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One of the most asked questions that we receive is about substituting in chocolate chip cookies. I figured that if we had a guide that everyone could pin or read over it would hopefully help to solve any questions about substituting different fats in place of the butter. **NOTE** The above cookies are with butter. See below for further explanation.
Depending on the fat your cookie can turn out totally different. These cookies were all the exact same recipe, but the first used softened butter, then margarine, shortening and good quality coconut oil and clearly they all turned out different. But it’s not just about how it looks on the outside it’s also the inside texture. See the very first photo to see why we love the butter cookie the most for flavor and texture.
Butter~ The butter cookies were soft in the middle, not greasy and the edges were chewy and wonderful. You’ll notice the horizontal picture has a butter cookie that is flatter, however the first shot the cookie is puffy. We froze the rest of the cookie dough and ended up with a beautiful shape and texture. Butter and then frozen dough is our preference for perfect flavor, texture, and appearance.
Margarine~ This cookie wasn’t bad in flavor, but it was very flat and quickly turned quite crisp.
Shortening~ Don’t be fooled by the nice height of the cookie. Definitely not one we would ever eat. The cookie was very dry. You would need to add more moisture to this cookie.
Coconut Oil~ This cookie was actually more tender but quite obvious that there was coconut oil which in our opinion cannot be a classic chocolate chip cookie. It also dried out faster.
