What makes cookies chewy butter or shortening?
Michael Gray
Updated on April 03, 2026
Not only does butter have a much richer taste, making your chewy cookies more delicious, but it also has more moisture than shortening. Butter is typically 80% fat and 20% water while shortening is 100% fat. You actually want that little bit of water when you are trying to achieve a chewy cookie.
What makes a cookie chewy or crunchy?
Using lower-moisture sugar (granulated) and fat (vegetable shortening), plus a longer, slower bake than normal, produces light, crunchy cookies. That said, using a combination of butter and vegetable shortening (as in the original recipe), or even using all butter, will make an acceptably crunchy chocolate chip cookie.
Can you use half butter half shortening?
Combining two different fats such as margarine and shortening will give a recipe some of each fat’s best qualities. For example, by using both butter and shortening in a cookie recipe, you will get the wonderful flavor of butter, while the shortening will keep the cookies from spreading too flat.
What is the best oatmeal cookie recipe?
In a small bowl, combine the eggs, raisins, and vanilla. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges are golden.
What can you substitute for oatmeal in cookies?
You can replace the oats in an oatmeal cookie recipe with an equal amount of ground flax, rice bran, quinoa flakes or chia seeds. Ground flax has very little flavor and is likely to produce cookies that taste similar to the recipe with oats, with a slightly grittier texture.
How do you make oatmeal cookies without sugar?
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Stir oats, bananas, applesauce, raisins, almond milk, vanilla extract, and cinnamon together in a bowl until evenly mixed; drop by the spoonful onto a baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven until the edges are golden, 15 to 20 minutes.
Can you make oatmeal cookies without brown sugar?
How to Make Oatmeal Cookies Without Brown Sugar and Nutmeg. Oatmeal cookies have a signature taste and texture, thanks to brown sugar and nutmeg. In a pinch, granulated white sugar can replace brown sugar cup for cup, and cinnamon can replace nutmeg or allspice at twice the amount (1 teaspoon cinnamon for 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg or allspice).