Fats

Best baking substitutes for butter

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No. 01

unsalted butter

Most stick-fat swaps are 1:1 by weight, with carve-outs. Salted/unsalted: 1:1 +/- ~1/4 tsp salt per 1/2 cup (113 g, 1 stick). Shortening, ghee, lard, duck fat, and beef tallow are 1:1 by weight in most cookies, biscuits, pastry, and frying but cannot laminate or brown. Stick vegan butter and baking margarine are 1:1 only at 80%+ fat; tub spreads and coconut/cocoa butter are not 1:1.

Solid fats swap 1:1 by weight in most baking and cooking, but butter alone laminates and browns. Shortening, ghee, lard, and 80%+ stick vegan butter or margarine cover most other jobs; tub spreads, coconut butter, and cocoa butter are not 1:1.

No. 02

neutral oil

Butter (~80% fat): ~3/4 cup oil per 1 cup butter (~165 g/227 g). ~100% fat solids (shortening, ghee, lard, duck fat, tallow): ~1:1 by weight. Clean in melted-butter bakes (brownies, muffins, quick breads, oil-friendly cakes) and butter cakes lifted by baking powder. Sauteing 1:1 (oils ~400-450 F vs butter ~350 F). Out of scope: laminated doughs, creamed butter cakes, cut-out cookies, brown-butter.

Oil replaces butter cleanly in melted-butter recipes and high-heat cooking but cannot cream, laminate, or brown.

No. 03

salted butter

Most stick-fat swaps are 1:1 by weight, with carve-outs. Salted/unsalted: 1:1 +/- ~1/4 tsp salt per 1/2 cup (113 g, 1 stick). Shortening, ghee, lard, duck fat, and beef tallow are 1:1 by weight in most cookies, biscuits, pastry, and frying but cannot laminate or brown. Stick vegan butter and baking margarine are 1:1 only at 80%+ fat; tub spreads and coconut/cocoa butter are not 1:1.

Solid fats swap 1:1 by weight in most baking and cooking, but butter alone laminates and browns. Shortening, ghee, lard, and 80%+ stick vegan butter or margarine cover most other jobs; tub spreads, coconut butter, and cocoa butter are not 1:1.

Why these picks

Swaps that preserve structure, moisture, leavening, and browning in baked goods. The ranking favors substitutes for butter that preserve fat, tenderness, browning, with verified adjustment notes.

Baking is less forgiving than stovetop cooking; watch hydration, lift, and fat balance after any swap.

Context-ranked swaps

01

unsalted butter

1 : 1 by weight, with carve-outs

Solid fats swap 1:1 by weight in most baking and cooking, but butter alone laminates and browns. Shortening, ghee, lard, and 80%+ stick vegan butter or margarine cover most other jobs; tub spreads, coconut butter, and cocoa butter are not 1:1.

Read full notes+

Why this works

Butter is ~80% fat, ~16-18% water, ~1-2% milk solids. Shortening, ghee, lard, duck fat, beef tallow, and cocoa butter are ~99-100% fat with no water and no browning solids; stick vegan butter and stick baking margarine track butter's water and fat ratios closely while soft tub spreads do not. Same-family swaps are 1:1 by weight when the recipe needs tenderness, fat for sauteing or frying, or richness; they fail when the recipe needs the steam from butter's water for layered lift (laminated doughs, all-butter pie crust), the milk solids for browning (brown butter, beurre noisette, butter sauces), or butter's creamed-air structure (creamed pound cake, butter cream).

Flavor
Butter and brown butter carry the strongest dairy and toasted notes; ghee/clarified butter read nuttier. Lard adds savory depth (porky regular, neutral leaf). Duck fat and beef tallow are savory and meaty. Stick vegan butter and baking margarine range from mildly buttery to neutral; shortening is flavorless. Coconut butter adds coconut sweetness; cocoa butter is faintly chocolate-floral and waxy.
Texture
Shortening gives less spread and a cakier, more tender cookie crumb and flakier but crumblier pie crust. Ghee, lard, and clarified butter give flakier crusts but no laminated layers. 80%+ stick vegan butter and baking margarine give butter-like spread and structure. Tub or 'spread' versions at <=70% fat are too wet — flat, greasy, or soggy. Coconut and cocoa butter do not cream or laminate.

Where it fails

High in laminated doughs, brown-butter recipes, and creamed pound cake or butter cream — only butter laminates, browns, or holds creamed air. High with tub or 'spread' margarine, soft tub vegan butter, coconut butter, or cocoa butter regardless of recipe. Medium in all-butter pie crust where shortening, lard, ghee, or vegan butter changes flake or flavor. Low in cookies, quick breads, biscuits, savory pastries, sauteing, and frying when using 80%+ stick baking fats.

  • Cut about 1/4 teaspoon added salt per 1/2 cup (113 g, 1 stick) when swapping unsalted butter for salted, or add that much going the other way.
  • When swapping butter for a ~100% fat solid (shortening, ghee, clarified butter, lard, duck fat, beef tallow), butter's ~16-18% water is gone; for a chewier or moister crumb add about 1 tablespoon water or milk per 1/2 cup of fat, or accept a slightly drier, more tender result.

Source: King Arthur Baking: Shortening vs. butter in baking

02

neutral oil

3 : 4 oil per butter; 1 : 1 oil per ~100% fat solid

Oil replaces butter cleanly in melted-butter recipes and high-heat cooking but cannot cream, laminate, or brown.

Read full notes+

Why this works

Butter is ~80% fat / ~16-18% water with ~1-2% milk solids; neutral oils are ~100% liquid fat. Swapping 3/4 cup oil per cup butter approximately matches butter's fat by volume — but ~100% fat solid fats (shortening, ghee, clarified butter, lard, duck fat, beef tallow) have no water to displace, so the swap to oil is closer to 1:1 by weight from those sources. Either way the milk solids and (for butter) ~16-18% water that drive creamed lift, lamination layers, and browning are gone. Recipes that already start from melted butter (brownies, muffins, quick breads, oil-friendly cakes) absorb the swap with little change beyond a slightly denser, moister crumb and longer shelf life, and standard butter cakes that lift on baking powder still work with the same caveats. Recipes that depend on a solid fat - laminated doughs, creamed pound cake or yellow butter cake, cut-out cookies, shortbread, brown-butter formulas - cannot be rebuilt with oil and need a different target. For sauteing and pan-frying the swap is essentially 1:1 and oil's higher smoke point is an advantage.

Flavor
Neutral oils are flavorless — butter cakes/cookies want vanilla, citrus zest, brown sugar, or buttery extract for richness. EVOO adds peppery/grassy notes for olive-oil cake, focaccia, and savory bakes but clashes with vanilla/white cakes. Refined coconut oil adds mild coconut to vegan/tropical formulas. Sesame oil is too aromatic for sweet baking. Brown-butter recipes lose their flavor.
Texture
Cakes are more tender, moister, and longer-keeping with a tighter crumb than the creamed-butter version. Cookies spread more, brown less, and read flatter and chewier; cut-out cookies and shortbread spread out of shape. Pie crust, biscuits, scones, and laminated doughs cannot form flaky layers without solid fat. Quick breads, muffins, brownies, and oil-based cakes bake almost identically.

Where it fails

Very high in laminated doughs, creamed butter cakes, cut-out and rolled cookies, and brown-butter recipes — pick a different target (shortening, stick vegan butter at >=80% fat, or melted/solid coconut oil in cookies). Medium in standard butter cakes that lift on baking powder (denser, moister). Low in melted-butter formulas — brownies, muffins, quick breads, oil-friendly cakes, pancakes, waffles — and in sauteing or pan-frying.

  • From butter, use about 3/4 cup neutral oil per 1 cup butter (~165 g per 227 g / 2 sticks) to match butter's ~80% fat content per King Arthur; or stay 1:1 by volume and reduce another wet ingredient by 2-3 tablespoons per cup of butter to account for the missing ~16-18% water. From ~100% fat solid fats (shortening, ghee, clarified butter, lard, duck fat, beef tallow), use roughly 1:1 by weight — there is no water to displace, so the volume of fat carries over directly.
  • Do not try to cream oil with sugar; whisk the oil into the wet ingredients (sugar, eggs, dairy or non-dairy liquid) until smooth, then fold in the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Expect a thinner, more pourable batter than a creamed-butter batter.

Source: King Arthur Baking: Fat substitutes in gluten-free baking

03

salted butter

1 : 1 by weight, with carve-outs

Solid fats swap 1:1 by weight in most baking and cooking, but butter alone laminates and browns. Shortening, ghee, lard, and 80%+ stick vegan butter or margarine cover most other jobs; tub spreads, coconut butter, and cocoa butter are not 1:1.

Read full notes+

Why this works

Butter is ~80% fat, ~16-18% water, ~1-2% milk solids. Shortening, ghee, lard, duck fat, beef tallow, and cocoa butter are ~99-100% fat with no water and no browning solids; stick vegan butter and stick baking margarine track butter's water and fat ratios closely while soft tub spreads do not. Same-family swaps are 1:1 by weight when the recipe needs tenderness, fat for sauteing or frying, or richness; they fail when the recipe needs the steam from butter's water for layered lift (laminated doughs, all-butter pie crust), the milk solids for browning (brown butter, beurre noisette, butter sauces), or butter's creamed-air structure (creamed pound cake, butter cream).

Flavor
Butter and brown butter carry the strongest dairy and toasted notes; ghee/clarified butter read nuttier. Lard adds savory depth (porky regular, neutral leaf). Duck fat and beef tallow are savory and meaty. Stick vegan butter and baking margarine range from mildly buttery to neutral; shortening is flavorless. Coconut butter adds coconut sweetness; cocoa butter is faintly chocolate-floral and waxy.
Texture
Shortening gives less spread and a cakier, more tender cookie crumb and flakier but crumblier pie crust. Ghee, lard, and clarified butter give flakier crusts but no laminated layers. 80%+ stick vegan butter and baking margarine give butter-like spread and structure. Tub or 'spread' versions at <=70% fat are too wet — flat, greasy, or soggy. Coconut and cocoa butter do not cream or laminate.

Where it fails

High in laminated doughs, brown-butter recipes, and creamed pound cake or butter cream — only butter laminates, browns, or holds creamed air. High with tub or 'spread' margarine, soft tub vegan butter, coconut butter, or cocoa butter regardless of recipe. Medium in all-butter pie crust where shortening, lard, ghee, or vegan butter changes flake or flavor. Low in cookies, quick breads, biscuits, savory pastries, sauteing, and frying when using 80%+ stick baking fats.

  • Cut about 1/4 teaspoon added salt per 1/2 cup (113 g, 1 stick) when swapping unsalted butter for salted, or add that much going the other way.
  • When swapping butter for a ~100% fat solid (shortening, ghee, clarified butter, lard, duck fat, beef tallow), butter's ~16-18% water is gone; for a chewier or moister crumb add about 1 tablespoon water or milk per 1/2 cup of fat, or accept a slightly drier, more tender result.

Source: King Arthur Baking: Shortening vs. butter in baking

04

canola oil

3 : 4 oil per butter; 1 : 1 oil per ~100% fat solid

Oil replaces butter cleanly in melted-butter recipes and high-heat cooking but cannot cream, laminate, or brown.

Read full notes+

Why this works

Butter is ~80% fat / ~16-18% water with ~1-2% milk solids; neutral oils are ~100% liquid fat. Swapping 3/4 cup oil per cup butter approximately matches butter's fat by volume — but ~100% fat solid fats (shortening, ghee, clarified butter, lard, duck fat, beef tallow) have no water to displace, so the swap to oil is closer to 1:1 by weight from those sources. Either way the milk solids and (for butter) ~16-18% water that drive creamed lift, lamination layers, and browning are gone. Recipes that already start from melted butter (brownies, muffins, quick breads, oil-friendly cakes) absorb the swap with little change beyond a slightly denser, moister crumb and longer shelf life, and standard butter cakes that lift on baking powder still work with the same caveats. Recipes that depend on a solid fat - laminated doughs, creamed pound cake or yellow butter cake, cut-out cookies, shortbread, brown-butter formulas - cannot be rebuilt with oil and need a different target. For sauteing and pan-frying the swap is essentially 1:1 and oil's higher smoke point is an advantage.

Flavor
Neutral oils are flavorless — butter cakes/cookies want vanilla, citrus zest, brown sugar, or buttery extract for richness. EVOO adds peppery/grassy notes for olive-oil cake, focaccia, and savory bakes but clashes with vanilla/white cakes. Refined coconut oil adds mild coconut to vegan/tropical formulas. Sesame oil is too aromatic for sweet baking. Brown-butter recipes lose their flavor.
Texture
Cakes are more tender, moister, and longer-keeping with a tighter crumb than the creamed-butter version. Cookies spread more, brown less, and read flatter and chewier; cut-out cookies and shortbread spread out of shape. Pie crust, biscuits, scones, and laminated doughs cannot form flaky layers without solid fat. Quick breads, muffins, brownies, and oil-based cakes bake almost identically.

Where it fails

Very high in laminated doughs, creamed butter cakes, cut-out and rolled cookies, and brown-butter recipes — pick a different target (shortening, stick vegan butter at >=80% fat, or melted/solid coconut oil in cookies). Medium in standard butter cakes that lift on baking powder (denser, moister). Low in melted-butter formulas — brownies, muffins, quick breads, oil-friendly cakes, pancakes, waffles — and in sauteing or pan-frying.

  • From butter, use about 3/4 cup neutral oil per 1 cup butter (~165 g per 227 g / 2 sticks) to match butter's ~80% fat content per King Arthur; or stay 1:1 by volume and reduce another wet ingredient by 2-3 tablespoons per cup of butter to account for the missing ~16-18% water. From ~100% fat solid fats (shortening, ghee, clarified butter, lard, duck fat, beef tallow), use roughly 1:1 by weight — there is no water to displace, so the volume of fat carries over directly.
  • Do not try to cream oil with sugar; whisk the oil into the wet ingredients (sugar, eggs, dairy or non-dairy liquid) until smooth, then fold in the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Expect a thinner, more pourable batter than a creamed-butter batter.

Source: King Arthur Baking: Fat substitutes in gluten-free baking

05

clarified butter

1 : 1 by weight, with carve-outs

Solid fats swap 1:1 by weight in most baking and cooking, but butter alone laminates and browns. Shortening, ghee, lard, and 80%+ stick vegan butter or margarine cover most other jobs; tub spreads, coconut butter, and cocoa butter are not 1:1.

Read full notes+

Why this works

Butter is ~80% fat, ~16-18% water, ~1-2% milk solids. Shortening, ghee, lard, duck fat, beef tallow, and cocoa butter are ~99-100% fat with no water and no browning solids; stick vegan butter and stick baking margarine track butter's water and fat ratios closely while soft tub spreads do not. Same-family swaps are 1:1 by weight when the recipe needs tenderness, fat for sauteing or frying, or richness; they fail when the recipe needs the steam from butter's water for layered lift (laminated doughs, all-butter pie crust), the milk solids for browning (brown butter, beurre noisette, butter sauces), or butter's creamed-air structure (creamed pound cake, butter cream).

Flavor
Butter and brown butter carry the strongest dairy and toasted notes; ghee/clarified butter read nuttier. Lard adds savory depth (porky regular, neutral leaf). Duck fat and beef tallow are savory and meaty. Stick vegan butter and baking margarine range from mildly buttery to neutral; shortening is flavorless. Coconut butter adds coconut sweetness; cocoa butter is faintly chocolate-floral and waxy.
Texture
Shortening gives less spread and a cakier, more tender cookie crumb and flakier but crumblier pie crust. Ghee, lard, and clarified butter give flakier crusts but no laminated layers. 80%+ stick vegan butter and baking margarine give butter-like spread and structure. Tub or 'spread' versions at <=70% fat are too wet — flat, greasy, or soggy. Coconut and cocoa butter do not cream or laminate.

Where it fails

High in laminated doughs, brown-butter recipes, and creamed pound cake or butter cream — only butter laminates, browns, or holds creamed air. High with tub or 'spread' margarine, soft tub vegan butter, coconut butter, or cocoa butter regardless of recipe. Medium in all-butter pie crust where shortening, lard, ghee, or vegan butter changes flake or flavor. Low in cookies, quick breads, biscuits, savory pastries, sauteing, and frying when using 80%+ stick baking fats.

  • Cut about 1/4 teaspoon added salt per 1/2 cup (113 g, 1 stick) when swapping unsalted butter for salted, or add that much going the other way.
  • When swapping butter for a ~100% fat solid (shortening, ghee, clarified butter, lard, duck fat, beef tallow), butter's ~16-18% water is gone; for a chewier or moister crumb add about 1 tablespoon water or milk per 1/2 cup of fat, or accept a slightly drier, more tender result.

Source: King Arthur Baking: Shortening vs. butter in baking

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