whats the diff between shortening and butter?

Question

i want to make cookies and it calls for shortening. can i use butter or margerine instead? prob a dumb Q but i wanna make sure before i ruin my cookies

Answer 1

"Cookies made with shortening tend to be softer than cookies made with butter, which usually are crispier.
Some cookie recipes use a combination -- shortening for that soft texture, butter for unbeatable flavor. "

"How the fat melts makes a big difference in the cookie," Shirley Corriher writes in "Cookwise." "To make flatter cookies, use butter; shortening will not melt as quickly in the oven so the cookie dough won't spread as fast ... cookies made with shortening, or part butter and part shortening, do not spread as much as all-butter cookies." "

Answer 2

When I did science fair one year, I did it on the effects of different fats when baking cookies, lol! I made chocolate chip cookies and the shortening ones were more chewy and the butter ones were more crisp. You could do 1/2 butter 1/2 shortening if you wanted. That would help with the texture and taste. Good luck with your cookies! :)

Answer 3

All the old cookie recipes called for shortening and I've been substituting with butter for years now and it works just fine. Sometimes the cookies will be a little flatter and if they are, just cut down a little on the quantity of butter.

Generally when substituting butter for the shortening, you'll want to use unsalted butter because your recipe will call for salt and you don't want them to be too salty. I use either kind of butter - salted or unsalted because I only add a dash of salt to my recipe instead of the 1 teaspoonful that the recipes normally call for.

Answer 4

No do not change your recipe, it will change the texture of the cookie. If you want to use butter honestly find the same recipe but calls for butter. What kind of cookies are you making? I have never heard of a cookie recipe calling for shortening unless its to fry the dough. Below are 2 sites to try to find the same recipe but using butter see what you get. and Good luck
Season Greetins to you and yours

Answer 5

Shortening is 100% fat Butter[and margarine ] is about 75% fat , 5 % milk solids and 20% water so you have to account for the less fat and more water problem.
Do the math :
16oz of butter contains 3.2 oz of water which you haven't accounted for in your recipe
The easiest way to do the substitution is to simply clarify the butter ,Make weight and volume equivelant
Refrigerate it and then use the solid product in the place of shortening.
Make a couple of pounds of clarified bc it comes in handy for all sorts of good things and doesn't require refrigeration