To Substitute or Not to Substitute - the Greek Yogurt Question

Earlier this week I shared with you a collection of my favorite free printable kitchen helpers. That post was inspired by the Chobani substitution chart  I discovered, even though I wasn’t convinced that all of the substitutions would be very successful. Not being one to just believe what someone tells me, I decided to test this substitution using a time-worn, well-known recipe – Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies.

To test the Chobani Greek yogurt substitution, I decided to bake two batches of the cookies. The first would be the recipe exactly as written, with 2 sticks of butter. The second batch would remove 1 stick of better and substitute in a quarter cup of non-fat Greek yogurt, per the substitution chart. Below are my observations and final recommendation.

From the beginning of the process, I could see a difference in the appearance of the Greek yogurt dough and the traditional dough – when the “fats” were creamed together with the white and brown sugar. The sugar creamed with the Greek yogurt had a shinier appearance and smoother texture than the butter and sugar.

Sugars creamed with butter and Greek yogurt

Sugars creamed with butter, only

Once the dough was finished, that smoother, shinier texture remained. The visual difference in the dough can be seen below. There was also a very slight difference in the taste of the raw cookie doughs. (I can’t actually recommend that you test your dough the same way. Generally, eating raw cookie dough is “bad,” but I won’t judge you if you nibble on it as well.)

The final and most important test was the final cookie. Fresh from the oven and without close inspection, there was not much of a difference between the two types of cookies.

However, a closer look shows slight differences between the two cookies. The all butter cookies have a slightly crispier and browner edge, while the Greek yogurt cookies are puffier and with a less defined, crunchy edge. The Greek yogurt cookies, upon tasting were chewier, but tasted exactly the same as the all butter cookie.

Additional research, using SparkRecipes’ calorie counter, revealed some interesting facts as well. Based on baking 5 dz, or 60, perfect cookies, the Greek yogurt dough resulted in a cookie that has nearly 11 few calories than the traditional recipe and almost 2 less grams of fat.

The Final Verdict

When baking, the Greek yogurt substitution seems to work pretty well. It resulted in a different texture, but similar flavor. While I don’t have a preference for either texture, if you prefer the chewier texture, this is a great way to obtain it, while saving some calories while you are at it.

I don’t think I will be adding the Greek yogurt substitution to my regular cookie rotation, it is good to know I have a back up plan. I imagine, in a real pinch, even vanilla flavored yogurt could work, if the amount of white sugar were decreased.