Can i sub butter for shortening

This is because while shortening is percent fat, butter is only about 80 percent fat. About 15 percent of butter is water and the rest is milk solids. When substituting, you have to make some adjustments involving some very basic kitchen math. This math is much easier if you have a digital scale that can be set to grams. Weight not volume measurements like cups is a more accurate way to measure ingredients in baking. As an example, you have a cookie recipe that calls for two sticks of butter 1 cup or grams , but you want to use shortening instead.

There are two steps:. You can technically leave out the extra liquid in step 2. As a result of having less liquid than the original recipe, your cookies will spread less and be chewier.

Some handy butter conversions from volume to weight:. When substituting butter for shortening, you'll simply do the opposite math, accounting for the extra liquid. It's a minor adjustment, but with baking, your ingredients need to be measured with precision if you want the recipe to turn out the way it is supposed to. It is worth pointing out that if you do substitute shortening for butter or vice-versa without making these adjustments, it does not necessarily mean that the recipe is going to turn out badly.

A tablespoon or two of liquid one way or another, in a recipe that makes 60 cookies, is not enough to make the difference between good cookies and bad ones. The texture of the cookies might be a little different—chewier or crispier, depending on which way you're substituting.

Read on to learn more about them—and which you can use in baking recipes. But first, you may be wondering: What is vegetable shortening? It's a hydrogenated form of vegetable oil, which means it was turned from a liquid to a solid state hydrogenated oils tend to give foods a longer shelf life.

Shortening was invented in the early s as an alternative to animal lard, which has a very similar consistency. Unlike butter, shortening doesn't have a ton of flavor, but it's great for making baked goods super flaky.

These best shortening substitutes won't give you the exact same texture—but they'll work in a pinch. If you don't have any shortening on hand, try reaching for butter instead—you can use the same amount. Your baked goods may not turn out quite as flaky, but they'll have a rich, buttery flavor. Coconut oil is another great shortening substitute. It has a similar texture and is also vegan, too.

You can swap it in one-for-one, but just remember that it will likely give your baked goods a very slight coconut flavor. Remember margarine? The tall baked goods also need to be fluffy, sift, and maybe a bit chewy, contrary to cookies. The use of shortening for biscuits is mainly because it guarantees the desired flakiness. However, some people still prefer to use butter because it accounts for a better flavor.

That being said, you can also use coconut oil instead. And instead of the all-purpose flour, you can use almond flour. Bread dough needs to have enough fat in it to provide the tenderness that bread is best known for. Each type of bread needs its own amount of fat, along with the other ingredients. If your bread recipe demands shortening, you can use oil, butter, or leaf lard.

The frosting is a bit challenging to make, seeing as its ingredients are more than just some flour and fat. The best thing to do is to use a mix of butter, margarine, and coconut oil. Jessica Blythe is a passionate home cook, preparing delicious home cook meals daily for her family, She also enjoys baking as her favorite hobby.

Canola oil is a type of vegetable oil that is made from repressing the canola plant. Canola oil is used as a neutral cooking oil in baking, deep-frying great for high-heat cooking , grilling, and Star Anise is a seed pod made from the Chinese tree Illicium Verum that is shaped like a star. It is a spice that works amazingly during the cold winter days since it is a warm type of spice with a Skip to content Were you ever baking a recipe that requires butter-flavored shortening but ran out of it?