by almag 28 Nov 2013

Not Embriodery ... but is consumed while embroidering!!

Please, American Cuties, could you let me know the difference between butter and shortening in a recipe. I want to make Snickerdoodles and the recipe calls for 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup shortening. I thought butter was shortening so I'm stumped before I even begin cooking.
The Snickerdoodles looked good enough to munch upon while stitching Christmas things.... hence the reference to embroidery..... :} I can't say I like cooking and I don't do it very often but if anyone can answer this question I shall be a very happy old lady.
AlmaG.

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by almag 29 Nov 2013

Well, thankyou ladies..... I now have the pure butter and Copha shortening to make my Snickerdoodles. Thank you for your help.
This all came about because my daughter in AZ sent me the recipe, and picture, of caramel-filled snickerdoodles....

http://therecipecritic.com/2013/0... .......

I even have ten caramel lollies to cut into quarters to make some of these.

But.... then I did the Google thing - bad decision!! I found more than I could ever need in the way of Snickerdoodle recipes. I just wish I loved cooking!!!

Now if you all make yourself some of these tantalising cookies you'll be able to sit and watch your machine stitch out gorgeous Christmas designs while you munch to your heart's content, away from prying eyes that might want to share the goodies.
Alma.

1 comment
sewilso by sewilso 29 Nov 2013

Yes Google is full of lots of things. lol! Thanks for the link to your cookies. I'm sure they'll turn out just perfect! They look yummy!

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by lucypiwow 29 Nov 2013

BUTTER WILL MAKE A SOFTER COOKIE WHEN COOLED AND THATS WHAT YOU WONT.SHORTING WILL MAKE A TOUFER COOKIE ...I LOVE SNICKER DOODLES AND ALWAYS USE BUTTER...LUCY

1 comment
almag by almag 29 Nov 2013

Hi Lucy, Well, I have pure butter and Copha ready to use. I can't get Crisco here so I bought what I've used for 50 years. I just didn't know it was called shortening.
Alma.

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by cfidl 29 Nov 2013

Hi Alma, Shortening is the new word for lard. Lard is animal fat. Butter comes from churned milk. Everything else about them is already posted.

2 comments
rescuer by rescuer 29 Nov 2013

The main difference between shortening and lard is that lard is a solid fat made mostly from animal oil. While shortening, is solid fat which is made from vegetable oil.

almag by almag 29 Nov 2013

My Mum, bless her soul, used to make her pastry with lard. People loved it - it was fairly greasy and I just couldn't eat it as I grew older. There was always lard in her Christmas Puddings, too, that hung in the laundry for six weeks before Christmas, growing a lardy/plasticky sort of covering around them that became the most delicious chewy mouthful when heated up again on Christmas Day.
Alma.

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by marianb 29 Nov 2013

What are "Snickerdoodles" ?

3 comments
PatriciaVosloo by PatriciaVosloo 29 Nov 2013

Am also wondering??

pennifold by pennifold 29 Nov 2013

A puffy styled biscuit with lots of cinnamon! They are beautiful. Love Chris

Check out recipes on Google.

rescuer by rescuer 29 Nov 2013

Delicious!! If you have never tried one -- they are delicious!

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by almag 28 Nov 2013

Thankyou, sewilso and kylasm, for your help. I'll let you know how I get on in the supermarket.
Alma.

1 comment
almag by almag 28 Nov 2013

..... also bevintex, ruta and rescuer who all snuck in while I was answering the first two Cuties. I'm one of those old-fashioned people who prefer Butter rather than Margarine but in recent times I've been buying a butter/canola-oil mixture that seems all right and doesn't freeze to concrete in our winter. It seems OK but I'm one of those people who can be easily tricked.
I really appreciate all this help and, of course, the scenario of munching on Snickerdoodles while watching a design stitch out is rather tempting, isn't it.
Alma.

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by rescuer Moderator 28 Nov 2013

Butter comes from dairy and shortening is more like margarine but without the flavor. When a recipe calls for butter, it means dairy butter. I have substituted margarine instead of shortening in recipes before with good results. I think Crisco is made from soy bean oil.

1 comment
almag by almag 28 Nov 2013

I normally use the butter/oil mixture that I buy and hope for the best. It seems to have worked all right so far but I have to say that pure butter has its own special flavour in cakes and bikkies.
None of my cooking would ever win a prize but it usually disappears in less time than it takes to make a cake and the bikkies seldom make it to the 'air-tight tin for keeping'.
Alma.

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by ruta 28 Nov 2013

I have made snickerdoodles several times and the recipe I have calls for unsalted butter. The cookies do not flatten out. They are really delicious. I also have a recipe for cappucino snickerdoodles and they are delicious..

1 comment
almag by almag 28 Nov 2013

My Goodness, this Snickerdoodle thing is exciting. Cappuccino Snickerdoodles and special Cappuccino coffee bags in a little drawstring bag with a coffee cup embroidery on it would make a grand pressie for a special friend.
Alma.

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by bevintex 28 Nov 2013

and you can get butter flavored Crisco shortening

1 comment
almag by almag 28 Nov 2013

Now that's very sneaky but, of course, it would have its good points especially if a person wanted a Snickerdoodle to taste buttery without using too much butter.
Alma.

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by sewilso 28 Nov 2013

http://answers.yahoo.com/question...
According to this shortening melts slower than butter if you used all butter you will probably have flatter cookies. I've found that to be true too in my experience.

1 comment
almag by almag 28 Nov 2013

Thank you for that link. It has taken me on a rather long journey into the world of Crisco versus Copha (which I have used very often and it makes brilliant Rice Bubbles chocolate crackles... greasy ones but delicious!). I'm heading off now to town to see if I can get any Crisco but I think I'll be coming home with Copha - that's a solid vegetable (coconut) oil. By the time I had read several reports my eyes had glazed over and my mind had began to retreat into a small, safe place and my person said, 'Go buy Copha!!'
Alma.

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by kylasm 28 Nov 2013

I was taught that butter tastes awesome but makes cookies spread too much. Shortening (like Crisco used here) tastes awful but doesn't let cookies spread as much. Combining them gives you the hint of a butter taste but the shortening keeps them from spreading out too flat. Snickerdoodles should puff up high, then fall but not go totally flat.

2 comments
noah by noah 28 Nov 2013

yes i totally agree use what it calls for hugs

almag by almag 28 Nov 2013

Thank you for that information. That makes sense. Thank you, too, about the Snickerdoodles puffing up and then falling a bit. Had I not known that I would have thought, "Oh no, another wreck!".... and I'm really, really good at wrecking food.
Alma.

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