Healthy Replacement for Shortening

Some recipes are more forgiving than others. You might find you can easily replace your shortening, or you might have to experiment with the recipe, perhaps using less of other liquids when you substitute something healthier in your recipe. Substitutions will affect the taste and texture of your baked goods, but you may find you prefer the flavor of the healthier alternative when you replace your shortening. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Why Not Shortening?

Shortening, which is the vegetarian equivalent to lard (animal fat), is the solid form of vegetable oils such as soy and cottonseed oils. Shortening is criticized for the fact that it contains trans fats--which are unessential fats not recommended in a healthy diet. Shortening does have less trans fats than it used to, but most shortening still contains these unhealthy fats. Crisco brand does sell a shortening with no trans fats and other shortenings without trans fats can be found at natural food stores. The shortening that contains zero trans fat may slightly alter the outcome of your baking.

Maybe Margerine

Margarine, which is the lower fat equivalent to butter, generally has no trans fats. However, it is not significantly lower in overall fats than shortening, just the unessential trans fats. Margarine can easily be substituted for shortening. While shortening is 100 percent fat, 20 percent of margarine is water. Therefore, there may be some differences in the way your baking turns out with margarine. To make the substitution more true, substitute one cup and two tablespoons of margarine for one cup of shortening. Margarine is more expensive than shortening, but it also has a better flavor. In general, margarine will make your baked goods a little more chewy and a little more dense. You will notice the most difference in your pie crust--it will not be quite as flaky when made with margarine.

Try Fruit

Applesauce, pureed prunes (or baby food prunes), apple butter and bananas are all fruits that you can use in your baking to cut down on your use of shortening and margarine. Cook's Thesaurus recommends you substitute up to three quarters of your shortening with unsweetened applesauce or apple butter. If you use the sweetened variety, you may want to cut down on the amount of sugar in your recipe. Similarly, pureed prunes can substitute up to three quarters of the shortening in a recipe. Bananas can be used measure for measure as a substitute for shortening. Pie crust may be the only obstacle in your efforts to substitute fruit for shortening--at the very least it will take some experimentation.