Using Coconut Oil Instead of Vegetable Oil When Baking

Last summer, I went to California for an internship. Exciting, right? Especially since it's on the other side of the country for me.

When my internship was nearing its end, I knew I had to get rid of a lot of the food I had in the apartment, especially the flour and sugar as my roommate had no use for it. So, what better to do than bake for everyone at the office?

However, in my short sight to use my available resources, I forgot to pick up vegetable oil from the grocery store. My roommate offered for me to use the coconut oil she had in the pantry as a substitute. I had heard of coconut oil being substituted for other things, so it seemed like a safe bet.

The only problem was coconut oil clumps when it reaches a certain temperature. I decided to use it regardless because I really wanted to get rid of the ingredients I had. And let's face it, I also just wanted cupcakes.

The recipe I used called for a cup of boiling water after mixing the ingredients. This eased my mind and made all of the clumps in the coconut oil disappear. I just didn't want to bite into a clump of coconut while eating a chocolate-peanut butter cupcake. Talk about confusing your taste buds.

The ending result? Coconut oil is a fine substitute for vegetable oil when baking, at least when baking chocolate cupcakes. I think the cocoa taste overpowered the little hints of coconut. I did smell it slightly, but I couldn't taste any difference. The only other difference was in the cake. I don't know if it was the recipe or the oil, but the cake turned out a little tackier or denser than cupcakes typically are. I'm going to assume this was from the oil.

So, if you're baking with coconut oil, have no fear about the quality of the cupcake. (I'm using cupcake as an example because that's the one time I've used it as a substitute.) The cupcake may be a little dense and give you the whiff of coconut every few bites, but it's nothing to worry about. Plus, everyone always raves about the health benefits associated with using coconut oil as a substitute. Maybe I should use it more often so I don't feel as guilty for eating sweets all the time...