It is HOT in Chicago! And my apartment has not very good air conditioning. So let’s skip out on baking for a bit, shall we?
I like keeping my pantry stocked with everything I need to impulsively make cookies. It’s surprisingly easy to do so if you shop at Costco. Here are the things I always have:
Flour: regular (20 lb costco bag), whole-wheat, coconut, cornmeal
Fat: butter (freeze it), vegetable oil, avocado
Cream: soy milk, greek yogurt
Sugar: white, brown (keep in large ziploc bag), powdered, molasses, maple syrup, banana
Eggs: regular, ground flaxseed
Baking: powder, soda
Mix-ins: chocolate chips, dried cranberries, walnuts, pecans, almonds (keep in freezer), candied ginger, raisins, marshmallows, peanut butter
Spices: cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, vanilla, salt, white vinegar (for buttermilk)
Alcohol: rum, brandy
Here are the things you can make with the stuff in my pantry:
‘Scones, shortbread, molasses cookies (I made these last night they are SO GOOD with some chunks of dried ginger chopped in), cornbread, chocolate mousse”, chess pie, cranberry cookies, chocolate chip banana cake, maple oat scones, upside down banana cake, gluten free chocolate coconut cookies,
So all of that is enough to make almost all of the recipes in my blog. The exceptions are fruitcake, birthday brownies, rum cake , vegan carrot cake cupcakes, oreo balls , pecan pie, chocolate coconut cookies (with gluten), turducken. These just need: more dried fruits, Rice Krispies, canned pumpkin + cake mix, carrots, oreos + cream cheese, Karo syrup, shredded coconut, turducken.
Next: substitutions! I made a little visual chart for this.
To substitute for:
Butter: use equal parts mashed avocado (about 1 small avocado per stick)
Cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise: use greek yogurt + squeeze of lemon (not for cream cheese)
Eggs: use 1 TB ground flaxseed mixed with 2 TB warm water per egg
Vegetable oil: Use applesauce, equal parts
White sugar: Use equal parts maple syrup, honey, or mashed banana (about 1 banana per 1/2 c)
Baking and Math 
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