Butter vs. Shortening: What's the Difference? (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between using shortening and butter? ›

There will be a slight difference in how baked goods turn out depending on whether butter or shortening is used. Shortening traps more air bubbles and has a higher melting point than butter, so recipes using shortening tend to produce baked goods with more lift and that hold their shape during baking.

How to Substitute. No matter what you're using, use the same amount called for in your recipe. In other words, it should be a one-to-one swap. If your recipe calls for one cup of butter, you can use one cup of shortening and vice versa.

Shortening is a type of fat used in cooking and baking. It's typically made from hydrogenated vegetable oil and has a long history of use in American kitchens that dates back to the early 1900s. However, shortening has fallen out of favor in the past few decades because of its high trans fat content.

Substituting Shortening for Butter

As an example, you have a cookie recipe that calls for two sticks of butter (1 cup or 226 grams), but you want to use shortening instead. There are two steps: Multiply the weight of the butter by 0.8, which gives you 181 grams. This is how much shortening you'll need.

While shortening can be used as a replacement, it lacks the same depth of flavor and deliciousness that butter provides. So if you're looking for a truly flavorful cookie, we recommend sticking with butter. Plus, butter is also much easier to work with than shortening!

In general, you can substitute Crisco shortening for butter or margarine in equal amounts (1 cup Crisco shortening = 1 cup butter or margarine). Not only does Crisco shortening have 50% less saturated fat than butter and 0g trans fat per serving, it gives you higher, lighter-textured baked goods.

Information. The Food Marketing Institute's FoodKeeper recommends storing unopened solid shortening, such as Crisco shortening, at room temperature for 8 months. After opening, store at room temperature for 3 months for best quality.

On the vegetarian side, you can choose from coconut oil and dairy-free margarine for instances where you need a shortening that is solid at room temperature for pie crust, biscuits, cakes and cookies. On the animal fat side of the list, your best options are butter and lard.

The verdict: Use butter if you want to. If you have extreme concerns about your cake sticking, use shortening (which is pure fat with no water), cooking spray, or baking spray. Coconut oil or bacon fat will also work, as will clarified butter which has the milk solids removed.

Swap one for the other in recipes. If you want to add additional flavor to the dish, lard is the right choice. Shortening is ideal for its neutral flavor, many professional bakers use it for icing.

What does Crisco stand for? ›

After rejecting the names "Krispo" and "Cryst" (the latter for its religious connotations), Procter & Gamble called the product Crisco, a modification of the phrase "crystallized cottonseed oil".

Shortening is 100% fat, containing no water. That means no steam is created during baking which effectively reduces gluten production, so shortening cookies tend to be softer and more tender. Also, shortening has a higher melting point than butter, resulting in taller cookies.

Crisco shortening is a type of vegetable shortening that is used in baking. It typically comes in stick form, and while it can be stored at room temperature, it will last longer if frozen. If you have new Crisco sticks and don't want to waste them, you can freeze them for later use.

Cookies. If you've ever had a tray of cookies morph into one huge mess in the oven, it's time to listen up. Cookies made with butter, especially high-sugar recipes, tend to be flatter and crispier than cookies made with shortening.

Margarine and butter can both be used as a substitute for shortening, though their moisture contents should be taken into consideration before making the swap. While shortening is 100% fat, margarine and butter contain a small percentage of water (so, shortening adds more fat, thus more richness and tenderness).

Butter adds important fat and flavor to recipes it's used in; it contains 80 percent butterfat and about 20 percent water. Shortening, on the other hand, is all fat, no flavor. It's typically made with vegetable oils and used for its ability to help baked goods retain shape while staying soft.

When it comes to frosting, it's best to lean into the topping's richness. That means using full-fat ingredients like shortening to your advantage. Although butter has a creamy, sweet taste, it still contains some moisture, making it susceptible to melting — cue, shortening.