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When it comes to baking and cooking, shortening is incredibly famous. It’s basically any fat that remains in solid form at room temperature.
Shortening is often used to make crumbly pastry and pie crusts. Crisco is a popular American brand of shortening. Unfortunately, Crisco is often out of stock at the local grocer. There are various other fats that you can use in place of Crisco.
What Are Some Good Crisco Substitutes?
1. Butter
If you don’t have Crisco shortening, you can use butter instead. Many of you will have butter in your fridge anyway. Bear in mind that you will need to add more butter to your recipe.
If your recipe calls for one cup of Crisco shortening, you will need to substitute it for one cup of butter and add another two or three tablespoons of butter to the mixture.
Butter has a lower melting point than Crisco, and this can change the texture of your baked or cooked goods. The melting point can affect how fluffy, crispy, or flaky your end product is.
We suggest that you experiment with butter before making your desired dish. Try substituting half the Crisco for butter the next time you make something, and see how this changes the texture of your dish.
Butter is a great substitute for shortening in cookies as it increases flattening and crispiness and gives the cookies a delicious buttery flavor.
If you prefer crunchy, crispy cookies to soft cookies, then you should try using butter as a substitute for Crisco the next time you bake a batch of cookies. You will need to use all butter if you substitute butter for Crisco in a batch of cookies.
2. Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is another excellent substitute for Crisco. Unlike butter, if you are substituting coconut oil for Crisco, there is no need to change the quantity. Coconut oil has a very different flavor to Crisco, so ensure that a coconut flavor will complement your recipe.
If you are using coconut oil in shortening, you need to either beat the coconut oil with sugar or melt it.
While beating the coconut oil with sugar can work for baked goods, you will need to melt it for most cooked goods as they do not generally contain sugar. Coconut oil melts easily in the microwave or a pot on the stove.
Coconut oil has many beneficial fats, making it a healthy alternative. This being said, coconut oil will increase the fat content of the dish. Coconut oil has a higher fat content than butter.
3. Lard
Lard is a versatile fat that you can use instead of Crisco in most recipes. Lard is an animal product.
Unlike butter, lard is great for deep frying. The low water content in the lard will result in little splattering and smoking when you are cooking.
4. Margarine
Margarine is an even better alternative to Crisco than butter. Margarine is generally much more affordable than butter. Unfortunately, margarine is processed, and its flavor is not as delicious as that of butter.
This being said, many people have become accustomed to the flavor of margarine, especially in baked goods.
5. Bacon Fat
Bacon fat is sometimes called lard. However, bacon fat consists of salty stripes that are usually smoked and cured.
The flavor of bacon fat is quite different from the flavor of Crisco. Bacon fat will work especially well in savory dishes. Since bacon fat is so salty, you might need to reduce the salt quantity in the recipe if you are using bacon fat in place of Crisco.
6. Vegetable Oil
Crisco is made from vegetable oil. This makes vegetable oil an excellent substitute for Crisco. Olive oil is an excellent choice, as it is healthier than many other oils. Olive oil has a strong flavor and works much better in savory dishes than in sweet dishes.
Olive oil is also great for deep frying. Peanut oil also works well for this but has a distinctive flavor that will not complement many recipes.
7. Applesauce
Applesauce is a great substitute for Crisco in baked goods. Applesauce compliments cookies and cakes. Applesauce will result in quite a dense final product. If you are using applesauce in place of Crisco, you should reduce the sugar used in the recipe.
This is because apples are naturally slightly sweet, and many brands of applesauce have sugar added to them. Some people even use mashed bananas if they don’t have applesauce.
Conclusion
We hope that this article has helped you find a suitable substitute for Crisco. Let us know in the comments below which substitute you used and what you made. Did your dish come out differently?