What To Consider When Swapping Out Butter In Your Cookie Recipes

Practically everything can be customized these days, even the fat that you use in a cookie recipe. If it sounds blasphemous to use anything but butter in your baked goods, there are plenty of alternatives to choose from here, so you can find something to fit both your dietary preferences and your tastebuds. But while plenty of swaps will work just fine, others won't. To help us determine which fat replacements are best when removing butter from your cookie recipe, we turned to an expert.

Arielle Israel has a degree from The Culinary Institute of America and co-owns Black Box Bakery in Denver, Colorado. When it comes to butter alternatives in cookie recipes, her top two choices are coconut oil and margarine. "The best part is that they do behave like butter in some ways!" Israel told Tasting Table. But she warned they're not perfect replacements. "They will change the flavor of your recipe, but anything can be adjusted accordingly." For making dairy-free biscuits, specifically, Israel advises opting for coconut oil as a vegan butter alternative. "It does tend to be solid [at] room temp and can create the same effect as butter when it comes to rise," Israel said.

In terms of taste and texture, margarine behaves a lot like butter (although butter is decidedly richer), so you don't have to alter too much of your recipe here. In general, you can follow a 1:1 substitution. Your cookies may end up softer with less crispy edges, and you may get slightly less of that deep, rich flavor. While you can choose a spreadable tub or margarine stick, make sure to stay away from light or low-fat versions, as these have too much water to properly replace your butter.

Coconut oil is also an easy substitution and can be use in a 1:1 ratio as well. Keep in mind that this fat does have a distinct flavor, so your cookies may take on a lightly nutty and somewhat tropical flavor. Plus, you'll want to make sure your oil is melted before stirring it into your dough. And as opposed to margarine, cookies baked with coconut oil will veer toward extra-crispy due to the lack of water in your fat (although you can remedy this with a little extra milk).

But while you can definitely pull off both of these butter substitutes, there is one that Israel warns against. "Yogurt simply does not have the same function that butter has in cookies," she said. "Yes, it does add fat but it does not contribute to aeration or form."