Butter vs. shortening?

Question

If a (for example) cookie recipe calls for shortening, can butter be substituted?

Answer 1

Yes you can always substitute it but in different proportions.
First, remember that butter is always preferable to shortenings or margarines as these latter are saturated fats very unhealthy.
is made from vegetable oil that has been hydrogenated to increase its melting point to withstand high oven temperatures. There are both regular and butter-flavored varieties. Vegetable shortening is usually used either in pastry as a butter alternative or complement. However, shortening does not have as good a taste as butter in recipes. Compared to butter, shortening stays more solid at room temperature and creams better because it contains mono and diglycerides. In baking, these characteristics mean that shortening is distributed more effectively through the dough than butter, and is more efficient at coating flour particles, minimizing gluten development and does a better job at it.

Vegetable shortening, unlike butter, can be used in frying as it has a relatively high smoke point
EMULSIFIED/HIGH RATIO SHORTENING: also known as cake, icing or high ratio shortening, can absorb more sugar and liquid than regular shortening. It gives a finer and smoother texture to cakes and help keep them moist, as well as keeps icings more stable. However, it should be used in icings and cakes where the recipe contains a large percentage of sugar
But, if you have to replace them eventually, please remember that butter always has a fat percentage above 80%. (the rest of the product is water). The higher the percentage is the more tasty, tender and soft your cakes will be and also remember that shortenning is 60% or a bit more of saturated fat so
if a recipe calls for 100 grs of butter you can replace it with aprox 120-140 grs of shortenning or margarine to equal the amount of fat required by the recipe with the butter.
I dont know if I make myself clear. That is to say, shortening always has about 20 or 30% less fat than butter. So you need to add 20 or 30% more of shortening to the recipe in order to substituite it for butter.

Answer 2

There s one large difference between butter and shortening, that I feel might be an important aspect being forgotten in this thread.

Shortening is 100% fat. There s no water content in shortening.
Butter is ~80-83% fat, ~15% water, ~2-5% milk solids.

If a recipe calls for shortening, you ll be adding more water to the cookie dough by switching to butter.
If a recipe calls for butter, you ll be taking some moisture from the cookie dough by switching to shortening.

Answer 3

Absolutely not! You can not substitute butter for shortening, it will totally change the consistancy and flavor of the cookie. Yes they are both fats but it is the amount of fat that matters. It's the same for margarine you CAN NOT bake with margarine and have the cookies taste as if you baked with butter.

Answer 4

Yes. Shortening is just another kind of fat. Your cookies might taste nicer with butter.

Answer 5

yes, but butter will make the cookie spread more b/c of the higher water content. if you want the butter flavor, use half butter and half shortening. if u're concerned about trans fat, crisco now has zero trans fat in it.

Answer 6

Generally, yes. Shortening gives a softer, chewier product than butter, so be aware that there may be differences in your final product.

Answer 7

All fruits are fresh vegetables. A "vegetable" is a plant, any part of which is employed for food.

Answer 8

Butter is always better to use, more flavor and less artificial ingredients!

Answer 9

butter is ok but your cookies are not going to be chewy they are going to be crispy