Butter vs Shortening
In general, you can substitute shortening for butter in equal amounts in baking recipes (not the frosting or icing, though—yuck). Shortening yields higher, lighter-textured baked goods, which is sometimes preferable to butter (depending on what you’re making).
Butter naturally has some water in it; shortening doesn’t. Cookies made with shortening and no extra water added, for example, are higher and lighter, while butter cookies are flatter and crispier. This is because butter has a lower melting point than shortening, causing them to spread faster and more in the short time it takes to bake a cookie. If you use shortening, but want an effect closer to butter, add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons water for every 1/4 cup of shortening.
But, of course, the elephant in the room here is flavor, or more precisely, lack of it, in shortening. If butter plays a central role in the flavor of a cookie or cake (e.g., shortbread cookies or butter pound cake), the end result will be diminished unless you radically alter the flavor profile (e.g., flavorful extracts, spices, glazes, etc). There is also butter flavoring.
Spectrum Organics also makes a trans-fat free, organic shortening and Nutiva makes superfood shortening (it's very orange in color due to the organic, sustainable palm fruit oil).
Shortening: Good or Bad?
King Arthur Butter vs. Shortening in Baking
In general, you can substitute shortening for butter in equal amounts in baking recipes (not the frosting or icing, though—yuck). Shortening yields higher, lighter-textured baked goods, which is sometimes preferable to butter (depending on what you’re making).
Butter naturally has some water in it; shortening doesn’t. Cookies made with shortening and no extra water added, for example, are higher and lighter, while butter cookies are flatter and crispier. This is because butter has a lower melting point than shortening, causing them to spread faster and more in the short time it takes to bake a cookie. If you use shortening, but want an effect closer to butter, add 1 and 1/2 teaspoons water for every 1/4 cup of shortening.
But, of course, the elephant in the room here is flavor, or more precisely, lack of it, in shortening. If butter plays a central role in the flavor of a cookie or cake (e.g., shortbread cookies or butter pound cake), the end result will be diminished unless you radically alter the flavor profile (e.g., flavorful extracts, spices, glazes, etc). There is also butter flavoring.
Spectrum Organics also makes a trans-fat free, organic shortening and Nutiva makes superfood shortening (it's very orange in color due to the organic, sustainable palm fruit oil).
Shortening: Good or Bad?
King Arthur Butter vs. Shortening in Baking