Having a sensitivity to gluten [1], eggs, and dairy can make baking tricky since eggs, flour, butter, and milk are required in most recipes. Guess what? You can substitute gluten, eggs, and dairy with other ingredients that work the same way and are often healthier! Even if you don't have an allergy, it's good to know these tricks of the baking trade, so if you're out of eggs you can substitute in something else [2] that you happen to have on hand.

• Milk: If a recipe calls for milk [3], you can almost always get away with using soy, almond, or rice milk. I find that soy milk is the best option because it has the thickest consistency of the three. The amount you use is the exact same. For example, if a recipe calls for one cup of regular milk, use one cup of soy milk. For a butter substitute [4] while baking, you can use rapeseed oil or Earth Balance. For each cup of butter, use 10 tablespoons of rapeseed oil, but Earth Balance can be used measure for measure. Also, be sure to increase your egg content by 25 percent if you do sub in oil instead of butter.
• Eggs: Half of a mashed ripe banana with 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder can be used in replacement of an egg. You can also use one tablespoon of powdered flaxseed soaked in three tablespoons of water.
• Wheat Flour: People often think that they can swap out wheat flour with brown rice flour or almond flour in recipes, but that isn't the case, since these flours still require some sort of bonding agent. If you can't get your hands on something like The Box Bakery gluten-free wholegrain bread mix [5], then you can make your own wheat-free flour by mixing together one-part soy flour, one-part tapioca flour, and two-parts brown rice flour.

— Additional reporting by Lauren Harano