Can I substitute oil for margarine or shortening when making cookies?
While oil, margarine and shortening are all three fats, they aren’t interchangeable in some recipes. Oil is 100% fat, while margarine is a mixture of fat and water blended together. • “Light” margarines have a higher proportion of water than regular margaines. • Substituting one cup oil for one cup margarine in a recipe adds more fat than the recipes intended, so you would get a cookie that would taste and feel greasy. • Also, when you make cookies, “creaming” the fat and sugar together is very important for the texture of a good cookie. You can’t get the same effect if you use oil, even if you cut back on the amount of oil used. • You can substitute oil for harder fats in some recipes, including quick breads such as muffins and loaf breads. But when you’re baking cookies, you better stick to the type of fat listed in the recipe for best results.
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