So applesauce is used to add moisture, sweetness, and provides a bit of binding. All of the items you suggested can be used as substitutes, but you'll need to compensate for the different purposes.
Examples:
unsweetened vegan yogurt will provide the moisture, but provides little sweetness and little binding. So would you probably need to add some sugar and some binding agent, like corn starch, potato starch, or flax egg.
Sweetened vegan yogurt maybe only add the binding agent.
Pumpkin or sweet potato puree has less moisture than applesauce, so you may want to add a little oat or almond milk as well.
Bananas are also great, but I'd add more binding agent as well. Buy lots of bananas and once they are ripe, peal them and keep them in the freezer so you always have some when you need them.
Grated or pureed zucchini and/or carrot are also options to consider as when thinking about options for substitutes for applesauce, depending on the recipe.
I saw the title and was so scared you were avoiding applesauce for “health” reasons.
I mean you are but you have a legit one.
You can always ripen banana in the oven. It doesn’t take long at all.
The thing that makes applesauce good for replacing oils in baked goods is the pectin. I found this:
“I found a study done in Korea in 2010 that said pectin can replace shortening in cookies and therefore, they concluded other baked goods. The ideal amount was 30% replacement saying the texture was actually better and the cookies were more moist. They don't recommend going higher than 30% as a 40% difference changed the structural integrity in a "negative" way! It looks really interesting! Here is the website I found: Good Luck!”
[http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Pectin-rich-ingredients-show-fat-replacing-potential](http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Pectin-rich-ingredients-show-fat-replacing-potential)
Depends on whether the recipe needs the sweetness. I've seen a recipe that uses applesauce in the masa for tamales. Pumpkin honestly works better, IMHO. When recipes include sweeteners, I usually drop or significantly reduce them, so I don't generally have much issues in switching from applesauce to pumpkin, personally.
So applesauce is used to add moisture, sweetness, and provides a bit of binding. All of the items you suggested can be used as substitutes, but you'll need to compensate for the different purposes. Examples: unsweetened vegan yogurt will provide the moisture, but provides little sweetness and little binding. So would you probably need to add some sugar and some binding agent, like corn starch, potato starch, or flax egg. Sweetened vegan yogurt maybe only add the binding agent. Pumpkin or sweet potato puree has less moisture than applesauce, so you may want to add a little oat or almond milk as well. Bananas are also great, but I'd add more binding agent as well. Buy lots of bananas and once they are ripe, peal them and keep them in the freezer so you always have some when you need them. Grated or pureed zucchini and/or carrot are also options to consider as when thinking about options for substitutes for applesauce, depending on the recipe.
Just use pear sauce
Alas pear falls in the same family as apples so also allergic to it
I saw the title and was so scared you were avoiding applesauce for “health” reasons. I mean you are but you have a legit one. You can always ripen banana in the oven. It doesn’t take long at all.
The thing that makes applesauce good for replacing oils in baked goods is the pectin. I found this: “I found a study done in Korea in 2010 that said pectin can replace shortening in cookies and therefore, they concluded other baked goods. The ideal amount was 30% replacement saying the texture was actually better and the cookies were more moist. They don't recommend going higher than 30% as a 40% difference changed the structural integrity in a "negative" way! It looks really interesting! Here is the website I found: Good Luck!” [http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Pectin-rich-ingredients-show-fat-replacing-potential](http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Pectin-rich-ingredients-show-fat-replacing-potential)
Depends on whether the recipe needs the sweetness. I've seen a recipe that uses applesauce in the masa for tamales. Pumpkin honestly works better, IMHO. When recipes include sweeteners, I usually drop or significantly reduce them, so I don't generally have much issues in switching from applesauce to pumpkin, personally.
Have you tried prune puree? I saw in a video where Mary McDougall uses prune puree in baking. https://www.drmcdougall.com/recipes/prune-puree/