24/11/2022
Butter vs. Margarine
when it comes to baking, the switch isn't necessarily the best move between pure butter and blend butter or margarine . It's one thing to spread a little margarine on a piece of toast or melt some to pour over popcorn. But when you're baking, butter triumphs over margarine every time.
For cakes, cookies, and pastries, butter (unsalted, that is) provides richer flavor. (It begins as cream, after all, and margarine is made from vegetable oil.) Butter's high fat content is also what gives baked goods their texture. Margarine, which can contain more water and less fat, may make thin cookies that spread out while baking (and may burn).
Butter is also the better choice for frying. Because it's more resistant to being broken down by heat, says noted food scientist Harold McGee in his cook's bible On Food and Cooking, butter doesn't become gummy the way unsaturated oils do.
Solid fats, like butter, can help baked goods rise. When you cream butter and sugar together, it creates an aerated mixture that provides lift before, during, and after baking. Butter also contains water, and when the water evaporates, it creates flakey layers critical to a pie crust or biscuit.
