Thread: Cookies: Can vegetable spread sub for shortening?

[email protected] wrote:
> I tried an oatmeal cookie recipe from the book "Monster Cookies"(?),
> which required shortening. Since I almost never buy Crisco, I thought
> I'd use spread instead. Trouble is, I doubt most people really want
> cookies the way those turned out - overly soft and cakelike. Would
> Crisco have made a difference? If not, when IS it a bad idea to use a
> substitute for shortening?
>
> Lenona.

what is a spread? Do you mean the butter spreads that have extra water
and air (and perhaps oil) pumped into them?
Those are NEVER used for baking for the obvious problems.
If you don't want to buy Crisco, there are some non-hydrogenated
vegetable shortenings out there now. I looked at one just the other
week, but can't recall the name. It cost something like $6 for a large
can of it and I didn't need any so passed it up.

[email protected] wrote:
> I tried an oatmeal cookie recipe from the book "Monster Cookies"(?),
> which required shortening. Since I almost never buy Crisco, I thought
> I'd use spread instead. Trouble is, I doubt most people really want
> cookies the way those turned out - overly soft and cakelike. Would
> Crisco have made a difference? If not, when IS it a bad idea to use a
> substitute for shortening?
>
> Lenona.


Margarine or butter would have worked better. Look for the word
"margarine" on the label, and 100 calories per tablespoon; don't assume
it is margarine because it's a familiar brand and formed into sticks.

You could also have used lard; that works well for baking.

Bob

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I tried an oatmeal cookie recipe from the book "Monster Cookies"(?),
> which required shortening. Since I almost never buy Crisco, I thought
> I'd use spread instead. Trouble is, I doubt most people really want
> cookies the way those turned out - overly soft and cakelike. Would
> Crisco have made a difference?

Yes!


If not, when IS it a bad idea to use a substitute for shortening?

Yes, spread(s) contain water changing the texture of the finished product.

Dimitri

zxcvbob wrote:

> You could also have used lard; that works well for baking.
>
> Bob

The first time I heard of using lard for cookies was as a young wife I
hosted a neighborhood cookie exchange. The couple across the street
(Navy fighter pilot and wife from AZ) and they brought Biscochitos (I
think I spelled that correctly?). They were sort of like snikerdoodles.
Very nice, especially as they were representative of the area they grew up.

Goomba wrote:

> If you don't want to buy Crisco, there are some non-hydrogenated
> vegetable shortenings out there now. I looked at one just the other
> week, but can't recall the name. It cost something like $6 for a large
> can of it and I didn't need any so passed it up.

Smart Balance® It's not hydrogenated. I use it when a recipe calls for
shortening.

I think even Crisco® is coming in a non-hydrogenated version now since
the food police are making trans-fats illegal.

On Jan 17, 3:15 pm, Goomba <Goomb...@comcast.net> wrote:
> lenona...@yahoo.com wrote:
> > I tried an oatmeal cookie recipe from the book "Monster Cookies"(?),
> > which required shortening. Since I almost never buy Crisco, I thought
> > I'd use spread instead. Trouble is, I doubt most people really want
> > cookies the way those turned out - overly soft and cakelike. Would
> > Crisco have made a difference? If not, when IS it a bad idea to use a
> > substitute for shortening?
>
> > Lenona.
>
> what is a spread? Do you mean the butter spreads that have extra water
> and air (and perhaps oil) pumped into them?
> Those are NEVER used for baking for the obvious problems.

Good to know. However, I find the spread very useful whenever a cake
recipe tells you to grease and flour the pans. Far better than trying
to rub cold butter on the pan - not enough comes off the stick.


> If you don't want to buy Crisco, there are some non-hydrogenated
> vegetable shortenings out there now.

It's just that I don't encounter that many recipes that demand
shortening rather than butter, so it didn't seem worth buying. Do you
have to refrigerate Crisco after opening it?

Lenona.

[email protected] wrote:

> It's just that I don't encounter that many recipes that demand
> shortening rather than butter, so it didn't seem worth buying. Do you
> have to refrigerate Crisco after opening it?
>
> Lenona.

No.

[email protected] wrote:

> Do you have to refrigerate Crisco after opening it?
>
> Lenona.


No. It lasts for several years, then slowly starts getting rancid.

Bob

On Sat, 17 Jan 2009 15:18:52 -0600, Janet Wilder
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Goomba wrote:
>
>> If you don't want to buy Crisco, there are some non-hydrogenated
>> vegetable shortenings out there now. I looked at one just the other
>> week, but can't recall the name. It cost something like $6 for a large
>> can of it and I didn't need any so passed it up.
>
>Smart Balance® It's not hydrogenated. I use it when a recipe calls for
>shortening.
>
>I think even Crisco® is coming in a non-hydrogenated version now since
>the food police are making trans-fats illegal.

In fact, I believe that the only Crisco that is now sold
non-hydrogenated. Yep, just looked at my blue container and it says 0
trans fats.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)

The Cook wrote:
> On Sat, 17 Jan 2009 15:18:52 -0600, Janet Wilder
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Goomba wrote:
>>
>>> If you don't want to buy Crisco, there are some non-hydrogenated
>>> vegetable shortenings out there now. I looked at one just the other
>>> week, but can't recall the name. It cost something like $6 for a large
>>> can of it and I didn't need any so passed it up.
>> Smart Balance® It's not hydrogenated. I use it when a recipe calls for
>> shortening.
>>
>> I think even Crisco® is coming in a non-hydrogenated version now since
>> the food police are making trans-fats illegal.
>
> In fact, I believe that the only Crisco that is now sold
> non-hydrogenated. Yep, just looked at my blue container and it says 0
> trans fats.


I'm pretty sure it is hydrogenated, it's just not
*partially-hydrogenated* (that's where the trans-fats come from.)

Bob

In article
<[email protected]>,
[email protected] wrote:

> I tried an oatmeal cookie recipe from the book "Monster Cookies"(?),
> which required shortening. Since I almost never buy Crisco, I thought
> I'd use spread instead. Trouble is, I doubt most people really want
> cookies the way those turned out - overly soft and cakelike. Would
> Crisco have made a difference? If not, when IS it a bad idea to use a
> substitute for shortening?
>
> Lenona.

When you're baking. I believe the magic number has to be something like
70% fat in the spread. They have water in them and some recent books
have cautioned against substituting the spreads or reduced-fat
margarines for vegetable shortening. You could do some research to
find out what kind of results you'll get when baking the same recipe
with butter, shortening, margarine, or oil.

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.me.com/barbschaller
http://gallery.me.com/barbschaller/100041
-- a woman my age shouldn't
have this much fun!

In article <[email protected]>,
Goomba <[email protected]> wrote:

> Those are NEVER used for baking for the obvious problems.

Not quite true. You can't swap them willy-nilly but there are recipes
that are formulated for use with the spreads.

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.me.com/barbschaller
http://gallery.me.com/barbschaller/100041
-- a woman my age shouldn't
have this much fun!

In article <[email protected]>,
Goomba <[email protected]> wrote:

> [email protected] wrote:
>
> > It's just that I don't encounter that many recipes that demand
> > shortening rather than butter, so it didn't seem worth buying. Do you
> > have to refrigerate Crisco after opening it?
> >
> > Lenona.
>
> No.

Try the sticks. I used to go through the 3# can in a reasonable amount
of time. I can't even use the small can in a year. Now I just buy the
sticks; each is sealed so you don't have to open the 'whole thing' all
at once.

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.me.com/barbschaller
http://gallery.me.com/barbschaller/100041
-- a woman my age shouldn't
have this much fun!