WHAT IS SHORTENING IN BAKING?

Shortening refers to any type of fat, such as lard, margarine or vegetable shortening that helps to give your favorite baked goods their signature texture. Shortening remains solid at room temperature and can help to make dough “short,” preventing gluten from forming as you touch and shape it.

Whether you’re creating pie dough, biscuits or delicious shortbread cookies, shortening gives you the tender texture and flaky layers that helps make your favorite treats so delicious. This helpful guide will explain what shortening is, how to use it in recipes and some possible substitute options.

WHAT IS SOLID SHORTENING?

Typically available in a can or as sticks similar to butter, solid shortening is made entirely of fat. Because solid shortening contains no water, steam pockets and bubbles won’t develop in the dough, making it ideal for recipes such as pie crusts. 

Solid shortening usually has no distinct flavor, allowing you to use the ingredient for a wide range of recipes from homemade pecan pie to crumbly butter biscuits.

WHAT IS SOFT SHORTENING?

Rather than describing a unique type of shortening, soft shortening refers to how shortening is prepared before baking. Shortening that warms to room temperature before it's added to a recipe can sometimes be referred to as soft shortening. Room temperature or creamed shortening may be called for in recipes like Mexican wedding cookies, while recipes with crusts like apple ginger galette typically require chilled shortening.

HOW DO YOU MEASURE SHORTENING?

Accurately measuring shortening is critical for achieving the desired results in a recipe. For most recipes, you’ll likely be using cup measurements depending on what form of shortening you have available and the recipe you’re using. 

When measuring by cup, it’s important to spoon the shortening into the measuring cup and level off with a knife to avoid over-packing. To help make clean-up easier, consider lining your kitchen scale or measuring cups with plastic wrap.

WHAT CAN BE SUBSTITUTED FOR SHORTENING?

Butter is an excellent substitute for shortening, as it can be used in the same way. Like shortening, butter is a solid fat at room temperature, making baked goods tender and flaky. It also adds flavor to recipes unlike shortening, which can be especially desirable in baked goods like croissants, scones and pastries. Keep in mind that butter can yield a crispier result than shortening.

If you want to experiment with substitutions even further, you can also try swapping shortening with lard or coconut oil, especially if you don’t have butter on hand.

IS SHORTENING THE SAME AS BUTTER?

Butter contains 80 percent fat and 20 percent water, which creates steam during baking and gives biscuits a light, moist and flaky texture. Shortening, on the other hand, is purely fat with no water content, resulting in a slightly denser, softer and crumblier biscuit. Learn more about how shortening can be used as a substitute for butter.

If you’re using butter instead of shortening, it’s important to remember that these two fats behave differently, so you may need to adjust your recipe or handling of the dough as necessary. The downside to using butter instead of shortening is that it has a lower melting point, so you may need to move more quickly when preparing the dough. In addition, chilling the dough from time to time may help make handling a bit easier.

WHAT IS THE SHORTENING-TO-BUTTER CONVERSION?

If a recipe calls for one cup of shortening, you can substitute one cup of butter. The opposite is also true; if the recipe calls for one cup of butter, you can use about one cup of shortening instead.

DOES SHORTENING GO BAD?

Despite having a 100 percent fat content, shortening can still go bad and develop odors, change color or dry out. Make your shortening last by storing it correctly according to manufacturer instructions and use by the expiration date on the packaging. Also, keep your shortening sealed properly and stored somewhere cool to help preserve it.

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