Butter vs. Margarine: What's Better for Baking? (2024)

FAQs

Butter vs. Margarine: What's Better for Baking? ›

But when you're baking, butter triumphs over margarine every time. For cakes, cookies, and pastries, butter (unsalted, that is) provides richer flavor. (It begins as cream, after all, and margarine is made from vegetable oil.) Butter's high fat content is also what gives baked goods their texture.

Margarine often has a lower saturated fat content and higher water content than butter does causing it to be much softer when cold. Because of it softer property, margarine can cause cakes to be less tender and cookies will generally spread out more and be less crisp when compared to the same recipe using butter.

If you swap in softened margarine in a recipe calling for softened butter, you'll get a different texture—cookies made with margarine are more likely to spread when they bake and pie crust made with margarine won't be as tender and flaky as one made with butter.

In baking, melted margarine could work in recipes that call for melted butter, but in recipes that call for softened butter, swapping in tub margarine may change the texture; for example, cakes will be less tender, and cookies will generally spread out more and be less crisp.

Margarine is a blend of oils that are mostly unsaturated fat. Butter is made from cream or milk. The type of fat found in animal products, such as cream, is mostly saturated fat. Replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat may lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Country Crock® is a spread made with oils from plants, whereas butter is made with milk or cream from cows. Country Crock® has less saturated fat per serving than dairy butter, but still has a delicious buttery taste. Country Crock® products also tend to be softer out of the fridge for easy spreading.

The biggest difference in butter is the amount of salt. For baking purposes, the Test Kitchen recommends using unsalted butter so you can better control the amount of salt that goes into the recipe. Salted butter is best for serving at the table with bread or to flavor a dish, like mashed potatoes.

With Land O Lakes® Margarine, you will get consistent results every time you use it to make your baking the best. Delight your family and friends with quality baked goods, and they'll be asking for your recipes and your secret ingredient.

Stick margarine made with 80% vegetable oil, i.e. Land O Lakes® Margarine, can be substituted for butter in most baking applications, except pastry recipes and candy made from boiled syrup. Margarine will produce a softer dough than one made with butter, and it will not have the same flavor as recipe made with butter.

My favourite fats for baking and raw desserts are extra virgin olive oil, grass fed butter or ghee, macadamia nut oil, cold-pressed coconut oil and avocado oil.

Does butter or margarine make softer cookies? ›

Though most bakers and cooks prefer butter for its unparalleled taste, margarine does have its place. Because of its high water content, baked goods made with margarine will often have a softer texture.

Healthy Diet

Even though butter is a better choice over margarine, people who are overweight or obese are often advised not to consume butter. For such people, margarine with low or no trans fat is sometimes considered to be the best option, since it may prevent increases in blood cholesterol level and heart disease.

High quality and high fat margarine can actually produce a lighter cake with a better rise than butter can – butter can also make sponge cakes a bit too rich. We have tried both butter and margaine in our sponge cakes and found everytime that margarine was far superior on taste, texture and the rise of the cake.

Avocado Provides a Creamy Texture and Heart-Healthy Fat

This fatty fruit is a must in your recipes. “Avocado contains heart-healthy fat and nearly 20 vitamins and minerals,” says Poulson. Mashed avocado can be substituted for butter at a 1:1 ratio and is particularly good in recipes containing chocolate or cocoa.

Since the concept of squeeze spread isn't new, we found a way to make LAND O LAKES^® Soft Squeeze^™ butter spread stand out: It contains real butter.

The fact is, just because something is “real” does not necessarily make it good for you. The “real” ingredients that “I Can't Believe It's Not Butter” is touting are oils and salt. The ingredient list of “I Can't Believe It's Not Butter” reveals unhealthy ingredients like tropical oils and salt.

The job of butter in baking (besides being delicious) is to give richness, tenderness and structure to cookies, cakes, pies and pastries. We alter the way butter works in a recipe by changing its temperature and choosing when to combine it with the other ingredients.

If you're looking to achieve the best of both worlds, consider using half margarine and butter in your cookie recipes. This hybrid approach can offer the benefits of both fats, resulting in cookies that are soft, flavorful, and perfectly balanced.

Well if you really have to use margarine instead of shortening or butter for baking look for unsalted margarine that come in stick form and/or that say 'good for baking' on the package.