Can I substitute oil with mashed/pureed banana?

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funkyspunky871
funkyspunky871 Posts: 1,675 Member
in Food and Nutrition
:) Wanting to make some brownies from a pillsbury mix, and I don't have any applesauce or prune puree (which I've read both work fine in place of oil). Has anybody tried using mashed banana instead of oil?

And, if that doesn't work... the Betty Crocker website says you can use less oil than recommended and it'll only change the texture a bit. The mix calls for 1/2 cup of oil, so how much would "less" be? A 1/4 cup?

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  • ProTFitness
    ProTFitness Posts: 1,379 Member
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    Use apple sauce. No sugar added. I use it all the time to replace oil
  • bethvandenberg
    bethvandenberg Posts: 1,496 Member
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    you can use mashed banana, apple sauce or shredded zucchini. :) I do it all the time
  • Behavior_Modification
    Behavior_Modification Posts: 24,482 Member
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    Never tried it, but I think I would. I modify recipes A LOT! About 10 years ago I worked as a prep cook for a restaurant and I did a lot of creative cooking with what was on hand. I learned a lot. I recommend pureeing the banana, not just mashing it. You'll need to make it as liquidy as applesauce is. Make sure to spray your pan very well with cooking spray too! :flowerforyou:
  • JaydeSkye
    JaydeSkye Posts: 282 Member
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    I replace oil with water, or fat-free cooking spray.
  • kiffypooh
    kiffypooh Posts: 1,045 Member
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    Banana's sound good, let me know how it turns out. I used pumpkin once and it made the brownies look really dark and very heavy, but they tasted pretty good. They weren't "the best brownies I had ever had" but they weren't bad either.
  • funkyspunky871
    funkyspunky871 Posts: 1,675 Member
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    So I pureed a banana and a half to get 1/2 cup of it. So far so good; the batter smells amazing! I also used 3 egg whites instead of two whole eggs (the package said I could! lol) We'll see how it goes. I guess I don't see how it really couldn't work if applesauce works. Hoping they have a banana-flavor to them. I love, love, love bananas and chocolate together.
  • funkyspunky871
    funkyspunky871 Posts: 1,675 Member
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    Whoo! The brownies turned out pretty good in my opinion. My brothers seemed to like them too. You can taste the banana, but that's no problem since banana and chocolate go good together. They were like a cake texture, so maybe if I keep playing around with it, I can figure out how to make them true brownie-like. They'd be extra good with some ice cream on top, but I didn't think of that until after I'd eaten one. Now I don't have any calories to try it out.

    Definitely give it a go. :) Each brownie was only 150 calories and 3 grams of fat. That's right... THREE!! (And each brownie was 1/16th, so that's a pretty big brownie.)
  • Yarnpiggie
    Yarnpiggie Posts: 181
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    I replace oil with water, or fat-free cooking spray.

    you replace oil in a recipe with cooking spray? how does that work?
  • funkyspunky871
    funkyspunky871 Posts: 1,675 Member
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    I replace oil with water, or fat-free cooking spray.

    you replace oil in a recipe with cooking spray? how does that work?

    I wasn't gonna say anything... Lol. :) And, even if you somehow could replace it, cooking spray IS oil. It's just considered fat-free and calorie-free in a single serving (like a 1/5th second spray) because that one little serving has less than 5 calories. FDA has it that anything under 5 calories a serving can be labeled a calorie-free food.
  • wriglucy
    wriglucy Posts: 1,064 Member
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    I replace oil with water, or fat-free cooking spray.


    the "pam" spray, or any cooking spray oil, says 0 calories on the back, because that's for 1/3 of a second or something like that. Oil is oil. Because the spray time is so short, according to the FDA, it is 0 calories. But...spray enough of it, and it's plain old oil.
  • wriglucy
    wriglucy Posts: 1,064 Member
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    I replace oil with water, or fat-free cooking spray.


    the "pam" spray, or any cooking spray oil, says 0 calories on the back, because that's for 1/3 of a second or something like that. Oil is oil. Because the spray time is so short, according to the FDA, it is 0 calories. But...spray enough of it, and it's plain old oil.


    Whoa...sorry, I didn't scroll enough to read the rest before I answered. But yeah...oil is oil. :)
  • Yarnpiggie
    Yarnpiggie Posts: 181
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    I replace oil with water, or fat-free cooking spray.


    the "pam" spray, or any cooking spray oil, says 0 calories on the back, because that's for 1/3 of a second or something like that. Oil is oil. Because the spray time is so short, according to the FDA, it is 0 calories. But...spray enough of it, and it's plain old oil.

    And it is plain old oil with a little propellant included. I am going to guess she didn't mean that she is spraying out enough cooking spray to replace a 1/3 cup of oil and just means that she sprays her food with it sometimes, or something like that. Otherwise, I don't think I have ever wanted to save calories enough to spray that much cooking spray...lol
  • funkyspunky871
    funkyspunky871 Posts: 1,675 Member
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    UPDATE!! The brownies are a billion times better cooled completely down for a few hours! They're AMAZING! :)
  • anovasjo
    anovasjo Posts: 382 Member
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    Another awesome substitute is 2 tbsp ground flax seed and 6 tbsp water mixed together: that replaces 1 egg in baked recipes. Works wonders, I promise! (and with all the health benefits of flax to boot!)
  • kaa016
    kaa016 Posts: 10
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    another good substitute my grandmother uses is instead of the oil and egg is black beans. you take a can of black beans drain and rinse them then mash them, use the can and fill it with water and mix the brownie mix in and bake it like normal and ytou cant tell the difference
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
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    Another option to think about is using Canola Oil. Yes, it is still fat, but it is mono and poly-unsaturated fat so it is heart healthy. The profile amounts of healthy to unhealthy fats are similar to olive oil but without the strong taste of olive oil. When we start eating really clean and cutting fat in everything, we risk going too low in healthy fats, so I use canola oil to keep those up.
  • starangel_48
    starangel_48 Posts: 3
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    I have only ever used applesauce i have read all ur older post and i cant wait to try the banana oil sup.! i love baking so a nother option for oil sup to play around with would be awesome! oh and also if it calls for 1cup oil i used 1 cup applesauce is it the same for the banana? :heart:

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