Butter is essential in cookie recipes because it imparts a rich taste and a desirable crisp texture. So don’t worry if you start combining your components and find you’ve run out of this miraculous ingredient. There are several possible substitutes, ranging from margarine to oil, shortening to mashed bananas.

Hello there! My name is Shea, and I’ve been a self-taught baker for almost 10 years. I like baking, particularly when it comes to cookies. I can’t get enough of cookies since they’re so sweet, delicate, and magical.

If you’ve looked everywhere and still can’t locate a stick of butter in your refrigerator, keep reading. This post will go through all of the finest butter alternatives for cookies, so you can easily make a new batch without any difficulty.

I can already smell them, can you?

6 Best Butter Substitutes for Cookies

The good news is that there are plenty excellent butter replacements available. In fact, you could prefer the feel of one of these versions over the others. (In that case, please share your success experiences in the comments area below!)

1. Margarine

Good ol’ margarine. Some people prefer it over butter in general, therefore substituting margarine for butter in cookie recipes is frequent. And, hey, it works perfectly. You’ll be pleased with the outcomes if you substitute it at a 1:1 ratio.

Nevertheless, keep one thing in mind: cookies cooked with margarine will be softer and fluffier. Is this a negative thing? Certainly not. Is it something you’d anticipate, particularly if you wanted extremely crispy chocolate chip cookies? Nope.

2. Shortening

Shortening is another good alternative for butter in cookies. Since it is made entirely of fat, the cookies will be taller and more soft than those made with butter. Again, this isn’t a terrible thing; it’s simply not what you’d anticipate.

Shortening has the disadvantage of lacking taste and moisture. You may discover that your cookie dough is stiff and difficult to work with. If this is the case, a little amount of additional liquid will suffice.

Do you have any reservations about the taste profile? The finest choice is butter-flavored shortening. If you don’t have any, you may add additional flavour to your cookie. To enhance the flavor, add a bit of vanilla extract or chocolate chips.

3. Oil

In cookies, any kind of oil may be used in place of butter. Why? It boils down to one word: fat. Since fat is essential for cookie formation, anything heavy in fat may be substituted for butter.

When substituting oil for butter, use about around the quantity specified in the recipe. Otherwise, your cookies will be quite oily and unappealing.

Overall, oil results in a flatter, thinner, and chewier cookie. Also, using an oil with a strong flavor, such as coconut oil, may affect the taste. Hence, while deciding which oil to use, proceed with caution. (Olive and vegetable oil tend to be the top options).

4. Mashed Fruit

In recent years, baking using applesauce or mashed banana instead of butter has become popular. That’s because it works, and your goodies will be healthier and more tasty as a result. Nevertheless, mashed fruit such as applesauce, banana, avocado, and pumpkin puree may be used in place of butter.

Using one of these alternatives will obviously modify the taste somewhat. You should also be cautious about how you substitute butter. These are some basic guidelines:

• For every cup of butter, use one cup of pumpkin puree.

• When substituting applesauce, use the same quantity.

• A banana is the same as one stick of butter.

• When using avocado, use a 1:1 ratio.

5. Buttermilk

Buttermilk is an excellent substitute for butter in cookies since it has no effect on the taste. You get the same decadent and rich flavor from buttermilk as you would from a stick of butter. But, you should decrease the quantity in half to prevent your cookie dough from being overly moist.

Is there no buttermilk? No worries. You can easily create buttermilk at home! Just stir a teaspoon of lemon juice (or white vinegar) into a cup of whole milk. Let it to settle for around five minutes, and you’ve got homemade buttermilk to garnish your cookie dough.

6. Cream Cheese

I’m a big admirer of cream cheese, so I usually keep enough on hand. So, how about you? If you’re a big fan of cream cheese and have some in the fridge, use it as a butter alternative for cookies in a 1:1 ratio.

The texture will vary somewhat, but not much. For example, you may realize that your cookies are not as crunchy as you would want. These aren’t drastic alterations, and the greatest thing is that your cookies will have more protein.

Just be sure to use full-fat cream cheese!

FAQs

These are the top six finest butter alternatives for cookies. You now have no reason not to bake your favorite cookies. Do you still have questions? No need to worry. Let’s take a look at some of the commonly asked questions.

What happens if I don’t put butter in cookies?

Excellent question! After all, if you don’t have any butter on hand, you may as well skip it altogether. So let me pause you there. Cookies need some kind of fat, therefore leaving out the butter or any butter replacement is a no-no.

For one thing, the cookies will undoubtedly be dry and crumbly. It may be difficult to get them onto the cookie sheet in the first place. Second, they will be flavorless and lack depth. Third, they’ll be very tough and uncontrollable. Remember to include butter or a butter substitute!

What is the secret to soft cookies?

There are several methods for promoting a softer texture in cookies. As stated above, some of the replacements cause higher overall softness (such as the case for margarine, shortening, etc.).

Softer cookies may be made by adding a touch of cornstarch, shortening the cooking time slightly, using more brown sugar than white sugar, and adding an additional egg yolk. Here are some of the greatest techniques for making ooey-gooey, absolutely soft cookies.

Can I substitute mayonnaise for butter?

While it may come as a surprise, mayonnaise may be used in place of butter. Mayo is an odd, unusual, and perhaps startling alternative for butter, but it works well. It literally makes cookies so moist that they melt in your mouth. Give it a go!

Final Words

Although butter is best for baking cookies, it is not the only choice. You may use margarine, shortening, oil, mashed fruit, buttermilk, or cream cheese for the butter. If you like, you may even add mayonnaise!

Have you tried any of these cookie substitutions? Try it out and share your findings in the comments section! Additionally, please suggest some other amazing options so that we may test them as well.