What Are the Best Tips for Baking with Yogurt?

Some cooks find that baking with yogurt allows them to cut back on fat or calories in a dessert or bread. When baking with yogurt, a cook should not use a one-to-one ratio to exchange yogurt for another ingredient in most cases. For example, yogurt should not replace all the butter in a recipe, or else the result will be too runny. The fat content used for baking with yogurt doesn't matter. A cook can try using full-fat, low-fat, or no-fat yogurt and get the same results, though some yogurts may make the food taste more tangy or tart than others.

Yogurt can be used as a partial substitute for butter or oil in a baked goods recipe. A baker may replace half of the butter with yogurt, using half as much yogurt as butter. For example, in a recipe that calls for 1/2 cup (113 g) of butter, a cook should use 1/4 cup (57 g) of butter and 2 tbsp (28 g) of yogurt. If the recipe calls for 1 cup (225 g) of vegetable oil, a cook can replace 1/2 cup (113 g) of the oil with 1/4 cup and 2 tbsp (85 g) of yogurt.

Instead of replacing the fat in a recipe when baking with yogurt, a cook can try to replace the liquid instead. A one-to-one ratio may be used when trading sour cream for yogurt, as both have similar consistencies. That means if a recipe calls for 1/2 cup (113 g) of sour cream, a baker can replace it with 1/2 cup (113) of yogurt without damaging the recipe.

If yogurt is used as a substitute for heavy cream, milk, or any other liquid, only a small amount should be substituted at first. On subsequent attempts at preparing the recipe baking with yogurt, a cook can substitute yogurt in place of a greater amount of liquid. To start, a quarter of the liquid in a recipe can be traded for yogurt. If a recipe calls for 8 oz (227 g) of milk, bakers can use 2 oz (57 g) of yogurt and 6 oz (170 g) of milk.

While replacing the fat with yogurt makes the baked good recipe less rich, using yogurt instead of milk adds richness to a recipe. Baking with yogurt also adds a tangy flavor to baked goods. To avoid a too sour taste, the cook may want to experiment with different brands of yogurt when baking.