Stories from the Lab: Butter vs Crisco for Biscuits | CIA Culinary School (2024)

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Stories from the Lab: Butter vs Crisco for Biscuits | CIA Culinary School? ›

My team members and I also found that the biscuits made with Crisco produced the greatest height. However, other teams found that the biscuits made with butter produced the greatest height. The varying results could be because of over-kneading of the doughs or the doughs not being flattened to exactly 1.5 cm.

The butter version rises the highest — look at those flaky layers! The shortening biscuit is slightly shorter and a bit drier, too. Butter contains a bit of water, which helps create steam and gives baked goods a boost.

The stronger the bond, the tougher the crust and vice versa. Lard also has a higher melting point than butter, melting between 109 and 118° F while butter melts somewhere between 90 and 95° F. A slower render means more air and steam-release, which means more leavening and flakiness.

High-fat butter, such as Kerrygold Butter, is best. The rich fat from the butter releases water when the biscuits are baking which is what contributes to the beautiful layers and flakiness that we love about biscuits.

*Substitute buttermilk, light cream, or heavy cream for the whole milk, if you prefer; use enough of whatever liquid you choose to bring the dough together readily, without you having to work it too much. The higher-fat liquid you use, the more tender and richer-tasting your biscuits will be.

Swap one for the other in recipes. If you want to add additional flavor to the dish, lard is the right choice. Shortening is ideal for its neutral flavor, many professional bakers use it for icing.

Cookies Made with Butter vs Shortening

The butter cookie provides better flavor and a crispier exterior with browning around edges and a chewy interior; the shortening cookie spreads less, holding its shape better while baking.

When you cut in your fat, you leave it in small pea-sized lumps. Those lumps get coated in flour and melt during baking into layers. If your fats are too warm, the lumps will melt and form a hom*ogeneous dough, resulting in dense, leaden biscuits.

Although unsalted butter is the preferred choice for bakers, spreadable butters like Western Star Soft and Spreadable Soft n Less Salt can be used straight from the fridge. For creaming butter and sugar for biscuit and cake doughs it should be used chilled.

in this case, it appears that the biscuit structure is just a lot more stable (structurally speaking) when there's less butter. When you get a lot of butter, you're kind of filling your biscuit with holes, which makes it unable to bear its own weight to rise very far.

What is the secret to an excellent biscuit? ›

The secret to the best biscuits is using very cold butter and baking powder. We've made a lot of biscuits, but this easy biscuits recipe is the one we turn to the most (they are so fluffy!). See our easy drop biscuits and cheese drop biscuits for even easier biscuits.

Use flour with low protein content

To make extra tender biscuits, you don't want to develop a lot of gluten. Flours with a higher protein content develop gluten more readily. To get the soft biscuits you're after, Catherine recommends using for an all-purpose flour with a small amount of protein.

Make sure your shortening is cold! This recipe uses Crisco shortening, and I recommend freezing it before adding it to the dough. When the cold shortening hits the heat of the oven, it melts, creating those beautiful flaky layers that we love in a good biscuit.

Crisco may be beneficial for other baking applications, but for biscuit making, butter is the ultimate champion!

Buttermilk also adds a subtle tang. Cream biscuits are made with heavy cream. Cream biscuits are beloved because they're incredibly easy-to-make. But, since cream is much milder than buttermilk, they won't be quite as flavorful (unless you incorporate more spices and seasonings).

Why are my biscuits dry and crumbly? Dry and crumbly biscuits are often caused by adding too much flour. Remember, don't scoop and drop your flour – use a spoon to sprinkle the flour into the measuring cup, then level it off with a spatula.

50% Less Saturated Fat than Butter*Crisco Shortening: 3.5g saturated fat per tablespoon. Butter: 7g saturated fat per tablespoon. Crisco Shortening contains 12g total fat per serving. Excellent source of ALA Omega-3 fatty acid*Contains 710mg of ALA per serving, which is 44% of the 1.6g Daily Value for ALA.

Fat (Shortening, Butter, or Bacon Fat) – You can use solid vegetable shortening (Crisco shortening or a similar product), salted butter, or even bacon fat, according to your preference. It's best to use COLD fat. The fat adds moisture to the biscuit dough and helps it to be flaky and flavorful.

Butter to the rescue! From biscuits to pie crusts, butter is an easy swap for shortening. In fact, you can use the exact same amount. Baked goods may not turn out quite as flaky, but the rich, buttery flavor will make up for that.

You'll notice these differences if baking with butter instead of shortening. Cookies made with butter or margarine may be softer and spread a little more. Cookies made with butter are usually crispier than chewy cookies made with shortening, but the flavor is richer with butter.