Oil vs. Butter

Here’s a little tidbit: Butter is a saturated fat, which is why it’s solid at room temperature. Most oils (canola, olive, soybean, sunflower, safflower, etc.) are unsaturated fats. Since butter is solid at room temperature, it’s great for creaming with sugar, which aerates the batter or dough and gives it a light, fluffy texture that can’t be accomplished with a liquid fat.

Butter consists of 80 percent fat and 20 percent water, while oil is 100 percent fat, so when substituting butter with oil, reduce the amount of oil by 15 percent.

I did slightly less for this experiment so that the oil should fit into a standard cup measurement. (¹⁄₃ cup=0.33 whereas 15 percent of ¹⁄₂ cup butter is 0.4. Call me a nerd, but accuracy is important!)

Let’s explore the results.

Hamantaschen

YIELDS ABOUT 25 HAMANTASCHEN

• ⅓ cup oil or ½ cup softened butter
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2¼ cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ⅓ tsp salt
• filling of your choice (raspberry jam, apricot jam, poppy seeds, chocolate spread, etc.)

Method 1: Oil

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla on medium speed. Add flour, baking powder, and salt and mix on low until no streaks of flour remain.