Anonymous wrote:Shortening is absolutely necessary to achieve flakiness. Butter can't do that.

These are cookies, not pie crust

Anonymous wrote:Shortening is absolutely necessary to achieve flakiness. Butter can't do that.

Technically it can, but it's hard to do in a home kitchen because it's hard to keep the butter the correct temperature to fold it into the dough. Home bakers who know what they are doing often use shortening specifically for this reason, because otherwise you'd have to chill the butter, work it, put back in the fridge, work it, etc. It's a huge pain and you still might not get the flaky texture you want.

Usually with cookies I use butter, but I could imagine substituting shortening if I was doing a big batch and realized I didn't have enough butter on hand. I'd probably still use the butter I had though.

Shortening is absolutely necessary to achieve flakiness. Butter can't do that.

Anonymous wrote:OP, if the texture is the same, it's likely NOT shortening. Shortening has a different water content than butter and actually results in a cookie with a different texture.

One thing that might have happened if they have an odd taste like plastic is if she baked them using those silpat or similar sheets. Sometimes those can cause stuff to taste like plastic, especially if the sheet is new. It's almost like you sometimes have to air them out or wash them in hot water before using them.

Cookies with a side of cancer-causing PFAS. Yummy!

Shortening provides a different texture than butter and so is asked for in some recipes.

It has a higher melting temp than butter so tends to spread less.

What a ridiculous diss.

Maybe the ingredients are the same, but the greedy manufacturer is changing up the formula.

For example, I've had the worst luck lately with baker's chocolate (baker's brand). It tastes so off--tasteless and bland and blah--and is ruining recipes.

Anonymous wrote:LOL, you guys are so precious about your butter. Excellent bakers know when butter is the ingredient and when shortening is better, due to water and solids content, not to mention how it act with the other ingredients

This, which is why it's ridiculous to see all these people who don't bake acting like butter is the expensive, high end ingredient. It's comical. I have shortbread cookies I make with olive oil (and rosemary and chocolate), and since you can really taste the olive oil, I use the expensive stuff I buy from the specialty Italian store instead of the giant bottle of California olive oil I buy at the grocery store. But there are lots of other recipes I make using vegetable oil or shortening because they give a better texture. Many recipes work better with shortening because it is more stable during cooking. Still other recipes, I will melt the butter before incorporating into the batter, rather than creaming with the sugar. For pastry, I sometimes use shortening because of the challenges of working butter into a dough when my kitchen is hot. Shortening doesn't get hard like butter when it's cold, but it also doesn't melt when it's warm, making it an easier option if I'm making pie crusts in July or at the same time as I'm baking something in the oven at 500 degrees making my kitchen run hot. I like having options.

It's such a DCUM thing to be like "ew Crisco, don't poor people use that? it must be bad." It's ignorant and elitist, and therefore perfectly on brand.

Anonymous wrote:I hate crisco and margarine. But some people prefer to bake with it. I don’t think it is price issue, rather a taste and consistency preference

It’s possibly an age issue. I’m old enough to remember when butter was “bad” for you and Crisco and margarine were sold as healthier alternatives, so my taste buds and my vintage recipes call for Crisco or margarine as my baseline for taste and texture with those recipes.

Anonymous wrote:OP, if the texture is the same, it's likely NOT shortening. Shortening has a different water content than butter and actually results in a cookie with a different texture.

One thing that might have happened if they have an odd taste like plastic is if she baked them using those silpat or similar sheets. Sometimes those can cause stuff to taste like plastic, especially if the sheet is new. It's almost like you sometimes have to air them out or wash them in hot water before using them.

Oh my gosh! I wonder if that was it. Do people know you’re supposed to thoroughly clean them first?

Anonymous wrote:My husband's family (both sides) always made their cookies with either margarine or shortening. As a result, all of their cookies were bland and flavorless. When I made a batch of his grandma's kolache cookies after she died, everyone couldn't get over how delicious they were and how they never remembered that type of cookie being that good. It was because I used butter.

That’s what his wife’s cookies tasted like today. Bland with a weird mouthfeel and aftertaste.

Anonymous wrote:I grew up making the Nestle tollhouse cookie recipe WITH Crisco.

It is not being a cheapskate, it's just a taste preference. It makes them crispier.

Also, try looking at the cost of 3 sticks of Crisco - it costs more than butter.

Me, too. I think it was because my parents were cheap, though.

I use butter for nestle tollhouse now, but I might use shortening for a big group to make them vegan.

And I’d rather eat a spoonful of Crisco than say the word “mouthfeel.”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our boss brought cookies today. His wife is an excellent cook. However, her cookies today have a strange mouthfeel and artificial taste. There are only so many ingredients in a normal chocolate chip cookie, right, so I’m assuming this time she used shortening or margarine? Apparently there’s even a butter-flavored shortening! Who knew. Or could she have used a pan that she previously cooked something greasy on? Something is off and it’s bothering me. I almost want to grab another one of these awful cookies to sus it out.

Oh dear. You don’t bake, do you?

No, I don't.

Then don’t be so snotty about homemade baked goods. PPs have explained why you don’t know what you’re talking about.

I hate crisco and margarine. But some people prefer to bake with it. I don’t think it is price issue, rather a taste and consistency preference

OP I don’t have any Crisco or margarine in my house. I never bake with them.

But my mother and sister only bake chocolate chip cookies with Crisco. They think it tastes better. It makes cookies crispier and that’s they like and prefer to all-butter chocolate chips. That’s what it is - a preference.

Don’t gloat over your superiority. It’s not a good look.

The baker could have used browned butter. This method has become trendy.