Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just need to know if op found lard or if she forgot about this thread.

I posted my results. Mission accomplished.

I saw your update! Your cookies sound absolutely delicious and I’m glad you found lard. I was a giant lard poster and I guess it’s seasonal because I went back and they didn’t have it anymore. I’m glad to know that Food Lion sells it so thank you for starting this thread.

Anonymous wrote:I just need to know if op found lard or if she forgot about this thread.

I posted my results. Mission accomplished.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I purchased it at the food lion on rockville pike for some stupid recipe. still have most of it in the pantry. btw, it will be in the baking aisle near the crisco and oil.

If you are a birder or have feeders, you can use lard for making suet. It's good when it's cold, and during baby season. I use this recipe (Modified Zick Dough), and throw in dried fruits, nuts, and black oil sunflower seeds.

NEW ZICK DOUGH: SMALL BATCH Melt in the microwave and stir together: 1 cup peanut butter 1 cup lard In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups chick starter 2 cups quick oats 1 cup yellow cornmeal and 1 cup flour Add melted lard/peanut butter mixture to the combined dry ingredients and mix well.

I do this also.

I also save the fat from browning hamburger meat and freeze it. Don't use bacon fat because of the additives. Once I have lots of fat I melt it all together in the oven, take it out of the oven, and mix in dried fruits, etc. Also, I have been finding crickets living under the porch. I pick them up, throw them into a glass jar, and stick the jar in the freezer. I mix the crickets into the suet mix. You can also buy meal worms at a birding store and mix those in. It's a lot of fun watching the birds eating the suet. You can mix red pepper into the suet. It doesn't bother the birds but discourages mammals from trying to eat it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've bought it at Wegmans. It's in the pork section. Call and ask beforehand.

I'm not a fan of lard. Don't see a real reason for it. Just use crisco if you want crispiness in cookies.

Pie crust and Cuban bread are excellent “reasons”.

+1

Agreed!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I purchased it at the food lion on rockville pike for some stupid recipe. still have most of it in the pantry. btw, it will be in the baking aisle near the crisco and oil.

If you are a birder or have feeders, you can use lard for making suet. It's good when it's cold, and during baby season. I use this recipe (Modified Zick Dough), and throw in dried fruits, nuts, and black oil sunflower seeds.

NEW ZICK DOUGH: SMALL BATCH Melt in the microwave and stir together: 1 cup peanut butter 1 cup lard In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups chick starter 2 cups quick oats 1 cup yellow cornmeal and 1 cup flour Add melted lard/peanut butter mixture to the combined dry ingredients and mix well.

+1

In certain instances, lard does make a difference. It imparts a certain taste, flavor and texture that can’t be duplicated.

Bird feeder is a great idea for the leftovers.

Food Lion sells it. (Big blocks)

Thanks PP!! I'll do this rather than toss the two sticks of lard.

Anonymous wrote:I purchased it at the food lion on rockville pike for some stupid recipe. still have most of it in the pantry. btw, it will be in the baking aisle near the crisco and oil.

If you are a birder or have feeders, you can use lard for making suet. It's good when it's cold, and during baby season. I use this recipe (Modified Zick Dough), and throw in dried fruits, nuts, and black oil sunflower seeds.

NEW ZICK DOUGH: SMALL BATCH Melt in the microwave and stir together: 1 cup peanut butter 1 cup lard In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups chick starter 2 cups quick oats 1 cup yellow cornmeal and 1 cup flour Add melted lard/peanut butter mixture to the combined dry ingredients and mix well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've bought it at Wegmans. It's in the pork section. Call and ask beforehand.

I'm not a fan of lard. Don't see a real reason for it. Just use crisco if you want crispiness in cookies.

Pie crust and Cuban bread are excellent “reasons”.

I make pie all the time and have made pie crust with lard. It makes the crust flaky yet crisp but it is also very, very rich. Heart attack rich.

Much prefer an all butter crust or blend of butter and crisco.

People cooked with lard because food was expensive and nothing was wasted. There is really no reason to cook with lard these days.

Classic DCUM response right here.

"I'm going to be contrary to this person who never asked my opinion for the sole reason of virtue signaling how much healthier I am than them for not liking rich food."

Guess what Karen, just because you pretend to be too good for rich food doesn't mean anyone else cares or feels that way.

If someone has no experience with lard and sees lard in a recipe like these cookies, it's well worth commenting that there's no real reason to use lard just because an old recipe calls for it. That's called sharing knowledge based on experience.

In my experience, you can taste a difference in some recipes. There are some Italian cookies I make at Christmas (one is like the almond one upthread) and I have done them both with crisco and lard. The lard ones tasted like the cookies I remember!

It's actually the only time I ever use lard. I think I still have 2 sticks left from this past Dec that I will toss at some point! BTW, I'm not local but my Walmarts carry the 1 lb in the butter section.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you use shortening?

I am experimenting with almond cookies. I will try this one with lard which is supposed to be more authentic.

https://thewoksoflife.com/almond-cookies-chinese/

And I will try one with butter and one with shortening.

But, I need to find lard first!!

Godspeed. Report findings back to DCUM when complete.

+1

I love almond cookies and want to know how this works out. I used to get almond cookies with Chinese takeout in Chicago years ago and haven't seen them in like two decades.

OP here with an update. I finally found the Morrell brand at Food Lion on Rockville Pike. Thanks to the poster for this info.

As an avid baker, I was specifically looking for lard. I know the different substitutes available. I also understand hydrogenated oils, trans fat, saturated fat, etc. But, sometimes, there is no substitute and butter is not always best. The lard produced the crispiest, most delicious authentic-tasting cookie. The lard produced a flavor similar to the cookies you get in a Chinatown bakery. Crisco butter flavor produced a crispy cookie but did not have an authentic taste. Butter was the worst. It was a firm, puffy mound even though I flattened the dough. It was nothing special.

Almond Cookies

Mix in bowl:
2 ½ cups flour
1 t. baking powder
¼ t. salt

In a large bowl, cream together:
1 cup lard
1 egg, beaten
¾ cup sugar
2 t. almond extract
6-8 drops of yellow food coloring (optional)

Egg wash
1 egg + 1 T. water
Almonds (whole, blanched, slivered, etc.)

Add the flour mixture to the lard mixture and mix well. Shape into a ball and flatten. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.

Scoop (with cookie scoop) and roll balls and flatten them (1/4 inch). Brush with egg wash and press almonds into the dough.

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes till lightly golden on the edges. Makes about 48 cookies.

I also tried King Authur's recipe which had almond meal and butter. It's not authentic due to the almond meal but it was good. Crispy edges and soft in the middle. https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/chinese-almond-cookies-recipe

I did not try the Woks of Life recipe due to the comments about the metallic taste from the leavening agents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've bought it at Wegmans. It's in the pork section. Call and ask beforehand.

I'm not a fan of lard. Don't see a real reason for it. Just use crisco if you want crispiness in cookies.

Pie crust and Cuban bread are excellent “reasons”.

I make pie all the time and have made pie crust with lard. It makes the crust flaky yet crisp but it is also very, very rich. Heart attack rich.

Much prefer an all butter crust or blend of butter and crisco.

People cooked with lard because food was expensive and nothing was wasted. There is really no reason to cook with lard these days.

Classic DCUM response right here.

"I'm going to be contrary to this person who never asked my opinion for the sole reason of virtue signaling how much healthier I am than them for not liking rich food."

Guess what Karen, just because you pretend to be too good for rich food doesn't mean anyone else cares or feels that way.

If someone has no experience with lard and sees lard in a recipe like these cookies, it's well worth commenting that there's no real reason to use lard just because an old recipe calls for it. That's called sharing knowledge based on experience.

It’s also called confusing your own personal preferences and tastes with “real reasons “. It’s called arrogance. I’m not going to knock someone’s preference for Crisco — although I might suggest that they read up on hydrogenated oils. So, yeah, fats can be substituted. Those substitutions also change the quality of the final product. Although one person might not notice or care, it’s pretty arrogant to assume that others won’t care either. It’s also bizarre to offer “experience “ as a substitute for actual help.

Yes, I realize that this post isn’t going to be helpful to the OP, but I offered suggestions in an earlier post. I’m snippy, but not a hypocrite.

Cool it, whoever you are. You aren't snippy but self entitled and bitter and angry. This is a cooking forum. People are entitled to share experiences based on cooking. I've been cooking for 40 years, have dealt with lard more than a few times, and am offering my experience based on that.

And with your vast experience, you came up with “there is no real reason to use lard” as your version of a helpful response to someone who asked for help locating some. Have a lovely Crisco-centered day.

I purchased it at the food lion on rockville pike for some stupid recipe. still have most of it in the pantry. btw, it will be in the baking aisle near the crisco and oil.

Painted Hand Farm at the Bethesda Farmers Market on Sundays usually has lard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've bought it at Wegmans. It's in the pork section. Call and ask beforehand.

I'm not a fan of lard. Don't see a real reason for it. Just use crisco if you want crispiness in cookies.

Pie crust and Cuban bread are excellent “reasons”.

I make pie all the time and have made pie crust with lard. It makes the crust flaky yet crisp but it is also very, very rich. Heart attack rich.

Much prefer an all butter crust or blend of butter and crisco.

People cooked with lard because food was expensive and nothing was wasted. There is really no reason to cook with lard these days.

Classic DCUM response right here.

"I'm going to be contrary to this person who never asked my opinion for the sole reason of virtue signaling how much healthier I am than them for not liking rich food."

Guess what Karen, just because you pretend to be too good for rich food doesn't mean anyone else cares or feels that way.

If someone has no experience with lard and sees lard in a recipe like these cookies, it's well worth commenting that there's no real reason to use lard just because an old recipe calls for it. That's called sharing knowledge based on experience.

It’s also called confusing your own personal preferences and tastes with “real reasons “. It’s called arrogance. I’m not going to knock someone’s preference for Crisco — although I might suggest that they read up on hydrogenated oils. So, yeah, fats can be substituted. Those substitutions also change the quality of the final product. Although one person might not notice or care, it’s pretty arrogant to assume that others won’t care either. It’s also bizarre to offer “experience “ as a substitute for actual help.

Yes, I realize that this post isn’t going to be helpful to the OP, but I offered suggestions in an earlier post. I’m snippy, but not a hypocrite.

Cool it, whoever you are. You aren't snippy but self entitled and bitter and angry. This is a cooking forum. People are entitled to share experiences based on cooking. I've been cooking for 40 years, have dealt with lard more than a few times, and am offering my experience based on that.