Butter vs. shortening
 

I have a favorite recipe for Molasses Sugar Cookies that includes shortening. Is shortening still available for purchase
in grocery stores? Also, would it work to use butter in place of shortening?

I think shortening is Crisco. At least that's what I use. But all cookies taste better to me if I use butter or oleo/margarine instead.

Crisco makes Butter Flavored Vegetable Shortening Baking Sticks. I use it for any cookie recipe that calls for shortening. If the recipe doesn't specifically call for shortening then I use butter. Do I get a batch of those Molasses cookies for finding this info for you? :D

http://www.crisco.com/products/bakin...rtening-17-851

Here's what I found about substituting butter for shortening:

http://www.bhg.com/recipes/how-to/bake/how-to-substitute-butter-for-shortening-when-baking/

I'd use shortening (Crisco) as the molasses will overpower the butter anyway

Real butter only.

Kerry Gold Butter yum!

butter wil make a crispier cookie, shortening will make a soft cookie. Its a texture thing. like in ginger snaps do you want them to snap or to bend,,,,,its a personal preference.

I use half shortening and half butter in my cookies. It's the best of both worlds.

For molasses cookies it is Crisco only for me. I have the best recipe handed down from my grandmother, but came off a bottle or Brer Rabbit molasses ( good luck finding that). I bake the cookie for about 8 minutes, take out of oven, very quickly put a small dab of jelly on each cookie then back In the oven for about 3 more minutes. My family likes grape jelly best but raspberry and strawberry are great too. This is a soft cookies that is rolled in sugar before baking. Believe me it is to die for even if you don't like molasses cookies.

I make these cookies and only use the shortening. I use the "shortening" and not the trans-fat Crisco. My recipe is an old one and I did not like the texture when subbing . There is a "butter" flavoring in the section with vanilla, etc., you could add for taste.

Cisco is best. Butter makes cookies softer, thinner, greasier. CISCO makes a crisper cookie...just ask anyone who has made to house cookies with all butter. Follow the recipe..you will be fine. CISCO is solid vegetable shortening.

Crisco is probably the easiest to find but there are many other brands still out there. the spread of your cookies will be different than using butter. somewhere there is a chart that shows the difference. Margarine has the most spread, then butter, with shortening having the least. as someone else mentioned it has to do with the temp. they melt. Also, you can change the amount of spread with the amount of baking soda you use. Check out King Arthur Flour, they have alot of good tips/explanations for baking issues

they say if you use butter to put dough in the refrig for a little while. I have been doing that to all my cookies lately to see if there is a difference.

I no longer use any oils except olive oil, (EVOO and light for cooking), coconut oil and butter. When I got rid of margarine and any oil that is not from a real food source, (What is a canola anyway?) my cholesterol levels have gone to normal. I do not eat much fried food, so I am no help there.

Instead of using butter or shortening, use coconut oil. It is a lot healthier and I don't taste the difference.

Where I grew up, lard is shortening. I believe the definition is any liquid that becomes semi-solid when cold or chilled.

Real butter only. Margarine full of chemicals our body doesn't even know how to assimilate. Just read another negative article few days ago again on the myth that margarine is better for you than butter for cholesterol reasons. And yes, use coconut oil for pie crusts instead of Crisco. Canola Oil should be boycotted. It is rapeseed oil, and is a machinery oil, again an oil that our bodies do not know how to assimilate, oil for machinery. Also, canola deprives our bodies of Vitamin E. Even saw a bottle in HEB Grocery with other cooking oils that had on label "with Vit E added." Go figure!

Canola oil comes from a plant called rapeseed. It is mostly grown in Canada and since the name of the plant isn't very nice, they changed it to Canola.

Watson

I read that margarine was the only food substance that did not break down in a garbage dump after MANY years (a study). I never knowingly eat it. Threw away my large can of Crisco about 15 years ago!

It's a cookie recipe not something you will eat everyday. Use what the recipe calls for. Shortening is solid and made from plants. Lard is made from animals. Butter is dairy. Spread is not margarine so don't use spread in baking. Make half the recipe with shortening (Crisco) and half with butter (Land of Lakes). See which half you like better.

Thank you for posting your recipe.....Hugs

I use sorghum instead of molasses. It is sweeter. I use Crisco and butter - just depends. I am glad to know to add a little flour if I use butter. I have had to change my pie dough recipe because I think Crisco has changed in someway through the years. I have an old Betty Crocker Cookbook that I have always used and now it I use that recipe by pie dough does not come out right. I have started using the recipe on the back of the package of Crisco Sticks. I like to use Crisco for my Toll House Cookies. That recipe has altered slightly too - the one on the package of choc. chips. Changes are good????