Can i subsitute shortening for butter in recipies?

Question

There's a banana bread recipie i found that uses no butter but instead 1 cup shortening. i don't like using fake butter and would rather use the real stuff. maybe the fake butter is called margerine. If i have this wrong, please explain what shortening is then and if it's not a very natural product, what i can subsitute for it. thanks.

Answer 1

I'm sure you can find substitution guidelines
at a cooking website.

But a few key pieces of knowledge are helpful.

Butter and margarine contain fat and water. The water is in small droplets that carry the flavor components. So, when you cook with it to substitute for shortening, you'll want to cut back on the other liquid components in the recipe and increase the solid fat just a bit. Typically butter and margarine are around 60-80 % fat and the balance water. The exact numbers escape me at the moment, but you can look those up. Just be aware that "low fat" margarines contain more water, but butters are all about the same.

Vegetable shortening is a substitute for lard in most cooking. Both do not contain much water.
Lard will contain cholesterol. The absence of water
makes them very useful in making things like
biscuits or cookies or pie crusts where little liquid water may be desired. If you use butter or margarine to make some flour based things instead of shortening or lard, you will end up with a tough chewy product rather than the desired light, flakiness. That's why many cooks say using the butter flavored vegetable shortening yields superior cookies.

However, you may wish to investigate the trans-fat content of vegetable shortenings and margarines and make your own decision about which is healthier lard and butter or vegetable shortening and margarine.

Answer 2

Many baking recipes I use have shortening rather than butter in them. I have found that shortening in Peanut Butter cookies, instead of butter, improves the cookies. Margarine has a lot of water content so do not use it if the recipe calls for butter. Crisco also has a butter flavored shortening.

Answer 3

Don't deviate from the recipe it wil alter the taste and texture, shortening (Crisco) is solid vegetable fat and does not have much flavor. Margarine is the butter substitute.

Answer 4

The bread won't cook right if you don't use shortening... shortening is more like a condensed oil than a butter...

Answer 5

Shortening is hydrogenated oil. This process solidifies the oil at room temperature. CRISCO.

Answer 6

sure ya can. I did it earlier today

Answer 7

sure you can