Best butter substitute for baking?

Si_Clist

We do a lot of pastry-making, for which we use butter and wholemeal spelt flour, usually in the ratio of about 3oz one to 8oz t'other. And our pastry is yummy

But alas, we have to get the old cholesterol down, and that means changing the pastry recipe by using a lower-saturated-fat fat.

What margarine do folks find is the best compromise between saturated fat content and taste when it comes to making cakes and short pastry?

caronc

Stork works well and is much lower in saturated fat than butter. Mary Berry is a big fan of using in baking.

-taff

My mother always used stork, and so do I. But we also only used it for pastry with white flour, not wholemeal. Gve it a go and see how it is. And report back

maddiemay

Depending on which type of oil would meet your criteria in respect of cholesterol you could use oil for cakes or pastry.

Nigella suggests 80% substitute oil for butter for cake, the flavour would be affected and possibly the texture of some types.

There is a nice looking pastry recipe for quiche using olive oil on a site called Fuss Free Cooking. The following put into a well known search engine beginning with G spelt flour olive oil pastry produces several recipes if olive is acceptable to you.

ancientofdays

I often use a margarine-type thing called Pure, not sure of tge saturated fat component but I think better than butter in that respect. It gives a good result.

Si_Clist

Thanks folks

We're going to give Stork a go for starters to help us wean ourselves off butter, then if we're feeling brave try something with still less saturated fat.

Got to get the cholesterol down, but can't be doing without our cakes every now and then ...

maisie_cat

Doesn't goats butter have less saturated fat than cows butter?

thriftwizard

I made a slow-cooker steamed chocolate pudding the other day & hadn't realised I was running out of butter. Not wanting to use it all up, I substituted half the butter with grated courgette, of which we currently have far too much. It worked perfectly; the pudding was moist & delicious, the texture was perfect, and the very small amount left over kept overnight without drying out. I didn't mention the substitution & none of the family guessed; my two girls are brilliant bakers (and all-round cooks, in fact) so any drop in quality or taste would have been remarked upon!

This works with almost any member of the summer squash family and carrot too, although that's sweeter so you should probably lower the sugar content as well. It's also visible in the finished article, which the courgette wasn't.

Si_Clist

maisie_cat wrote: »

Doesn't goats butter have less saturated fat than cows butter?

Possibly, but as far as I'm concerned it's a non-starter 'cos it stinks of goat

Gers

I use the soft tub Stork for baking normally and the hard block Stock if baking for vegans.

esuhl

I'm not sure that margarine will be much healthier than butter:



https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/03/15/butter-unlikely-to-harm-health-but-margarine-could-be-deadly/