Baking With Butter

When using butter substitutes, avoid solid or tub spreads that are less than 65% vegetable oil, as these contain too much water and will not result in a quality baked product. Light butter is good in regards to flavor but contains high levels of water.

Keep these tips in mind for best results: Use reduced fat (vs. totally fat-free) items to enable better creaming to make cakes light and fluffy.  With no fat, baked goods become dense and texture is significantly altered.

Mix fats and flour together only until combined (or follow directions) to avoid a tough finished product.

“Shortenings” (butter, margarine, vegetable shortening) coat flour proteins and “shorten” the length of their gluten strands when mixed with moisture, hence “shortenings”.

Vegetable oils do not act as a shortener as they won’t cream with crystalline sugar.

In low-fat baking, never bake two trays of cookies simultaneously as heat will not distribute evenly.