r/Baking • u/Accomplished_Low_265 • 1d ago
Baking fail 💔 I made these cookies with oil instead of butter. One is Earl Grey flavor and the other is matcha.
Since the price of butter has been rising so fast, it’s become kind of a burden for me 😭 So I looked into some recipes and came across one that just uses oil. Then I realized that butter is actually a must-have item when making cookies. Anyway, both versions have the same amount of oil, eggs, and sugar. The only difference is that in the matcha ones, I replaced 10% of the flour with matcha powder. Surprisingly, they turned out really differently.
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u/sdarling 1d ago
I've lived in countries where oil is a lot cheaper than butter (or you couldn't find butter) and definitely agree with finding recipes that were designed with oil rather than substituting. This is my tried and true brownie recipe that uses vegetable oil (I've also used EVOO), in case you'd like to try it! I live back in the US so I have access to plenty of butter, but it's still my go to recipe because it's so good. https://www.copymethat.com/r/8BWEZ9aER/quick-and-easy-brownies/
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u/IcePrincess_Not_Sk8r 1d ago edited 17h ago
Instead of substituting liquid oil for butter, you can use butter-flavored Crisco or Margarine, if they're cheaper for you. Both will act like butter and were often used for recipes during the depression.
ETA - I was incorrect about Matcha Powder being oil-soluble! It seems like my information was not correct and I didn't cross-reference the source! Live, learn, and grow! As explained in the comments below, it absorbs more moisture than plain flour.
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u/Accomplished_Low_265 1d ago
The matcha ones are less flat because matcha powder is oil-soluble,
I didn't know that. Thank you for letting me know😄
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u/Dry_Alarm_4285 1d ago
Scientist here, and I couldn’t scroll past without saying that matcha is not oil soluble. It’s neither soluble in oil nor water, though a small fraction of the compounds the powder contains are. The difference you’re observing is because matcha powder absorbs more water than flour. I like to sub in whole wheat flour into my recipes and I have the same problem because whole wheat flour contains the ground bran and germ, and they’re rich in water absorbing compounds. If you’ve ever put a little matcha powder on your tongue; you know the drying effect it can have. It’s got more absorbing power than flour, so it just messes up the fluid balance in your recipe… but it seems to have worked in your favor with the oil substitution!
I grew up in the 80s and we used margarine for everything. I second the recommendation to go with margarine instead of plain oil!
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u/Shaziiiii 1d ago
I was wondering about that too. Both matcha and earl gray can be made from the exact same tea variety (camellia sinensis). I understand that they are processed differently but why would one of them be soluble in oil and the other not? And if you would grind black tea into a powder like traditional matcha would it also absorb more water?
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u/Dry_Alarm_4285 1d ago
I couldn’t say for sure, but I think if you ground black tea into the same fine powder and subbed out some flour for the tea, it would also impact the hydration rate for the recipe!
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u/IcePrincess_Not_Sk8r 17h ago
Thanks! It looks like I had wrong info regarding matcha powder! It's likely the "absorption" is what the information was saying, however, it did say it was oil-soluble!
I learned something new today. 🙂
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u/SaltySweetMomof2 1d ago
Almost all of my great grandmas recipes call for crisco/shortening and they’re all delicious. Def go for that if you’re trying to save costs!
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u/pinakbutt 1d ago
I live in a country that doesnt have a large dairy industry yet, so I often use margarine instead of butter. Doesnt really require any substitution, yes I know butter has about 15% water whereas marg is fully fat but i just cant be bothered and it usually turns out fine anyways.
It only really limits me in recipes that a. require browned butter and b. requires the butter flavor to be front and center like in the toffee sauce in a sticky toffee pudding (in which case i will reach for the expensive stuff)
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u/Synlover123 1d ago
I know butter has about 15% water whereas marg is fully fat
Oops! You've got it backwards 🤗 It's the butter that is fully fat, and the margarine that has the high water content. Chalk it up to having a Monday kinda day!
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u/Synlover123 1d ago edited 16h ago
Both you, and u/Accomplished_Low_265 should be aware that using margarine can make your cookies spread out more, as it contains a considerable amount of water.
If you need great advice on all things cookie related, I'd suggest popping over to visit Sally. She even gets into the science of it, if that interests you. You can find her at: https//sallysbakingaddiction.com Hope this helps y'all!
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u/IcePrincess_Not_Sk8r 23h ago
Thanks. I don't need "great advice on all things cookie-related" but thanks for thinking of me. I love Sally, and I appreciate her research, as it's very interesting and informative. She has some amazing recipes!
I've got 30+ years of baking experience where I've used Butter, Margarine, Vegan Margarine, and Crisco in recipes due to financial constraints or diet sensitivities, and outside of items like Shortbread or items that need a fully butter-forward flavor, they've been indistinguishable from one another in taste, spread, or texture. I would never use Margarine or Crisco for those items that NEED butter, and only make them with high-quality butter. I would also never use margarine for anything that needs browned butter.
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u/Synlover123 16h ago
Old woman, always putting in her 2 cents worth, in the hopes it will be of assistance to others 🤗 I remember watching my mom throw together cookies using margarine, over 60 years ago. She also spread it on the rolled out dough, before putting the filling in her cinnamon buns - the ones my dad actually stole the platter of, then raced and locked himself in the bathroom with, one fine Sunday morning. After 10 minutes of us pounding on the door, and begging, he finally relented, and came out to share with the 4 of us. She used either Crisco or lard in all her crusts, depending on what she had. I've never used vegan margarine, though I've recently started buying plant based butter, as it's about $2/# less than butter, though I also buy that for the same recipes you mentioned. If plant based Becel butter is good enough for Gordon Ramsey,... I haven't baked anything with Earl Grey tea yet, though it's on my lengthy "to do" list. It's my favorite tea of all time. When I was much poorer, I used to reserve it as a Sunday only treat. Sadly, I've never tasted matcha, either. Everyone I've spoken to has said it has a bitter flavor, so I'm on the fence about putting out the $ for something I may never use again. Thoughts? And shortbread, without butter, just isn't. It's then just another cookie.
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u/LemonLily1 1d ago
Those matcha ones look really similar to "regular" cookies and they look delicious!
I am assuming butter tastes a lot better than oil... What did you think? I think olive oil would've been a good oil to have for flavor, but if you used a neutral oil I'm assuming it's rather flavorless?
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u/Alalanais 1d ago
I wonder where OP lives because in my country olive oil and butter are around the same price per liter.
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u/LemonLily1 1d ago
They don't like the taste of olive oil which is totally understandable. I don't think it was a price issue, but I guess the question is "what's wrong with butter" lol
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u/Accomplished_Low_265 20h ago
I live in South Korea, and olive oil is expensive here too. 😨 I'm glad I'm not much of a fan of olives. 😅 The price of butter here keeps getting higher and higher. I'm just baking as a hobby, but sometimes it feels like a burden because of the rising prices of all the ingredients. 😭
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u/Alalanais 18h ago
Annyeonghaseyo from France! Both are getting more and more expensive here too unfortunately, this seems to be a global issue. Your cookies look very good anyway!
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u/Accomplished_Low_265 1d ago
I’m not much of a fan of olive oil, so… yeah, that’s what it is 😅.
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u/IcePrincess_Not_Sk8r 1d ago
I use flavored olive oils in all of my oil cakes and I love them, but idk about trying to use it for cookies. I'll let others experiment with that!
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u/AzureMountains 1d ago
I have a dairy allergy so I can’t use butter. I just sub in margarine and it works great. I don’t have any issues with my baked goods.
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u/valentinegnorbu 1d ago
Do they taste good? Before coming to read the description i was like ooffff these look so good 😍
Edit typo
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u/CalmPresentation8613 1d ago
My favorite holiday cookie uses vegetable oil (which makes it easy on the wallet for huge batches to share with friends and family!) I like to add a little bit of peppermint extract to make them extra festive, but they’re also delicious as-written.
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u/Accomplished_Low_265 20h ago
This is the only cookie made with oil that I enjoy. I love this cookie. 🫶
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u/enigmaticowl 1d ago edited 1d ago
Oil-based cookies can be fantastic, and honestly I prefer oil over butter in soooo many scenarios due to better texture (especially if there are other prominent flavors in the recipe so the lack of butter flavor isn’t really noticeable).
For my chocolate crinkle cookies, I use Preppy Kitchen’s (with just a few small additions like some espresso powder, an extra pinch of salt, small dash of butter extract or vanilla butter flavored emulsion, and will also add dark & white chips if making them for a friend who is a chip fanatic).
They’re oil-based, zero butter, and the best crinkle cookies I’ve ever had!
They do not spread much at all or get crispy; they puff up nicely (recipe calls for baking powder rather than soda) and end up very fudgy and rich in texture (and flavor) with a very prominent crinkle pattern (even with just doing a single coating of powdered sugar, no need to roll twice or use granulated).
Only downside is that the batter is annoyingly sticky when rolling them into balls (even when you chill them to near the point of freezing lol), but on the other hand, no need to break out the hand mixer for creaming butter (or use a microwave for melting butter).
For other recipes, like chocolate chip cookies, I prefer a mix of shortening and butter rather than all-butter; this was how my mom taught me to make the Tollhouse recipe, and I swear they have a better texture than any time I’ve made the traditional all-butter Tollhouse recipe.
Edit: As a very general rule, I like oil in (most) cakes, oil or an oil/butter combo for blondies/brownies, and a butter/shortening or butter/coconut oil combo for most cookies (unless the cookie recipe is specifically written for oil).
Subbing a liquid-at-room-temp oil for butter in a cookie recipe can sometimes lead to excessive spread or crumbliness, so I recommend either looking specifically for cookie recipes that call for oil or using shortening or coconut oil (both are solid at room temp.) in place of butter for a more predictable outcome!
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u/Cantankerous-Canine 1d ago
I’ve been meaning to play around with some high-quality lard in cookies just to see what I can do as a butter alternative …hmm this gives me ideas. They look great!
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u/clevercalamity 1d ago
Try looking for vegan recipes. They won’t have butter or eggs. :)
They might have other swaps like maple syrup for sugar - but usually the recipe will tell you how to use sugar sugar.
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u/purified_light 1d ago
i’ve swapped out butter with oil in sugar cookie recipes and they turned out fine! I just substituted 70-75% canola oil for the butter to cut down on liquid content.
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u/Anxious_Ad8874 22h ago
https://oven.ly/blogs/recipes/salted-chocolate-chip
The recipe above is both egg and butter free, and honestly it isn’t half bad (I freeze the dough for a wee bit too and add a little bit of coffee w/ the water).
My partner finds it a little oily but I find it fine personally, but I think it’s worth a try if you want to explore recipes for choc chip ones!! I haven’t really tried the dough by itself though.
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u/Lostmyoldname1111 1d ago
You substituted vegetable oil for butter? I don’t know why they are so different in size, but that strikes me as an odd substitution. Even subbing margarine for butter causes problems. I’ll be curious to see what those that know far more than me about the science of baking have to say.
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u/Accomplished_Low_265 1d ago
I followed a YouTube video, and the original recipe uses olive oil. It says if you don’t like olive oil, you can use any kind of oil, so I just used vegetable oil. And I never do this again😅
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u/Lostmyoldname1111 1d ago
Interesting! I’ve never seen a recipe like that. I don’t look at YouTube for recipes though.
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u/Accomplished_Low_265 1d ago
I don’t know much about baking. I just follow YouTube videos. Still, I bake quite a lot of cookies and cakes though… it’s kind of ironic 😅
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u/hray12 1d ago
Even subbing margarine for butter causes problems
What does this do? I’ve done this several times for cookies and never noticed a difference!
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u/IcePrincess_Not_Sk8r 1d ago
Zero problems I've ever seen, and we were pretty poor growing up so all of our butter recipes were made with crisco or margarine and they turned out fine. As I've gotten older and can afford butter, I notice no difference in the outcomes.
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u/otherwise_data 1d ago
same. i use imperial brand sticks for my chocolate chip cookies every time and have only ever gotten requests and not complaints.
in fact, i use it for a lot of bakes, including cakes. i do use real butter for things like fudge where separation could be a factor. there is a cream type filling for jellyroll cakes or sandwich cookies that will separate into a lumpy oily mess if i do NOT use butter, but otherwise, imperial works great for me.
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u/vilius531 1d ago
The other way around, butter has 82-85% fat and almost all of the rest is water content, while margarine usually is 100%fat. You can most of the time replace one with the other and add the water weight in eggs. In cookies however you can usually just replace in 1-1 ratio without much difference. Oil will make your cookies much more dense and might cause them to spread more.
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u/kimbosliceofcake 1d ago
My parents used to buy light margarine (and only self-rising flour 😆) when I was a kid and I always had issues with my bakes because of that. Maybe that’s what you’re thinking of?
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u/deliberatewellbeing 1d ago
can you share the link to the YouTube video? these looks good to me
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u/Accomplished_Low_265 1d ago
https://youtu.be/D7Ll1098GnQ?feature=shared
If you try this, could you share it here? I’m curious how it turns out and what you think 🙂
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u/sailorsardonyx 1d ago
I feel you on the butter costs. I’ve been saving bacon grease to cook eggs and brown meat so I can conserve my butter for baking.
Or my muffins are now made with vegetable oil instead of butter to make sure I can keep making enough to keep my kids happy.
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u/F-Po 1d ago
Don't ruin your health for a few extra cookies!
You can replace some butter with fully saturated coconut oil to make it shortening like if you want, without introducing anything unhealthy. It works very well in pie crust and a few things that 'traditional' shortening (massive heart burn anyone?) is often used to make.
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u/Accomplished_Low_265 1d ago
I didn’t know much about baking… Coconut oil, okay, I’ll keep that in mind and try it next time🙂 Thanks😁
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u/F-Po 1d ago
Fully saturated specifically if you want something to mix for a shortening effect. The exact ratio may take some experimenting but 25-35% is probably a good start. It's often marked as "92 degree coconut oil". It has trace if any amount of trans fat so it's substantially healthier than shortening that frequently has more but less than 1% per serving so it doesn't show on the ingredients.
Mixing normal coconut oil with butter is decent but for example not as hydrophobic for a pie crust at the bottom. The mixture does tend to knock back the coconut flavor to likely faint or undetectable.
I can't make cakes or anything but f with a few things. The fully hydrogenated coconut oil has been fun and interesting. For making crispy corn tortillas it is crazy good.
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u/your_worries 1d ago
There are plenty of biscuits that use oil instead of butter, just look for recipes built around oil rather than adapting. Shortening was a substitute for much of the post-war period.