Types of Pies to make. Butter is made up of water and fat, makes the pie crust less-flaky, but the rich flavor of it comes as a blessing for your crust. Substitute an equal amount of peanut butter for the shortening called for in your pie crust recipe. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, I developed a love for cakes, cupcakes, and everything sweet from an early age. It is actually the source of the light flakiness we desire in pie crusts and biscuits. Mix with other ingredients in your recipe and roll out as you would any pie crust. Salt – Don’t skip this, it brings out the flavor in the crust and is extra necessary when using shorting because it doesn’t have the same flavor as butter; Vegetable shortening – I like to use Crisco sticks … You may notice a slight difference in That helps minimize the production of gluten, which can make crusts tough. Shortening, of course, is a fat but not just any fat, it is mainly composed of trans fats. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Honestly I think I like it better than butter for fruit pies. shortening is 100% fat, butter is about 85% fat and 15% water. Use ¾ the amount of coconut oil as the recipe calls for in shortening. Easy as that!When using butter in place of shortening in your pie crust, make sure the butter is room temperature so that it has the same soft consistency as shortening. Sprinkle the first 4-5 tablespoons over the crumbs and pulse twice. Read the alternative to crisco shortening for pie crust discussion from the Chowhound Home Cooking food community. Eskay Lim / EyeEmGetty Images. however, the rich taste of butter will more than make up for the using less fat. Butter vs. shortening in pie crust: the flour. It’s easy to understand why! It also melts at a higher temperature than either butter or vegetable shortening… The first ingredient that you can use as a substitute for shortening in pie crust is good old butter. Vegetable oil has a fairly neutral taste that won’t interfere with Store-bought lard boasts a neutral character, not unlike its vegetable cousin, as well as a high percentage of good-for-you monounsaturated fats, per Dr. Weil. While the butter contributes richness and flavor, the shortening helps ensure tenderness. Consider increasing the amount of sugar and eggs in the pie recipe to counter the denser pie crust, recommends The Cook's Thesaurus. Ingredients: n/a. Join the discussion today. As you can see, there are many ways to make a delicious pie crust without shortening. clearly time for a change! Use this mix to replace every ½ cup of shortening. Recipe calls for 2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable shortening in addition to 10 tablespoons butter. Then … Many pie dough recipes use a combination of butter and vegetable shortening as fats. Before the advent of vegetable shortening, lard was the fat of choice for pie crusts. Combine flour and salt. You should see a mixture of pea-sized crumbs and small crumbs. As Julia wrote of her classic pie crust dough, “A mixture of 3 parts butter and 1 part vegetable shortening will give a tender crust with a good buttery flavor.” Combine the vegetable oil with the dry ingredients, such as flour and salt, all at once. 1 1/4 cups unbleached, all purpose flour (you can use whole wheat here, but it won’t be as tender. Like butter, vegetable shortening is considered solid at room temperature with no flavor or smell. 3. I alternate between an all-butter crust and one that’s part vegetable shortening, part butter. A pie crust made with oil will be greasier than one made with shortening or butter. Many people find shortening to be bland and want a richer flavor in their crust than shortening can provide. However, while it's the ideal ingredient from a texture perspective, it lacks the flavor of butter. Other may want a crust that isn’t so flaky- shortening does make a messy crust! Coconut oil also lends a subtle tropical taste to the pie crust that compliments many kinds of pies. (Lard doesn’t taste like pork unless it gets rendered with meat, as … and will therefore be able to blend into the pie crust like shortening. In a pinch, coconut or vegetable oil can be used as a substitution for a recipe that calls for shortening. If a recipe calls for melted shortening, vegetable oil is a good swap. why would you want to put these harmful chemically created fats into This crunchier texture holds true no matter what kind of oil you use. 5 Shortening Substitute: Vegetable Oil. What could i use instead? Aside from baking, I love spending quality time with my growing family, which includes my husband, my two sons, two dogs, and two cats. Stability to a baking pie crust is what you need who needs shortening anyway helps minimize the of. Blender or knife and flavor, the first is to replace every cup! 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