Baking with Butter Substitutes

Think butter is your only option when it comes to baking? Think again. Our experts in the Test Kitchen discovered that even the most butter-heavy cookie recipe tastes great with a butter substitute.

By Deborah Wagman
Photos by Blaine Moats

With the array of butter substitutes and health-enhancing spreads available today, bakers often ask if these products can be used for baking. We took this question to our Test Kitchen, and the answer surprised us all.

You see, we believed butter to be a necessary evil when baking cookies. We chose Buttery Spritz (recipe below)—the most butter-dependent cookie we could think of—to prove our point. But as sheet after sheet of dainty cookies emerged from the Better Homes and Gardens® Test Kitchen ovens, we soon found ourselves eating some very good cookies—and eating our words.

Buttery Spritz
Prep: 25 min.
Bake: 8 min.
Oven: 375° F

1-1/2 cups butter or butter substitute
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Decorative sugars (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375° F. In a large bowl, beat butter (or butter substitute) with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and baking powder; beat until combined, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour. Do not chill dough.

2. Pack dough into a cookie press. Force dough through press onto an ungreased cookie sheet. If desired, decorate with decorative sugars. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies are firm but not brown. Transfer to a wire rack; cool. Makes about 72 cookies.