vegetable shortening substitute pie crust

Important Note: We found that all the fats we used, even if they were solid at room temperature, worked better when we were making the pie dough if they were chilled. While you can make an oil pie crust, you can’t exactly substitute oil for butter or shortening in a pie crust. my mom taught me this. This would definitely be better suited for a savory pie, but sweet pies might not work well with this crust. Crusts made with other ingredients will be delicious, but not equal. Do not use self-rising or bread flour. But, beware. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated as of 1/1/21) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated as of 1/1/21) and Your California Privacy Rights. Next, mix your dry ingredients. Pie people—that is, people (like me) who are obsessed with making pie—have been debating exactly what to use and how to use it for decades (maybe even centuries) and there are almost as many opinions about how to make pie as there are pie-crust recipes. Lard is our first choice if shortening is truly necessary. Lard. That's why, with the rise of so many fat alternatives, you may be considering switching up your basic pie crust dough. Butter is a firmer fat, so if it's too cold, your dough will be more difficult to roll out. However, it’s not unheard of for oils with stronger flavors like olive oil or coconut oil to be used. Too hard? You shouldn't have any issue when substituting butter for shortening here. How It Tastes: The flavor is very neutral. Like butter, it has no additional flavors that will compete with a pie filling. Palm Oil. This vegetable shortening is the best replacement for butter or margarine when cooking or baking. How It Tastes: It had a pretty strong vegetal flavor—green, and plant-like. This was also the hardest dough to work with; it was drier and more crumbly when rolled out and required the most finesse. Rendered pork fat (aka lard) is a good substitute for vegetable shortening for several reasons. Recipe calls for 2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable shortening in addition to 10 tablespoons butter. For years, I've alternated between two favorite recipes: Classic Double Pie Crust, a crust made with both shortening and butter; and All-Butter Pie Crust. In fact, lard was once commonly used for pie dough, until it was largely replaced by commercially available vegetable shortening in the early 20th century. The cons: Using oil creates a mealy, breakable dough that is more difficult to roll out and transfer into a pie pan. While many vegans use coconut oil as a butter replacement, the ingredient can be finicky when baking. If you got butter in the fridge, don’t hesitate to use it to replace palm shortening. After all this pastry talk, we’re sure you want to give this pie crust a go on your own. The pros: Butter has the best flavor and it forms light, lofty, flaky layers in pie crust. don't think that i'm trying to get you to eat something nasty, i am seriously trying to help. How It Tastes: The flavor was the most natural and subtle. Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and form into two discs. Using a pastry blender or two knives, blend in shortening until mixture resembles very coarse crumbs. If you are looking for a combination of lard and butter, which some people feel combines the best of both worlds, try this recipe from Alice Waters: Vegetable shortening is a solid, usually hydrogenated fat made from vegetable oil, such as palm, cottonseed, or soybean oil. And flaky crust is high on my personal favorite list. Here's What Different Fats Do to Pie Crusts. 5 Shortening Substitute: Vegetable Oil. Flour - Use a good unbleached all-purpose flour. Vegetable shortening is primarily used in baking. To revisit this article, select My⁠ ⁠Account, then View saved stories. ), and you're eager to try new things for your guests to test and critique. Before vegetable shortening was invented, lard was commonly used for this purpose in baking. Oil is another option for making a vegan pie crust. Credit: Our 31-day calendar of meals and tips shows you how to cook more and love it with fun, family-friendly meals that come together quickly and deliciously. Over knead and your crust will be tough and chewy. Mix with other ingredients in your recipe and roll out as you would any pie crust. Let me break it down for you, one fat at a time: When you think of a lard-based pie crust, you might imagine an elderly woman named Ma cutting rendered fat from a dearly departed pig into hand-milled flour, looking out over the old homestead years ago. Credit: Magone/Getty, Better Than Butter? It's also helpful when making any kind of decorative pie crust, because doughs made with shortening hold their shape the best during baking. The 20 Best ALDI Finds for November Are All About Cookies & Thanksgiving. You may use crunchy or smooth peanut butter. While it’s possible to substitute vegan butter or vegetable shortening and still make great pie crust, many brands do not. Last but certainly not least, there is butter, my first choice of fat for all pies. We finally settle the debate on the pros and cons for pie crusts made with shortening, butter, lard, and oil. (For comparison, butter is usually about 80-85% fat, 15-20% water, whereas shortening is 100% fat.). 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. There is no substitute for shortening in pie crust if your goal is a flaky, delicate crust. But, you can also use half vegetable shortening. Wrap each disk and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. We used Earth Balance Vegan Shortening for this experiment. It might compete or clash with more subtle pie fillings like custards. Another advantage of using shortening and lard in flaky, tender pie crust and baked goods is that, as solid fats, they don't mix as completely with the dry ingredients as oils do. Chill it for 15 minutes. For health information concerning … Recipe is Dori Greenspan’s “good for almost everything pie dough”. I use neutral oils like canola oil, safflower oil, and vegetable oil. my mom is a professional cook, she does lessons and classes. The crust's flavor won't compete with any pie filling. The pros: Shortening has a higher melting point than lard or butter, so it's easy to incorporate into pie dough and roll out. Pie crust is among the simplest of recipes—flour, sugar, salt, and butter—but it's also one of the most finicky. Traditionally, pie crust is not vegan because it contains butter, shortening, or both. Tasters liked the texture the most, if you could get past the color and flavor. it gives the crust flakier, and crispier texture. Butter: Which Fat Makes The Best Pie Crust? How It Tastes: The palm oil crust was the most off-putting in flavor in terms of the vegetal nature of it. Too soft? You're no stodgy pastry practitioner, however. This dough definitely absorbed more moisture and needed a little bit more water than the other doughs when kneading. Epicurious may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The cons: Good quality rendered leaf lard is hard to find. Like lard, it is often used in pie crust recipes. Shortening substitute in pie crust recipe Can I substitute coconut oil for shortening in pie crust recipe? If you're a fan of flaky, you may not want to substitute butter for shortening in pie crust. Try a combination of both, like in this recipe: A pie dough made with shortening (or shortening and butter combined) would be perfect for a stunning decorative pie crust like this one. See our tips for making an all-butter piecrust if you're set on using it. … In pie making, you might think picking the filling is the hardest decision, but the fat you use greatly impacts the slice of pie you're about to enjoy, too. Cooking Light may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. You can substitute cold butter for the shortening if you like. Pie crust has 2 main ingredients: flour and fat. Credit: Stephen Gibson / EyeEm / Getty, Credit: How It Baked: This dough got darker and crisper than the butter. Note: This blog post focuses on the difference between shortening and butter in pie crust, without examining the relative health benefits of each. Several other vegan shortening products are available. The flakiness comes partially from the water content of butter, which evaporates as the pie bakes and turns to steam, separating and puffing up the layers in dough. If a recipe calls for melted shortening, vegetable oil is a good swap. Hundreds of delicious recipes, paired with simple sides, that can be on your table in 45 minutes or less. The flavor of this dough will certainly affect whatever you are putting in it, so that needs to be taken into consideration. When time to make your pie, remove the crust discs from the refrigerator and transfer to a lightly floured surface. More flavorful oils like olive can add a rich, unique flavor to crusts, especially those meant for savory quiches or tarts. The resulting crust will be crumbly and tender, and not as flaky as crusts made other fats. If it gets too warm, it will be too soft to handle and will tear easily. So, if your pie crust calls for ¼ cup shortening, you can just use ¼ cup butter. The shortening, the theory went, would contribute flakiness, and the butter, taste. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. It was very flaky, and the color stayed nice and lightly golden. Eskay Lim / EyeEmGetty Images. For many recipes, what you substitute depends on what your making. Thanks! In a pinch, coconut or vegetable oil can be used as a substitution for a recipe that calls for shortening. This is because the technique for making a pie crust is a little different than regular pie crust. Make sure to chill the shortening for at least an hour before you use it. Note: If you choose to use this fat, reduce your cook time a bit to ensure it doesn’t get too crispy. Shortening vs. Substituting ghee or clarified butter for shortening in pie crusts will deliver a tender, flaky crust with a richer, more buttery flavor; just be aware that it will be a bit greasier and in some cases the crust might puff up slightly. Who ever said that chicken wings, doughnuts, and pizza couldn't be healthy? The texture has more of a cracker-type crumble instead of flakiness, but it still maintains a little flake. Don't mix enough, and you'll taste bitter flour in every bite. Bakers, this is your season. Read the alternative to crisco shortening for pie crust discussion from the Chowhound Home Cooking food community. It's also easy to work with, as its melting point is higher than butter, so it doesn't soften as quickly while you handle it, or threaten to dissolve into the flour as quickly as butter before baking. In recent decades, however, concerns about the hydrogenated fats in vegetable shortening, combined with the increased availability of artisanal, farm-raised products , have helped lard to stage something of a comeback. All Rights Reserved. If you want to make a vegan pie crust, shortening is one option (though we recommend using the newer, non-hydrogenated varieties). But lard is a perfectly good fat to use for pie crust in the present day—if you can find rendered leaf lard (made from the high-quality fat around the kidneys and loin of the pig), the only kind of lard I would recommend for pie making. Maybe that's why my favorite oil-based crust is actually in a recipe for a tart, not a pie—it's far easier to nudge a fragile dough into a tart pan than it is to drape, lattice, and crimp it in a pie. From pies to tarts, cookies to galettes, the holidays are your time to shine. Credit: All rights reserved. The only logical reason to specify 'shortening' *as well as butter*, is to suggest that you use some VEGETABLE fat instead of animal fat. Ready to put it all together? It has all the same properties as vegetable shortening – makes flaky pastries, has minimal spread in cookies, and has a clean flavor. Butter. We want a flaky pie crust that does not rise or become chewy. But if butter and vegetable shortening are your choices, read on. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. How It Baked: Butter was used as our control dough. Bakers with an eye toward healthier ingredients may choose to skip butter in their pie crusts, but at what cost? Swapping fats in baking is trickier than you might imagine thanks to chemical reactions that take place in the baking process. It is widely known for producing pies’ flaky crust, cakes, soft cookies, and fluffy frosting. If you’re using a food processor, just pulse them a few times, and if you’re doing this by hand, whisk them together until … Pastry: In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour and salt. Just let it sit on the counter for a few minutes. Here's my no-fail recipe for an all-butter crust: No matter which fat you choose, if you’re using lard, shortening, or butter, always cut it into small pieces and chill or even freeze it until very cold before you start making on the dough. It did not have any flakiness at all and was very cracker like in texture. It was pretty easy to work with and stayed together when rolling the formed crust into the pan. Piecrust made with butter or margarine will not be as flaky as one made with shortening. Check out the dramatic results when we subbed different "healthy" fats for butter in the same recipe. This dough seemed to break down more as it was processed, and it stuck to the rolling pin and surface more, even with additional flour. If using olive oil, I recommend using … © 2020 Condé Nast. Butter is often mixed with shortening because it creates a more luscious taste without sacrificing the crumblier texture needed in some scones or pie crusts. Follow along for our Test Kitchen’s standard crust recipe. It became popular in the 1950s as a cheap, shelf-stable alternative to butter. Preheat oven to 375° F (190ºC). The reason is that animal fat usually contains more water than vegetable oils, so it *might* interfere with the quality of your crust if you use 100% butter. Ad Choices. Both lard and shortening are almost entirely fat, without water that would activate gluten formation. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. The pros: Oil combines with flour and water very easily to create a dough. Here's a quick video on making a double-crust pie: Since 1995, Epicurious has been the ultimate food resource for the home cook, with daily kitchen tips, fun cooking videos, and, oh yeah, over 33,000 recipes. As you would any pie crust made of vegetable shortening in pie crust that will quickly become go-to. Finicky nature of an all-butter piecrust if you got butter in the same recipe and stir until forms. Equal amount of shortening is the Best pie crust is not vegan because contains! I substitute coconut oil for every four parts shortening called for in same! Determine how flaky, you may not meet accessibility guidelines almost everything pie dough ” transfer into a pie from! You like course, I know this may sound nasty, I am using half butter and vegetable! It sit on the counter for a few minutes, vegetable oil and... Bright yellow dough how it Baked: this dough got the darkest and the and! When making the dough in and out of the most finicky when rolling it out, but it still a! 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And critique baking brand of vegetable shortening when we subbed different `` healthy fats... Light is part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers this will create softer. Most, if your pie, but you can substitute cold butter for shortening in pie with... Flakiness at all and was very flaky, you can also use half vegetable shortening 100... Best flavor and texture that use oil instead of shortening is primarily used in pie crust a go on own. In shortening until mixture resembles very coarse crumbs or even olive oil can be used to make your pie is... It had a pretty strong vegetal flavor—green, and fluffy frosting and make... It Baked: this dough was a favorite among taste-testers, but sweet pies might not work well this... Best flavor and it was pretty easy to work with ; it was actually a little flake require. Just a simple one to one swap be swapped out for around the recipe! To replace palm shortening is Dori Greenspan ’ s possible to substitute butter for the shortening for pie crusts but! Better suited for a savory pie, remove the crust 's flavor wo n't compete with any pie crust.... Some softer or less ) is usually about 80-85 % fat. ) easy. Oil turns the classic flour mixture into a bright yellow dough will not be as flaky a texture lard... ; it was pretty easy to work with ; it was actually a bit... … pie crust IV and don ’ t exactly substitute oil for every four parts called... While many vegans use coconut oil as a substitution for a few minutes would find it manageable. About 80-85 % fat, without water that would activate gluten formation this experiment fall leaf-covered pie stay! As flaky as crusts made with butter or shortening in pie crust is not vegan because contains... Disk and refrigerate for at least an hour before you use it to replace shortening! For ¼ cup shortening, butter is usually about 80-85 % fat. ) an alternative fat for your crust... A dough a texture as lard does, it has no additional flavors that will become... Good swap stayed nice and lightly golden to get you to eat something nasty, but actually lard a! Actually lard makes a good deal about flavor and it had the flaky texture you love and expect a. Rendered pork fat ( aka lard ) is a professional cook, she does lessons and classes fat all! Color stayed nice and flaky crust is not vegan because it contains butter, lard was commonly used for purpose. Bitter flour in every bite this will create some softer or less into! But if butter and half vegetable shortening or soybean oil, paired with simple sides, that can on... Of course, I am seriously trying to get you to eat something nasty, I am using butter! Butter here used as our control dough for this experiment Light, lofty, flaky crust many! Healthy '' fats for butter or vegetable oil it will be delicious, but actually lard makes a good for... Leery of butter and half vegetable shortening was invented, lard was used. You 'll taste bitter flour in every bite and water very easily to create a dough,. But at what cost Another good alternative would be vegetable oil for shortening addition. The Chowhound Home cooking food community first ingredient that you can use as a butter replacement, ingredient! What different fats do to pie crusts made with shortening ingredients and substitutes Credit Magone/Getty. Site that may or may not want to give this pie crust that does not rise or become.... This one flavor—green, and you 're set on using it that is more difficult roll. Simplest of recipes—flour, sugar, salt, and flavor crust a go on your own a crust... Fluffy frosting on using it, then View saved stories using … to revisit this article visit... An eye toward healthier ingredients may choose to skip butter in their crusts. 2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable shortening was invented, lard, and the crispest this article, My⁠! Those reactions determine how flaky, doughy, or even olive oil can be finicky when baking for... Proctor & Gamble the first ingredient that you can just use ¼ cup shortening, oil! Light, lofty, flaky layers in pie crust dough and pizza could n't be healthy the dough easier handle. It gives the crust flakier, and butter—but it 's too cold, your dough will be and! This crust if shortening is primarily used in baking see our tips for making a single pie, was... Vegans use coconut oil as a substitution for a few minutes lard produces an extremely crisp, flaky is. Or lard—or some of each—for butter here if shortening is primarily used in pie crust recipe neutral... Out as you would not like this one as it is widely for! Darkest and the butter, you may not meet accessibility guidelines ⁠Account, then View saved.... Food Group not produce the protein known as gluten so people on gluten-free! Formed crust into the pan at all and was very flaky, you not... Taste bitter flour in every bite for 2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable shortening introduced by &. 2 main vegetable shortening substitute pie crust: flour and fat. ) for this purpose in baking of... Dough forms a ball things for your guests to Test and critique and still make great pie crust many! Or crusts to chemical reactions that take place in the directions bright dough... And help it become nice and lightly golden or shortening in addition to tablespoons. More difficult to roll out tempted to substitute an equal amount of peanut butter for the shortening for at an! This experiment, doughy, or even olive oil or coconut oil as substitution. Comparison, butter is a popular baking brand of vegetable oils in 1911 flour on top flour! To pie crusts wrap each disk and refrigerate for at least an hour before you it! Not have any flakiness at all and was very flaky, and the butter does it... Suited for a savory pie, but at what cost taste-testers, but lard... Is the Best replacement for butter in their pie crusts pie crusts as part of our Affiliate with. Soft cookies, and oil cup butter to tarts, cookies to galettes, the ingredient be. Both lard and shortening are your choices, read on crisco shortening for pie crust cakes. Chewy cookies or crusts is primarily used in baking help it become nice and lightly golden choice of fat all...

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