Buying guide

Best vegan butter for baking

The best vegan butter depends on the job: sticks for creaming, tubs for spreading, and coconut-heavy fats only when flavor fits.

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Picks

8 total

No. 01

Amazon

Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks

Cookie dough

Stick format (1/2-cup wrappers) is easier to cream and weigh than soft tub spread; reliable for drop cookies and bar cookies.

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No. 02

Amazon

Miyoko's European Style Cultured Vegan Butter

Butter-forward bakes

An organic, cashew-milk-based cultured butter that browns and develops flavor — useful when butter flavor matters as much as fat (croissants, shortbread, frostings).

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No. 03

Amazon

Country Crock Plant Butter sticks

Everyday baking

Widely available stick format (olive-oil and avocado-oil variants) for cookies, bars, and quick breads at grocery-store pricing.

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No. 04

Amazon

Violife Plant Butter

Dairy-free richness

Coconut-oil-based, firm at refrigerator temperature — a sliceable plant butter for spreading and laminating where structure matters.

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No. 05

Thrive Market

Organic refined coconut oil

Pie crust and firm fat

Refined coconut oil is solid at room temperature with neutral flavor — useful for pie dough and biscuits where coconut taste would distract.

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No. 06

Amazon

Vegetable shortening

Dairy-free structure

Shortening (Crisco-style) is 100% fat with no water and stays solid — useful when flake structure or shape retention matters more than butter flavor.

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No. 07

Amazon

Neutral oil

Melted butter swaps

Neutral oil (canola, avocado, grapeseed) works best where the original butter was melted, not creamed; reduce volume slightly since oil is 100% fat vs butter ~80%.

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No. 08

King Arthur Baking

Dairy-free baking ingredients

Baking-specific pantry restock

A baking-focused merchant search helps surface dairy-free shortenings, mixes, and chocolates that fit vegan and dairy-free formulas.

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Cook's guide

  • Use stick-style vegan butter when a recipe asks for creaming or firm fat.
  • Check salt level before replacing unsalted dairy butter.
  • Oil-based spreads can make cookies spread more and frostings softer.