are a great substitute especially in muffins, and some breads. About 1/4 of a cup replaces an egg. Applesauce also works well.

If you want to make a frittata or quiche but forgot the eggs, use tofu. Tofu has a similar texture to eggs which is good in these recipes. Again about 1/4 of a cup of tofu replaces one egg. You can also use ground whole flax seeds and three tablespoons of water to replace an egg. Mashed potatoes and yogurt also are good substitutes for eggs. Clearly there are a lot of egg substitutes available, so if you don't have them on hand don't worry just use one of these ideas instead!

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Flour

Flour might be one of the most important ingredients to any cook. There are different types of flour available and the substitutions I found are for 1 cup of all-purpose white flour. You can use 1/4 cup soy flour plus 3/4 cup white flour, 1/3 cup wheat germ plus 2/3 cup white flour, 1/3 cup whole wheat flour plus 2/3 cup white flour, 3/4 cup coarse cornmeal, ? cup rice flour, 1 cup rolled oats or 1 1/2 cups oat flour.

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Butter

Butter is good to have on hand. We all know that margarine is a useful substitution to have on hand as well, but what if you're out of both? Here are a few more ideas. One option is to replace one cup butter with 3/4 cup of vegetable oil. Another option is to replace half of the butter in the recipe with unsweetened applesauce. You can also replace have the butter in the recipe with mashed avocado. Greek yogurt is also a great substitute. If you use yogurt use half the amount of butter called for in the recipe. For the applesauce, avocado, and yogurt, use half of the butter called for and replace the other half with the substitute ingredient.

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These are just a few ingredients and their substitutions. There are probably other ingredients that I didn't include. Remember if you are out of an ingredient try something else, who knows it might make a delicious variation. I hope these substitution tips help you the next time you forget an ingredient!