Tried replacing butter with applesauce in banana bread... what a mess

I read online that applesauce works as a 1:1 substitute for oil so I figured butter would be close enough. My batter looked fine going in but after 20 minutes the loaf was pooling liquid on top like a swamp. Turns out applesauce has way more water than butter and my bread came out dense and gummy. Has anyone actually had applesauce work for them or is it just a myth?

2 comments

2 Comments

jessec3924d ago

turns out applesauce has way more water than butter" - yeah that's exactly the problem. I messed this up pretty bad my first time too. You can still use applesauce but you gotta cut the liquid elsewhere in the recipe. Like drop the milk or whatever wet stuff it calls for by like a quarter cup. Also adding an extra tablespoon of flour helps soak up some of that moisture. For banana bread specifically I've had better luck using plain yogurt or sour cream instead, they give it that moisture without the water bomb effect. But if you really want to use applesauce, go half applesauce half melted butter and it'll turn out way better.

betty_white3924d ago

Oh @jessec39 I learned that applesauce lesson the hard way too. Mine came out looking like banana soup with chunks. Took me three tries to figure out the half butter half applesauce trick. Now I just use Greek yogurt and call it a day. Less math involved.