Using Beans Instead of Butter and Oil

Cooking oil is often an under appreciated, but important food staple. Shortages and price spikes in recent years have caused serious problems in some countries. (See, e.g., here and here). It is also difficult to store cooking oil and butter for long periods of time.

Thankfully, beans can be used to substitute for cooking oil. Obviously, beans are no substitute for cooking oil when cooking foods in skillets or woks, but are generally used as a substitute in baking. This article from Everyday Food Storage explains how to use beans as an oil and butter substitute. Some tips:

1. If your recipe calls for oil, you are going to use a bean puree.  What is a bean puree you ask?  It’s simply cooked beans with enough water to whirl in your blender.  If you want a simple way to try this, take a can of beans (the entire can) and dump it in the blender and blend it.  Done.
2. If your recipe calls for butter, you are going to use cooked, drained beans.
3. For substituting beans for both butter and/or oil you are going to use a 1:1 ration.  That means if your recipe calls for 3/4 C. oil, you are going to use 3/4 C. bean puree.  If your recipe calls for 1 C. butter you are going to use 1 C. beans.  You’ll use the same measurements for beans as your original recipe says to use for either the oil and/or butter.
4. When wondering which beans to use-you are going to match color for color.  If it is a chocolate cake, use black beans. If it is a spice cake, use pinto beans.  If it is a white cake, use white beans.  Now, here is the tricky part…you can also use white beans in chocolate cake but you can’t use black beans in your white cake.  Your family will wonder what all of those black specks are.  To be safe, you can use white beans in almost anything.
5. Now, you’re going to add the beans however your recipe says to use the butter and/or oil.  So, if your recipe says to cream the butter with the sugar-you’re going to cream the beans with the sugar.  If your recipe says to add the oil to the dry ingredients, you’re going to add the bean puree to the dry ingredients.
6. If you are using beans in something like brownies or cookies that are supposed to be chewy, the beans will not make it chewy-it will be cake like.  So if you’re family is big on chewy that doesn’t mean you have an excuse not to use beans.  It just means you need to use half oil/butter and half beans.  It will still be chewy and you’ll still be saving money and adding fiber and protein!  Remember, I’m not big into all or nothing-even a little or half is better than nothing and it’s important that your family likes what you make!