The challenge comes when you suddenly run out of it and you need to get your cooking or baking done urgently. Here are some alternatives which you can consider.
- Grapeseed Oil
- Sunflower Oil
- Avocado Oil
- Applesauce
- Virgin Olive Oil
- Almond Oil
- Hemp Seed Oil
- Hazelnut Oil
- Canola Oil
If you are still unable to find the alternatives mentioned above, read on to get the full comprehensive list of Coconut Oil Substitutes.
Before that, let’s look at the brief history of coconut oil being an unhealthy ingredient.
12 Best Coconut Oil Substitutes
Coconut and palm oils which were the major sources of dietary fats for centuries in most of West Africa have always been branded as unhealthy highly saturated fats. It is thought that excessive consumption can raise the level of blood cholesterol and increase the risk of coronary heart disease.
However, studies have shown that the saturated fat in coconut oil is mostly lauric acid, which means it has not as bad for heart health as they are previously known for.
Whether you have run of it or is keen to test out some other alternative, are here what you can utilize in the absence of coconut oil whenever you feel the urge to go on a baking spree.
Grapeseed Oil
Initially intended for winemaking purposes, it has evolved into something rather radical, for edible applications. One such usage is for baking and the creation of pastry products.
Because of its clean, light taste, and polyunsaturation of fat content, it is ideal for mixing with salads, as well and in dressing similar food.
Grapeseed can also blend well with mayonnaise in baking goodies that range from soft bread varieties to hard cookies. It can also be used as a base for oil mixtures of rosemary, garlic, or other herbs from which you can make a wide variety of bakery-food flavors.
In modern bakeshops, Grapeseed is widely used in baked goods, waffles, and pancakes. It is sprayed on raisins to retain their natural flavor.
Sunflower Oil
Sunflower oil is technically the non-volatile oil extracted from the seeds of sunflower, thus the name. This oil is commonly used in food and baking as a frying oil, and in cosmetic formulations as a softener substance.
Through meticulous manufacturing and breeding processes, oils of varying proportions of fatty acids are generated, which can help you emulate a lot of baked goods apart from the typical oil staple such as coconut.
Sunflower oil in its expressed form appears nearly tasteless, which is guaranteed to not ruin the flavors you may seek in any bread or pastry product.
The oil contains high levels of vitamin E, which adds greatly to your baking sprees in terms of nutrition. Refined sunflower oil is used for low to extremely high temperature cooking.
Avocado Oil
As an edible oil extracted from avocado pulps, it is one of the most notable fruit oils of the Persea Americana category.
It is used as an edible oil for either raw cooking or baking, where it is noted for its high smoke point. This goes to show that Avocado oil does not ruin your cooking in any way due to intense smoke emissions coming from the kitchen.
Avocado oil functions well when used in collaboration with other similar ingredients as it is an ideal oil carrier for other flavors.
It is known for high levels of monounsaturated fats and vitamin E, making it a good antioxidant. It also increases the absorption of carotenoids and other nutrients, which makes avocado oil a substance that must never be missing in the halls of any bakery.
Applesauce
Because applesauce is widely available and inexpensive, it is widely consumed in the Northern parts of the US and in some parts of the UK.
In most European cuisines, applesauce is often used as a dessert or used as an ingredient in applesauce cake, making it a very suitable ingredient for all sorts of baking goods.
It is served along with potato pancakes In Central Europe, particularly in the Rhineland. Furthermore, applesauce is served with many foods in Germanic cuisine as well.
Applesauce in unsweetened form is 82% water and 18% carbohydrates, containing negligible fat and protein. This makes it very soluble and can blend easily with any ingredient.
It is capable of supplying 68 kilocalories, which makes it very ideal for baking energy-packed pastries.
In some recipes for bakery-oriented foods, applesauce is opted by bakers as a substitute for eggs or animal fat to make them vegan or low-fat.
Virgin Olive Oil
Olive oil is pretty popular in all kinds of cooking and in its virgin form, it is indeed a very excellent substitute for coconut oil in baking.
The taste of the olive oil is forged by the edible components used to produce the oil itself during the time the olives are harvested
In baking and cooking, it is commonly used for frying foods or as a salad dressing. To make your olive oil appear in its most nutritious form, you must choose extra virgin olive oil.
It is named as such because it is derived from cold mechanical extraction without the use of refining methods or solvents.
Storing it within a bakery is very practical because it has greater resistance to oxidation compared to most cooking oils. This is due to its antioxidants and monounsaturated fat content.
Since virgin olive oil is rich in Vitamin E, you may want to experiment with baking cakes with it that promote better skin, hair, and clearer eyesight.
Almond Oil
Almond nuts are known to be very rich as a source of low-fat oil, having 50% of kernel dry mass as fat. In comparison to the entire dry mass of the kernel, almond oil is packed with 32% monounsaturated oleic acid.
Such scientific facts make almond oil an ideal choice for bakers who seek to create pastry products with the highest nutritional value.
When almond oil is analyzed and pressed separately, and expressed per 100 grams as an initial mass, the oil generates 3,700 kilocalories of energy.
This indicates you can bake high-energy snacks without compromising on nutrition and without the fear of gaining unwanted fat while munching on your favorite pastry goods. Dried almonds can produce a distinct kind of oil that contains benzaldehyde – an ideal food-flavoring ingredient.
Hemp Seed Oil
Hemp oil is often called a “drying oil,” which makes it an ideal choice for baked goods that are meant to last even outside the fridge. Because it can polymerize into a solid form, it is very practical for long-term storage.
Hemp oil can be used as a standalone baking ingredient or you may blend it with other oils. In working with resins, and solvents, it may act as an “impregnator†that can maximize the consumption of your baking ingredients.
Upon manufacturing, around 49% of the weight of hempseed is an edible oil containing 76% of polyunsaturated fat, including omega-6 fatty acids.
This is only a short description of the nutrients that hempseed oil has. It also extends its way into usage for dietary supplements.
Hazelnut Oil
Hazelnuts are rich in protein, monounsaturated fat, vitamin E, and manganese. It is also packed with various other essential nutrients that are very suitable for baking high-nutrition cakes and bread.
In products such as chocolate bars, hazelnut cocoa oils are spread in Nutella-baked products. Pressed from hazelnut nodules, the oils from it generate strongly flavored cooking and are used as a baking oil as well.
Turkey and Italy are the world’s two largest producers of hazelnuts, and are also leaders in baking world-class pastry products.
Hazelnut oil is a key ingredient in the making of French dessert cakes, which also contain a layer of Hazelnut meringue – a notable bakery product rich in hazelnut oil.
Because of their inclusion in baking and desserts, hazelnuts are widely present as well in combination with chocolate for choco-truffles.This made hazelnut oil very popular among bakers and widely accepted in the baking world.
Canola Oil
Technically, canola oil is simply a vegetable oil derived from a variety of rapeseed that is low in erucic acid. For those who worry about the ill effects of such a natural body element, canola oil is a good ingredient for baking healthy pastry.
There are both edible and industrial forms produced from the seed with the former of course, a more ideal substance in the kitchen.
Canola oil is considered safe for human consumption because it has a relatively low amount of saturated fat. Since 2006, canola oil has been given the green light by the US Food and Drug Administration for its ability to decrease the potential risks of coronary heart disease.[Source]
For those bakers with goals of making health-risk free baked goods, canola oil is truly an ideal choice.
Walnut Oil
Walnut can be utilized for oil extraction and is very edible. Due to high pricing, walnut oil is generally used in lesser frequency compared to other cooking oils in food preparation.
When used, however, it provides a distinctive eating experience due to its light-colored appearance and delicate flavor-scent. Due to the nutty quality taste it delivers, expert bakers sometimes use walnut oil for pan-based pastries.
Chefs refrain from using walnut oil for high-temperature frying because it tends to degrade the oil’s flavor, producing a slightly bitter taste.
But if you’re the baker who prefers golden brown bread products, walnut oil is highly preferable.
If nutty-tasting baked goods are your thing, walnut oil must be present in your kitchen because the oil it produces can still retain that special nutty flavor.
Cottonseed Oil
Cottonseed has a similar structure to other seed-based oils such as sunflower seed. These kinds typically have an oil-bearing kernel with a hard outer hull covering it.
This makes them very tricky to produce and sell in the market. During processing, the oil is pressed from the cotton kernel. The result is a special oil that’s not only nutritious but very unique in scent and flavor.
Because of its flavor stability, cottonseed oil is very ideal for making special-purpose cakes and bread that will still give out its intended original flavor.
Furthermore, cottonseed is also used for mayonnaise, salad oils and dressing, and similar products.
The fatty acid of cottonseed has a profile that generally consists of 70% unsaturated fatty acids, making it ideal as well for nutrition-oriented dish-lovers.
Ghee Butter
As a class of clarified butter that originated in the Indus valley, ghee butter is commonly used in various cuisines within the Indian subcontinent. Due to bakery experimentations, it has made its way into a pastry-cooking and other similar products.
To make the most out of ghee baked goods, spices can be added to enhance flavor. The color, taste, and texture, of ghee, may depend on the quality of the butter that results from the manufacturing process,
Milk produced from it may also be used in a variety of desserts as well as in the production of cakes and varieties of bread.
Ghee Butter is a very common alternative for most cooking oils including coconut, and if you opt for baking with butter, it might just be the perfect grease for this purpose.