Substitute for balsamic vinegar?

[JoAnn L.]

I have a recipe for Cherry Oatmeal Bars and it calls for 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar. I don't have any and I was wondering if I can't substitute anything else instead. The other ingredients are Cherry pie filling, butter, brown sugar, soda, eggs, flour, quick oats and pistachio nuts.

 

[apple*tart]

You could probably leave it out. The brown sugar may be acidic enough to react with the soda on its own, but I'd probably add a few squeezes of orange juice just to be on the safe side.

 

[Andy M.]

At a minimum, you have to replace the 1/2 cup of liquid the balsamic provides.

I don't think any other vinegar would help the recipe. Perhaps you should either buy the balsamic or try another recipe.

 

[CharlieD]

Do you have apple or cider vinegar, or any other wine vinegar? I'd go with that. The thing is to find out what the purpose of vinegar in the recipe. Sinse I've never made anything like that I have no clue what it's for. Normally vinegar is used to react with soda. But half a cup is a lot, it might be for some other puropse too. Brown sugar is not acidic enough by any strech.

 

[JoAnn L.]

Do you have apple or cider vinegar, or any other wine vinegar? I'd go with that. The thing is to find out what the purpose of vinegar in the recipe. Sinse I've never made anything like that I have no clue what it's for. Normally vinegar is used to react with soda. But half a cup is a lot, it might be for some other puropse too. Brown sugar is not acidic enough by any strech.

Half a cup seem alot to me too, I think I will find another recipe. Thanks.

 

[apple*tart]

Oh gosh, I didn't even realize the recipe called for so much vinegar! Yes, you definitely need to replace the liquid. Let's see...it's hard to tell what kind of liquid would work best without knowing what the end product is supposed to taste like. You could use water for some, orange juice, buttermilk, yogurt thinned with milk...

Brown sugar does react with baking soda, to the best of my knowledge. Baking soda is usually the leavener in cookie recipes and brown sugar is often the primary acidic ingredient. Since the recipe is for "bars" the brown sugar may be enough with the addition of a little more acid (a few squeezes of orange juice) if the bars are supposed to be dense; if they are supposed to be cakey, something else is probably needed.

The cherry pie filling may be acidic too, since cherries are naturally acidic.

 

[jennyema]

A lot of "supermarket" "balsamic vinegar" is just red wine vinegar with sugar and color added. You might be able to sub red wine vinegar and sugar.

 

[CharlieD]

...
Brown sugar does react with baking soda, to the best of my knowledge. ...

I wonder about this. Interesting. Never heard such thing. Need to discuss this.

 

[thymeless]

Red wine vinegar and brown sugar is an OK start as balsamic substitute, but you need to cut the sourness some so something along the lines of 2/3 vinegar to 1/3 water.

Chinese black vinegar shares many flavor notes with balsamic and is fairly cheap but you aren't likely to have that on hand if you don't have balsamic either.

I don't think brown sugar will give you the reaction you need to react with the baking soda.

Cookies that are basically sugar, butter, egg will use baking powder which supplies it's own acid to react.

 

[apple*tart]

I believe it's the molasses in the brown sugar that makes it acidic.

FWIW, all of my cookie recipes but one have only baking soda as the leavening agent. Like I said, it likely wouldn't work for a cake-like texture, but it appears to be enough for cookies.

 

[Uncle Bob]

1/2 Cup Grape Juice + A squeeze of Lemon...
1/2 Cup Soft White Wine....

 

[TheMetalChef]

There really is no substitute for the flavor of balsamic, even in a bake recipe. Better to find a different recipe than settle.

And no, most supermarket stuff is not "caramel colored red wine vinegar" - it's just immature balsamic (aged less than 3 years). There is a night and day difference there.

 

[thymeless]

There really is no substitute for the flavor of balsamic, even in a bake recipe. Better to find a different recipe than settle.

And no, most supermarket stuff is not "caramel colored red wine vinegar" - it's just immature balsamic (aged less than 3 years). There is a night and day difference there.

The ingredients label might surprise you. Even many of the "aged" ones are still red wine vinegar and grape must which is where the balsamic flavors come from and the aging claims. Costco balsamic, which is decent for the price, and claims a 15 year aging, lists ingredients as red wine vinegar and grape must as the ingredients.

 

[Randy_]

http://www.birdseyefoods.com/comstock/recipeDetails.asp?id=5C640FFBFD564d26B4CC5ECE5F654CAF

A quick Internet search discovered the above recipe which sure does sound like it might be the recipe that JoAnn is considering. Vinegar seems like a weird ingredient for this type of recipe and 1/2 cup seems like a lot.

First thing I would do is contact the web site and try to confirm that the recipe is correct and there is not some sort of error in the ingredient list.

 

[JoAnn L.]

http://www.birdseyefoods.com/comstock/recipeDetails.asp?id=5C640FFBFD564d26B4CC5ECE5F654CAF

A quick Internet search discovered the above recipe which sure does sound like it might be the recipe that JoAnn is considering. Vinegar seems like a weird ingredient for this type of recipe and 1/2 cup seems like a lot.

First thing I would do is contact the web site and try to confirm that the recipe is correct and there is not some sort of error in the ingredient list.

I just got off the phone with the web site and she said that she had the hard copy of the recipe and that is what the recipe called for. She said to give a try and call her back and let her know how it turned out. If I ever buy any balsamic vinegar I might do that. Thanks everyone, you people are great.

 

[TheMetalChef]

The ingredients label might surprise you. Even many of the "aged" ones are still red wine vinegar and grape must which is where the balsamic flavors come from and the aging claims. Costco balsamic, which is decent for the price, and claims a 15 year aging, lists ingredients as red wine vinegar and grape must as the ingredients.

Sounds like a condimento grade - aged must cut with red wine vinegar.

Consortium grades, I'll grant, are more challenging to locate, and significantly more expensive.

Back on point, though.

The recipe in question calls for 1/2 cup of balsamic. If it was looking for a true Tradizionale, there's no way it'd be asking for that much.

 

[jennyema]

IMO using good balsamic vinegar in a cookie recipe would be a waste.

I'm sure the cherries might get brightened by the vinegar, but IMO the smidgen of must they would contain if balsamic were used instead of red wine vinegar would hardly be noticed.

 

[TheMetalChef]

IMO using good balsamic vinegar in a cookie recipe would be a waste.

I'm sure the cherries might get brightened by the vinegar, but IMO the smidgen of must they would contain if balsamic were used instead of red wine vinegar would hardly be noticed.

I don't know. Even commercial fake balsamic has a dramatically different flavor than regular red wine vinegar. I wouldn't sub red wine vinegar for balsamic in any sweet recipe without increasing the sugar substantially.