Shortening-free rolled cookies?

[Leslie]

I've decided not to bake with solid fat anymore. No more butter or Crisco. I just found a recipe for biscuits that uses oil instead of shortening, so I have hope that a recipe for this may exist, too . . .

My husband loves to makes rolled cookies with the kids at Christmas. They're a plain shortbread kind of cookie. I personally think they taste boring and bland, but he loves them. In fact, he triples the batch and, after the kids have fun decorating them, he eats most of them himself. :lol I think it's the butter flavor he really likes, so maybe I'd want to use the butter, but not the shortening? The recipe is from Better Homes and Gardens, and the ingredents are:

2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
6 Tablespoons butter
1 /3 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 Tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

I'll post the ingredients for the shortening-free biscuits in a post of its own.

[Mothering by Heart]

Thank you! :yum

[Irene]

for us, anything that says butter or shortening (we are dairy and soy free) I use oil or coconut oil with. Im out of coconut oil, so I have just been using olive oil and the things turn out pretty well. some recipes just dont, so I need to figure that out... (or hope that coconut oil comes in soon). course, it doesnt have the butter flavor... :shrug

[Leslie]

Irene, I usually just substitute oil, too. But for certain things, like biscuits and rolled cookies, doesn't it need the stiffness of solid fat to work right?

[Irene]

I dunno! maybe thats why some things dont turn out :lol I am a far cry from an experienced cook! so then maybe I would try coconut oil because its hard, like shortening, there is also another kind of shortening they make I think from Specturm Naturals... yes here is it : http://www.spectrumorganics.com/index.php?id=87 that you can use that is healthier... unless you want to stay away from it altogether, or just use it when you need too...

Earth Balance too gives a buttery taste, but again, Im not sure your reason to give all this up....

kinda rambling here :blush

[Leslie]

Irene, as a last resort, I'll use one of those non-hydrogenated margarines. But now that I know biscuits can be made with oil, I feel sure that it's possible to do it with a rolled cookie and I'm determined to find a recipe somewhere. Unfortunately, my cooking skills don't match my determination, so I can't create a recipe myself. :P

[Irene]

lol! me neither... let me know though! maybe more flour? mine always just seem to melt and become very flat and I cant even get them off the pan.... I would sure like to know!

[Mothering by Heart]

Maybe, chilling the (insert fat choice here) would help. In th etips for chocolate chip cookis, it suggested that. It worked for cookies, so maybe :shrug Unless your (insert fat choice here) is already chilled, then disregard :mrgreen

[Irene]

thats interesting! I wonder why? do you chill it after its mixed or just chill the oil or whatever?

I know that sometimes when I have chilled the cookies after mixing it gets really crumbly and I have to warm it up, remix it and add water...

[Mothering by Heart]

If it is solid, then I think it would work better chilled. I don't know about just oil...

[Leslie]

Maybe, chilling the (insert fat choice here) would help. In th etips for chocolate chip cookis, it suggested that. It worked for cookies


Solid fats harden when you chill them, so chilling the dough makes the dough stiffer. But oil won't harden no matter how much you chill it, so dough made with oil might not ever get stiff enough to work with.

Maybe I'll just need to try it and see if it's a total disaster? :lol

[Irene]

try it!!! :D

I have been chilling my oil and it actually worked on one thing the other day... wierd. I stuck it in the freezer :lol but it wasnt a rolled cookie...

I have added more flour and stuff to mine when it seems to greasy and they seem to work better. I wasnt doing anything at all at first, but now with extra flour it seems to be working at least a little better.

let us know! :)